Kenya wants to put Somalia on a strangle. Abtiigis I think President Hassan should show them that the transitional period is over: in words.and deeds. And pressure them to abide by the mandate or leave Somalia.

KISMAYO, Somalia - Tensions are rising over events at the Somali port city of Kismayo where Kenyan troops liberated the town from al-Shabaab militants. The Somali president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, accused the troops of misbehaving and supporting secession. Kenyan troops drove out al-Shabaab from Kismayo last September in a daring night-time assault on the city, and were assisted by Somali fighters, with their biggest support coming from a local militia called Ras Komboni. Almost eight months on, those same Kenyan soldiers find themselves in a difficult position. Last week, a conference voted in militia leader Ahmed Madobe as president of Jubaland which was meant to be an independent state, including southern Somalia and Kismayo, similar to the semi-autonomous regions of Somaliland and Puntland. However since the conference, five more people have staked their claims to rule the supposed new state, and many Somalis condemned the formation of Jubaland, calling it unconstitutional. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's criticised Kenya's involvement in the matter saying that the troops in Kismayo were operating outside their mandate, and accused them of supporting Ahmed Madobe's presidency. Kenya's army responded, saying those allegations were in bad taste and regional groups were calling for a reconciliation conference. This spat could mean far-reaching consequences for Somalia, and could detract investors to a country busy recovering from decades of war. At worst, it could see the Somali government demanding a withdrawal of AMISOM's troops. Source: enca.com http://hiiraan.com/news4/2013/May/29550/video_somali_leader_accuses_kenyan_troops_of_secession.aspx

Garissa traders warn against backing Madobe A group of businessmen in Nairobi yesterday said the government will not win the fight against insecurity in Garissa and Wajir. The businessmen said unless the state is non-partisan on the ongoing war in Somali, the two counties will remain insecure. They claim that the Kenyan government is favouring Jubaland’s “President” Ahmed Mohammed Islan, also known as Sheikh Madobe or General Madobe. The businessman, led by Sheikh Ahmed Abdullahi said as long as the government continues “handling Madobe with gloves”, peace will never prevail in Garrissa and Wajir. “The Kenyan government must be non-partisan when dealing with the alleged Presidents of Jubaland, whether it is Madobe or Barre Aden Shire who also claims to be elected,” Sheikh Ahmed said. “The government should work hand in hand with the federal government led by Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.” The Sheikh said supporting anyone other than Mohamud will expose Kenyans to many and unnecessary incidents of insecurity. “The government of Kenya under President Uhuru should stop dealing with the alleged “mini- presidents” who want nothing good for the people,” the Sheikh said. He said Madobe and Shire only want to control the lucrative Port of Kismayu where they want to further their business interests. Sheikh Ahmed said Kenya is in a very difficult position because it has to defend itself on many of its borders therefore security is spread thinly. “It is a difficult task dealing with militant elements who have taken the population hostage,” he said. The Sheikh said it is not a secret that Garissa is home to a lucrative contraband business where smuggled goods find their way through Somalia and the porous borders. He said some of the violence witnessed in Garissa may be a result of turf wars among local kingpins. http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-121631/garissa-traders-warn-against-backing-madobe

Kenyans are playing with fire and risk halting and reverse the gains against Alshabab. They should stop the political interference and stick to peacekeeping mission in the region.

Well played President Barre Hiraale I must say.

Jacpher;954813 wrote: We've seen this riwaayad before. Muqdisho blaming others on its leadership failures. This is not about leadership failures. This is about a foreign army in Somalia thats suppose to be under amisom umbrella following their own agenda and causing problems for the somali goverment.

Cheapshots asides, The defence minister is in Sudan for the interest of Somalia. He was brought in by Farmaajo and have kept his job since then. In other words, he is doing pretty good.

