Mogadishu (HAN) October 22, 2015 – Public Diplomacy and Regional Investment Initiative News.
22 October Commission To Draft Resource Sharing Formula, Federal Government And Regional States Agree. The Federal government and the regional administrations have agreed on a joint commission, which will oversee the development of natural resource sharing framework between the two levels of government. Petroleum and Mineral Resources minister Mohamed Muktar told Goobjoog News the two parties agreed to establish the commission, which will develop a resources sharing formula and general management of natural resources in the country.“The ministry will sponsor the formation and all activities related to the formation of the commission, and provide technical expertise where needed,” said Muktar.
There has been a tussle between the Federal Government and regional governments on licenses and possible sharing of revenues particularly from oil with each side taking its own unilateral decisions.On 1 September 2015, the Puntland Petroleum Minerals Agency and the Houston-based ION Geophysical Corporation announced they had signed an agreement allowing the company to acquire 8,000 km2 of seismic data covering the entire Somalia Puntland offshore margin.Four days later on September 5th the Federal Government signed seismic data survey encompassing 28,000 km2 of offshore territory in central and southern Somalia with Norwegian company Spectrum ASA. This is besides the controversial Seismic Agreement Option between Somalia and the British oil explorer Soma Oil and Gas in 2013 whose dealings with the government is now under investigations by the Serious Fraud Office in Britain.
The UN Monitoring Group for Somalia and Eritrea (UNMGES) has for the second year running sought an oil moratorium for Somalia with the UN Security Council over concerns that the Federal Government had not agreed with the regional states on oil exploration agreements. The Group also warned in a leaked report this year that Somalia did not have a strong constitutional and legal framework to enable it enter into agreements with oil companies.Muktar said the commission will be formed in the next one week upon which it will commence to develop the resource sharing framework.He said upcoming state of Middle Shabelle and Hiiraan will be fully represented to ensure equal and fair contribution.
22 October Somali Govt Troops Kills Al-Shabaab Member And Seizes Weapons In Fighting, Says Military Somali Govt troops have launched an attack on Al-Shabaab base near Halgan area in Hiiraan region on Thursday and killed one militant fighter, according to a top military commander.Mohamed Omar. The senior military chief revealed in an interview with Radio Shabelle that Somali soldiers had killed one Al -Shabaab member and seized four AK-47 riffle assaults during the combat at a village located 20 kms away from Halgan:“The area we attacked was an Al-Shabaab stronghold, where they used to collect Zakah (An Islamic levy on the wealth) from local herders near Halgan town.” By the time of filing this report Al Shabaab had not reacted to the claims by the military. In recent weeks, the Somali Army, along with AU troops have been pushing Al-Shabaab militants out of their bases, including Halgan village in Somalia’s central Hiiraan region.
22 October River Jubba Of Somalia Bursts Its Banks.Reports coming in from Middle Jubba region of Somalia say that River Jubba has broken its banks and sent floods of water in the surrounding villages.Local residents living in the areas nearby the river informed the English department of Radio Dalsan that the river had swept away the crops in their farms and the water Pumps.The populations in the areas around river Jubba are sending out an alarm to the humanitarian agencies to intervene in the situation: “After the river had burst its banks, it washed away the entire crops which were in the farms and the water pumps, thus we are highly appealing for help from the humanitarian agencies” said Mamow Aden, a farmer in Sakow district.The situation comes at a time of El Nino warning alerts by the government’s meteorological departments.Some four days ago, five children reportedly died following a heavy downpour in Malmalkuus location, Sakow district.
22 October Somaliland President Eases Deadlock Over Ruling Party Congress Somaliland President, Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud (Siilaanyo) has intervened to end a raging crisis within the ruling party, Kulmiye. According to reports by Garowe Online, the ruling party leader Musse Bihi Abdi met with two contenders, Foreign Affairs Minister Mohamed Bihi Yonis and MP Ahmed Abdi Kijandhe, who are strongly opposed to the venue and date of the party’s planned congress at Kulmiye headquarters in the capital, Hargeisa. The leaders finally agreed that the congress be jointly prepared by ruling Kulmiye party leader and Defence Minister Ahmed Haji Ali Adami, who has been tasked with consulting role.
The agreement was hammered out after the four leaders held separate meetings with President Siilaanyo. However, former Finance Minister, Abdiasis Mohamed Samale, a vocal opponent of Abdi was not spotted at a press conference by the ruling party heavyweights. Squabbling within the ruling party has threatened to split the Kulmiye party ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections in early 2017. Somaliland, located in northwestern Somalia declared its independence from the rest of the country as de facto sovereign state in 1991 but it has not been recognized internationally yet.
Leave a Reply