This comes while Australian foreign minister and recent prime minister Kevin Rudd tours famine refugees in TFG-controlled territory in the Gedo region Aust provides extra $20m famine aid July 25, 2011 - 8:24AM AAP Dolo, Somalia • Australia will provide an additional $20 million emergency humanitarian support for the 11.6 million people affected by famine in the Horn of Africa. That takes Australia's total commitment to the crisis to more than $80 million. Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd on Sunday visited the Gedo region in southern Somalia, one of the worst affected areas in the crisis "There are more than half a million Somalis in the refugee camps, and 50,000 arrived last month alone with nearly half of the children under five starving," he said in a statement. Mr Rudd, who is travelling with World Food Program (WFP) executive director Josette Sheeran, saw first hand the difficulty in delivering aid to the region. He praised WFP and other humanitarian agencies working in difficult conditions, saying operations in Somalia were among the highest risk in the world. "Tragically, since 2008, 14 WFP relief workers have been killed there," he said. Mr Rudd said the additional Australian support would help the WFP scale up its operations to assist an additional 2.2 million people in the previously inaccessible south of the country. The UN estimates total humanitarian needs to respond to this crisis to be around $US1.8 billion ($A1.7 billion), of which only one half is funded now. © 2011 AAP http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/aust-provides-extra-20m-famine-aid-20110725-1hvxr.html

Shabab leaders in Gedo have broken with Godane/Dheere to allow foreign aid to stream in to Shabab-held territory in the region a day after Dheere reiterated foreign aid is not allowed in Shabab territory: Food aid distributed in rebel-run Somalia (AFP) – 22 hours ago NAIROBI — The International Committee of the Red Cross said Sunday it had distributed 400 tonnes of food aid in rebel-controlled southern Somalia, which has been hit by a devastating drought. "The ICRC on Saturday distributed 400 tonnes of food aid in Gedo province for 4,000 families or about 24,000 people," ICRC spokesman Yves Van Loo told AFP in Nairobi. "The distribution look place in the Bardera district and passed without incident, with the knowledge of the authorities and the recipients," he added. It is the first ICRC-led food drop directly to locals in zones under the control of the Shebab insurgents since 2009, the spokesman added. Each family was due to get about 100 kilogrames of food, including 20 litres of oil, more than 20 kilos of rice, and beans. Further food distributions of the same kind will take place in the coming days, the spokesman said. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gzbnXX1HN1HtRWdqcKEcCmv0VxIA?docId=CNG.ea533d48f15f37d2fc7eb24ddb07ad35.b01

I recognize the Finance Minister, Dr Cabdulnaasir Maxamed Cabdulle; a family friend and a close distant relative. He was in the midst of a masters program in agricultural development in the US at the beginning of the civil war and has then subsequently went on to attain a PhD in Economics at the Utah State University. He is a pragmatic nationalist and well educated in the sort of economic development that is appropriate for Somalia's socio-economic situation. The Premier has done a good job naming him to this suitable post.

In the span of a year and half which equates to merely the size of a grain particle in the Somali civil war's aging time frame. You are playing into the whimsical nature of present politics Xiin, which dents the political respect I have built up for you.

Xiin- You seem stuck on the status quo and your observations are a disappointment. As a pragmatist, you should be able to look at the history, particularly the recent TFG history, and then realize you are merely in the eye of the storm. I neither have respect for, nor appreciation, for Sakiin or Sharif or their supposed "awe-inspiring politics". They are but two unworthy occupants whose tenure is temporary. Abdullahi Yusuf, who admittedly I do not like very much, but consider a class act with respect to his political maneuverings was president for four years and still saw being boot kicked out one morning.

Abwaan;731074 wrote: lol...Gabbal. Aan kula kaftamee, I never heard you say this when Farmaajo was here or inaugurated....Were these guys educated back then and not know? Su'aashaas ma tu ka danbaysaa Cadde Muuse garaadadiisa musuqmaasuq ayuu ku helay? No offense brother, but ilaahay haku samatabixiyo. Qof qabyaalad gaar ha ku salaysan tahay ayaad iila ekayd teer iyo su'aashaa ka danbaysay. As for these guys that you talk about, it is not a lie I did support Maslah as president but even then knew Sheikh Sharif would be president and since then I have watched the TFG carefully and if I felt Farmaajo was the best hope, then that is a hope I shared with the Mogadishu mothers who protested in the streets. The same mother's aspirations you declined in favor of Sakiin and Sheikh Sharif's corruption. To be honest I have read a couple of your responses welcoming the professor and I never thought even one was genuine as well as watched your response demeaning the populist protest for Farmaajo in Mogadishu protests. As for the professor, I know him personally. I am confident in his Somalinimo and his objectives. I do realize, and I know the guy as smart as he is he also realizes, both the illiterates, whether Sakiin who did not pass 5th grade as well as Sheikh Sharif, whose only redeeming factor was his supposed ability to negotiate with the Islamists as a former ICU head, have no desire in true and transparent Somali governance.