Somali MPs have accused Kenyan forces of refusing to protect them during a a fact-finding mission in southern city of Kismayo. A group of 10 parliamentarians began their mission on 16 May, seeking to find out what has led to a spat of political infighting in the capital of Jubaland. The southern port city of Kismayo has been tense for some weeks now. Nine days ago the local assembly named former Islamist warlord Ahmed Madobe president of Jubaland, much to the annoyance of Mogadishu . Two days later two other men declared themselves president of the region. Mogadishu then dispatched a fact-finding mission to the city, which has suffered from clan violence since the start of Somalia’s civil over two decades ago. Members of the mission on Friday accused Kenyan forces (KDF) that are part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) of acting biasedly after they withdrew security support. “Today we have had an incident with KDF forces when they refused to provide security to the Somalia members of parliament in Kismayo," one of the MPs, Abdirahman Hoosh Jibril, told RFI. "Removing security support will put the lives of MPs at risk and that is very worrying in this part of the country where there is still a threat causing al-Shebab and some other elements.” Members of the mission have also accused the Kenyan forces of siding with the self-declared administration led by Madobe. Kismayo was liberated by African Union troops last year. Fighters with the radical Islamist group, al-Shebab had controlled the city for several years using the port to import weapons. The worry is that unless the current political instability is resolved, Somalia’s second largest city could return to the violence of the recent past.

Sharif won't be back but I'm sure Farmaajo will be there next election with his Tayo Party.

Statement of H.E. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President of the Federal Republic of Somalia 22nd Extra-Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of IGAD 24 May 2013, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia H. E. Hailemariam Desalegn, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Current IGAD Chairperson of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of IGAD H.E. Ismail Omar Gelle, President of the Republic of Djibouti H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta, President of the Republic of Kenya H.E. Yawori Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda H. E. Amb (Eng.) Mahboub Maalim, IGAD Executive Secretary H.E. Erests Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the AU Commission Excellencies and Distinguished participants; Ladies and Gentleman; Mr. Chairman. It is an honor to be here with you today. Let me take this opportunity to thank the People and the Government of Ethiopia for hosting this important 22nd Extra-Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of IGAD and the 50th Anniversary of the African Union. I also thank Ethiopia for the warm welcome accorded to me and my delegation here in Addis Ababa. I also want to thank IGAD Executive Secretary and the Secretariat for organizing this timely and important Summit. Having this meeting twice within the month of May shows our collective commitments and dedication on Somalia. Happy Birthday to all on our special occasion that we are celebrating our 50th Anniversary of the African Union and most importantly, it is time to look forward over the next 50 years and set a course to develop the Africa that our people so richly deserve. Combined under our leadership, we have the potential to make the 21st century, Africa’s century. Somalia has been at the heart of the African Union since its inauguration. As one of the founding fathers, we are proud to stand here today emerging from decades of trauma, supported by you all. This is the spirit of the African Union today. A community of nations who stand side by side and find our own solutions to our problems. On behalf of the Federal Government and the people of Somalia, Let me begin to express my gratitude and appreciation to IGAD member States for their relentless efforts, dedication and sacrifices to assist Somalia in bringing peace and stability. In Particular your attendance, solidarity, support and standing shoulder to shoulder with me during the recent Somalia Conference in London, is hugely welcome and I cannot thank you enough for that. I hope that you will also come to Japan to attend the special meeting on Somalia on 31st May 2013 that the Prime Minister of Japan and I will co-chair. Excellencies, Since our last meeting there have been developments in Somalia such as the London Conference on 7th May, our continual discussions on issues that matter to all of us, the IGAD Confidence Building Mission to Mogadishu and Kismayo and today’s meeting of IGAD Council of Ministers. I have no doubt that our collective desire to achieve our common goals will prevail. Your commitment and sustained company in support of our agendas, policies and priorities is more critical now than ever with an aim to see an end of the events in Somalia. Once again I thank AMISOM contributing countries and Ethiopia for truly sending their soldiers to Somalia. Without your sacrifices, we would not have defeated Al-Shabaab. The threat posed by Al-Shabaab, which is Al-Qaeda affiliate in the horn of Africa is a local, regional and global, which needs regional and global solution. A true mission that we started together must be accomplished by all of us. My government whole heartedly supported the recent IGAD communiqué on 3 May and its five agreed principles, which clearly spells out how IGAD leaders are committed to supporting the Federal Government of Somalia’s National Stabilization Plan. We value greatly the role of IGAD in order for us to lead the stabilization of the country and to bring peace and stability. As I said before My Government is aggressively engaged in outreach programmes, and to further our previous political outreach we have recently sent a committee from the cabinet and the parliament to Kismayo on 15 May 2013 to initiate dialogue with the local stakeholders. However, AMISOM contingent in the area did not treat the committee well. Excellencies, In our last meeting I mentioned the need to transform the culture of impunity, the culture of lawlessness and the culture of adapting 22 years without functioning state authority. For this end, I regret to inform you that Kismayo process unilaterally made declarations which created dispute of the outcome, insecurity in Kismayo and demonstrations against the outcome of the conference. This unilateral decision is what we have been warning for sometime as our people cannot afford another conflict. We wish that they would have listened to us as what we have been offering was a cohesive, inclusive, reconciliation based process to lay down the foundation of locally owned administrations. This process in Kismayo is done against the spirit of the constitution, without the government leadership, lacks inclusivity. This type of outcome may help Al-Shabaab to take advantage of the grievances of some of the stakeholders. My government is ready and committed to hold a genuine reconciliation conference to key stakeholders in the Jubba regions in order to devise program and plans to establish interim administrations that can lead to the formation of Federal Unit States in accordance with the provisional constitution. The Federal Government of Somalia is mandated to represent the interest of all Somali people those who are silent and powerless as they look for the Federal Government to safeguard their constitutional rights. Excellencies, The culture that formed for the last 2 decades in Somalia due to lack of functioning state is for everyone and every group to claim the rightful representation of the Somali people. The International Community also adopted a culture to be neutral to all groups. We can understand when it comes to humanitarian situations; however, we need to look the situation through different lenses when it comes to politics. Nevertheless, the International Community put energy, commitment and time to overcome this culture by hosting conferences to get legitimate authority that can speak for the people of Somalia. We are ever grateful for this commitment which in the end resulted the ending of the transition to a legitimate and permanent government in Somalia. All these commitments and energy that the international community and in particular the IGAD member states put to Somalia resulted representative and all inclusive federal institutions from all walks of life and regions in Somalia. I therefore, would like to strongly emphasize the importance of this as some of the International Community is still giving wrong signals to some groups or regions in Somalia. This will only create more problems to the prolonged political fragmentation that we are trying so hard to solve. My government is committed to implementing our mandated priorities which include the development of the constitution and the implementation of the Federal system in Somalia. Excellencies, There is no silver bullet and there are no quick fix solutions in Somalia, as the issues we are dealing with are complex and sensitive which require holistic approaches to overcome. We have to be pragmatic and realize that we cannot solve all the ills of the society in one day. Rome wasn’t built a day. State and Nation building in Somalia are very delicate which require time, space, understanding and consensus that our people is desperately in need. So what is the solution to the setting up of Regional Administrations in Somalia? Excellencies, The Federal Government sent a committee to Kismayo to start dialogue and reconciliation based on a roadmap that outlines the way forward until a federal unit is established in these regions. Although Kismayo process produced unilateral decision that undermines the spirit of the provisional constitution, the legitimacy of the Federal Government, inclusivity of local stakeholders and the guidance of the 5 principles of IGAD as per the IGAD communiqué on 3rd May 2013, the Federal Government of Somalia is persistently remain open for dialogue and leadership of a broad-based process that is transparent and inclusive of all local stakeholders. In conclusion, Excellencies, I would like to thank IGAD Secretariat for their quick response to deploy the IGAD trust building mission to Mogadishu and Kismayo. We welcome the recommendations of the mission. Finally, I would like to thank H.E. Hailemariam Desalegn, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia for hosting this wonderful summit, as well as to IGAD Secretariat for organizing this summit and I hope that it will not be a long time before we hold these meetings in Mogadishu in the near future. Thank you.