Abwaan, cidina aqoon ku bari mayso walaa reer walaa dawlad walaa ciday doonto ha ahaato. Odeyga hala ii daayo ayaan idin dahay.

Two illiterates looking over a professor. They then ask what is wrong with Somalia.

Oodweyne hala ii daayo, waa nin danta guud ee Somali la haboon nala garanayee.

Duke might have a history, but then again who does not? I do not really understand the logic that says Duke must oppose the new Premier to seem genuine when the reality is opposite. The new Premier is the best case scenario and any decent Somali should be supporting him and giving him more "people power" to do away with the circumstance that saw his position opened up; namely opposing corruption.

SomaliCan is a most excellent Somali organization. They were recently honored by the US State Department for their contribution to immigrant life in the US. Abdinuur deserves all the accolades he gets.

Truthfully I do not expect much. We are in a lame duck situation where his announcement as Premier could be the only highlight. The man's arms and legs are tied.

The next step should be to have equally educated men in the posts of president and speaker of parliament, and even leaner parliament with parliamentarians who are just as well educated.

Perhaps so Oodweyne, but in the duration, I am fairly confident in my assessment.

A.Khadar- Oodweyne himself is among those who vehemently opposes Siilaanyo based on perceived utuno derived from the 1995 inter-clan wars in the northwestern regions. His lackluster care or support for the current administration is but the tip of the iceberg.

Good job on the appointment of the professor. One can say that although the Kampala Accord is the defining platform of the day and drastically limits the ability of whatever Prime Minister implements it, the appointment of Abdiwali is better than anything else that could have transpired vis-a-vis new PM. As for the ministers, the president owns the responsibility of naming half while the corrupt speaker has the legitimacy given to him by the Kampala Accord to name the other half, but Abdiwali's appointment signifies that at least half of the ministers will be from the team that was celebrated and not the same tired regurgitated career politicians.

Xiin, that is a most excellent encapsulation if I may say so myself. The argument put forward by Ngonge and Oodweyne does not exist. One would be apt to call it a red herring which is why if Ngonge truly wants to understand what got those "islaamo" into the streets, he should go back and look at my bicycle analogy and realize the fallacious nature of the critique he put forward. Oodweyne, you are merely after a spar of words, not an honest deliberation of substantive exchange.

Oodweyne, not clannish bigotry against Farmaajo per se but regional bias. Seeing as that your region cannot be separated from tribal sauteing, I felt an explanation of tribal politicking was warranted in your camp's perspective (single tribe-Hargeisa) vs. the other camp's perspective (total sum of tribes-Somalia). Why is that only your Hargeisa folk have a position while all others have a different position? Therein lies the conundrum, but I digress; I have made my point. Your inability to understand the populist movement in Somalia (as the secessionists see it) merely highlights the limitations of your own assumptions concerning the existing realities. It does not point to a weakness in the majority's expressed opinion in this topic. That you think so is attributable to your usual misplaced arrogance derived from pair of glasses that are a wee bit too tinted for society's liking.

Good on them. Now we have Sharif Hassan trying to bring back the career politicians of previous governments to replace these men who have shown they have the interest of the public in mind.