By Geoffrey Mosoku Nairobi, Kenya: Kenya has been asked to rethink its support for the self-declared state of Jubaland in southern Somalia as the region and the Federal governments squabble. The situation has further been compounded with warlords drawn from various declaring themselves president. A group of Kenyan businessmen warned that Kenya’s security is likely to be once again threatened if the region returns to the hands of Al Shabaab, with fighting reported in parts of the south after six men declared themselves president. The group told the government to remain neutral in mediating a solution of the emerging conflict between Jubaland and the Federal Government; which is reluctant to recognize an independent Juba state. The new conflict between the Somali Federal Government and Jubaland is likely to crop up today in Addis Ababa during the ongoing AU heads of State meeting. Somali president Sheikh Hassan is set to meet President Uhuru Kenyatta to discuss the matter. The business community said Jubaland is likely to experience a new wave of insecurity as the war-lords seek to control the port of Kismayu with its effects likely to spill over to Kenya. “Currently there is high insecurity in parts of North eastern and Garissa in specific. All this is caused by the happenings in South Somali,” Abdi Hajji who is a Garissa based businessman said. Hajji told reporters in Nairobi that the wave of insecurity in Garissa and other regions such as Wajir is a cause of conflict in the South. Ahmed Mohamed Islam alias Sheikh Madobe of the ******, who was Kenya’s key ally during the incursion against Al Shabab last year was elected President at Kismayu university. http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/m/story.php?articleID=2000084275&story_title=kenya-cautioned-over-new-somalia-crisis

Historic win for SFG and this will outline how the the governance will be implemented. Not the report itself but rather the coming actions from the SFG. I'm happy about this and IGAD fully understands the dangers in undermining the Federal goverment.

Lol:D Not even SL is that unresonable and they control their area. You really think this isolation strategy is gonna work for raskamboni who is Kismayo by the grace of KDF? I smell a political checkmate is on the horizon in favour of SFG..

May 23, 2013 • His Excellency Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon today praised parliament’s decision to withdraw a planned no-confidence vote in the government and updated ministers on recent progress on Jubaland and ongoing discussions with Somaliland at the weekly Cabinet meeting. Commenting on recent events in parliament, the Prime Minister praised the lawmakers’ responsiveness to public concerns.“First of all, parliament has an absolute democratic right to hold our government to account and it is quite right for it to do so in this manner. I welcome the decision lawmakers have taken to withdraw the no-confidence vote because they listened to the people’s concerns, they heard the public outcry, and the demand that the vote be stopped. They recognized that this would be a step backwards towards the chaos of the past. The Prime Minister congratulated Somalis for making their voice heard during recent days and convincing parliament to change its mind. He said it demonstrated a welcome and newfound political maturity and showed the world that Somalis could resolve their own problems without relying on foreign intervention. “This experience gives us a new momentum. It has been an important education for the government, providing an invaluable lesson about how to deal with a crisis by working closely with parliament to resolve it. I pay tribute to our political colleagues on all sides who came together to resolve their differences, and reached a Somali solution for a Somali problem, without the customary international intervention. It is a really encouraging sign of political maturity. And we know we need to deliver.” Updating the Cabinet on the situation with Jubaland, the Prime Minister said he completely shared the region’s desires to build a federal state and reiterated the government position that this process needs to evolve within the constitutional framework. He had sent a delegation of parliamentarians and a government minister to Kismayo to discuss reconciliation and a way forward on state formation. “Let me be quite clear about this. As a government we want a united, federal, stable Somalia. We support reconciliation, we support the fight against Al Shabaab, we want Jubaland to become a federal state but this must happen in a legal way according to the constitution. This is what must be our guiding principle at all times. Look at what we are doing with regard to Somaliland. Negotiations are ongoing and we are looking forward to more progress at the talks in Turkey month. It is all happening in the proper manner.” Source: Office of the PM Horseed Media

Good call by IGAD. Well done mudane Hassan shiekh and mudane Saacid Shirdoon.

No. Why should I? On the contrary, im feeling like helping these people to make their voice heard. Im not the one who should be ashamed buddy. Neither I nor them believes in Kenya dictacting in Somalia.

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Protests in Kismayo against IGAD, Kenya and warlord Madoobe. The protester are calling upon the Somali president to solve this issue. " frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

The demo in support of the PM:

xiinfaniin;953187 wrote: Dabrow what happened to Barre , I thought he was your president in Jubba ? No one worries about Xoosh, he will catch the next plane to Xamar , Kismayo he does not like President Barre is doing Good xiin but he is busy in getting those kenyans out. Remember he is your president aswell.

LOL@the badmouthing of xoosh. Our Kenya supporters here need to learn to adress issues and not insult a somali lawmaker because he has different stand on this important issue.

Now when this is out of the way. The goverment can focus on things that matters and can improve the lifes of Somalis back home. Indeed good news.