I tried to placate the existing reality of the topic as a result of the protestations from the very same culprits in the heart of the naysaying, but there can be denying that good Oodweyne's participation now completes the circle jerk sort of bolstering that is coming from one group and only one group; the Somaliland supporters. Is it an irony that they just so happen to be the only negative contributors in this topic? Well I say go figure. Personally, I find it exceedingly refreshing that those who willingly call themselves reer Somalia citizenry, be they tribe X or tribe Z or otherwise, clearly seem to be on the same page for once in the annals of our 20 year discord and are giving an admirable cyber representation of the sort of shared nationhood and unity displayed by worldwide Somalis in the last couple weeks; which we are all in agreement was brought upon by the government recently brought down immaturely. As for good Oodweyne accusing anyone of passing chunk to gold; well let us just say it rather happens to be one of the more "rich" statements produced yet considering the man's spanning contributory exercise delivered in this forum. It is beneath me to rehash some of your rather colorful periods of existence in this forum but I shall say the hope in the unseen, others may perhaps label it grandiose delusions, continues to be with us through your presence. May I also give a final attempt to explain just why both you and Ngonge are showing Western-bred ignorance (you would be apt not to consider it the lesser of two accusations) or typical and despondent tribal politicking in dual-motivated defense of your tribal bantustan (good Ngonge even saw fit to compare Siilaanyo to Farmaajo and his cabinet!). As simple as this comparison may be, when a child is learning to ride a bike, you do not justify the success of the child's achievements by how able the individual can be able to succeed in the Tour de France but rather the progressive steps the child takes to learn how to sit on the bike, how to wean them self off of training wheels, and how to ride the bike without any sort of hand or accommodation. We are discussing Somalia here gentlemen, which I believe will equate to redundancy if I were to reiterate just what that very statement entails. The situation is clear I assume on your parts as well. Yet here comes a team (I wouldn't just single out Farmaajo as his team is part and parcel of his dynamism) who, for the first time, have taken steps completely bi-polar to steps taken in the complete sum of Somalia's civil war annals and have achieved the respect of the common man, irrespective of tribal belonging, walking Somalia's streets. Yet Ngonge and Oodweyne sit here as spoiled pessimists opining from the comforts of Europe and declare the response of the populace as misguided and totally unwarranted as the child is not yet participating in the Tour de France! What a simple minded and totally ignorant perspective truly. Again, I bring to you the words of Yam-yam in the second page of this topic, spoken 18 years ago at the first Somali reconciliation conference announcing to the stakeholders gathered at that venue "the country has entered a new period, basks in trying times, the situation is difficult, where oath taking requires bringing your own chairs and working from sunrise to sunset, without pay". Any steps taken to unite the public and instill in them shared nationhood, to fight against corruption, to see that civil society is empowered, that soldiers and workers get their salary continuously and on time (even if those finances are donated at this juncture in Somali state history) instead of being pocketed by corrupt bureaucrats, etc etc etc are steps with which Somalis will judge admirably and instil respect, endorsement, and support; response which are at the very heart of the critique attempted by this topic. Somalia's situation and its civil war history has set the bar so low that the rather humble steps taken by the previous government are impressive and awe-inspiring in their own regard. This is what escapes your narrow-minded and Western bred ignorance in labeling the public response as undeserved "valediction...of political accomplishment". As for what I labeled despondent tribal politicking on your parts, call it an attempt to explain the response of one camp vs. the many camps. It may not necessarily be a causation, but it definitely seems to be a correlation. It could just be that you, as Somaliland secessionist supporters, are not as emotionally invested and are unable to see the small signs of hope and socio-politico evolution that we, invested in Somalia's situation, have seen. I will leave that as some sort of consolation to you if the tribal hypothesis is too much to stomach on your part. Lastly, Ngonge you would be apt to cease comparing euphoria based on expectation to euphoria based on achievement. This is the third time you have remarked on the celebrations concerning Sheikh Sharif's naming as president and even went as far as to say "Norf too was euphoric during that time" in your attempt to compare it to the response to the recent resignation of the Premier. One euphoria was based on what Sheikh Sharif could have represented whereas the latter euphoria was based on what was actually representative. The deeds could be achieved vs. the deeds have been achieved and we want to see its continuation. I trust you will not make that mistake again.

Norf, you are showing a petty side I have not seen from you before. No one was remarking on Ngonge's Somaliland background per se but rather his avid support for the entity's secessionism as well as his recent label of becoming the "spokesman" for the ruling regime there. Now you take that into consideration and look at his critique, you kind of have to question the underlying motivations before you address the substance of the question. Still, we have already come to an understanding. Even so, you have remarked with a stunningly condescending attitude towards the "islaamo" protesting and even when some of the reasons why this phenomenon occurred has been highlighted, you seem to stick with the petty nature of your response in this particular topic. Again; Angry Somali citizens and agitated members of parliament said Tuesday they fear the recent forced resignation of the country's Somali-American prime minister will allow government corruption to rise again, bringing back a time when soldiers went unpaid for months. Mohamed was seen as the rare honest politician in Mogadishu. ... The mother of six said her life has changed dramatically over the past six months. Three of her children have attended a free government-run school the former prime minister was responsible for opening . Her son joined the army after being encouraged by the government's renewed seriousness to care for its soldiers, and brings home about $150 a month. Mohamed "was like a rain after a long, drawn-out drought," said Ali. "It's been the best life I have seen for 20 years." Sadaat Mohamed Nur, the director of the department of planning and training at the Women's Ministry, said he received only two months of salary in 2009 and five months in 2010, but since Mohamed took office last fall, he has received regular pay. "I'm worried because the corruption can rear its head again," the 32-year-old said, adding that he put his plans to get married this year on hold "because I don't know what will happen next month." ... Mohamed Abdulqadir Mohamud, who works for a local organization called Aragti Relief and Development, said the deal was an affront to Mohamed's government, which cleaned up government institutions and started to deliver services. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/9705530 Just in that article, as gleaned from primary sources on the ground, soldiers were getting paid, children were attending new public schools, workers were getting their salaries, civil society was becoming empowered, corruption had been drastically reduced, and Somalis were realizing their shared nationhood which alluded 18 reconciliation conferences...all this in six months with a limited mandate and corrupt officials in the TFG fighting the reforms at every step. What is so hard to comprehend you feel the need to ask the same question over and over again despite the glaring reality on the ground?

Norf, indho adeegu ma fiicno. Look all around you in this topic.

As long as the TFG can be in a position where a speaker of parliament doesn't understand his job description and wants to meddle in the executive affairs or vice versa, the people shall never rise. The work started by Farmaajo and his cabinet of technocrats can continue and they can be in a position to design the political parameters of the post-transition as long as the interim prime minister is named the succeeding PM. If this occurs, I will rest a little better knowing Sharif Hassan and the other corrupt charlatans have exposed themselves completely and still have to deal with the team put in place by the recent PM. This wasn't just a war against a single individual but a war against a cohesive team who put the interests of the public before theirs.

Ngonge, my earlier post has been edited. Also I do extend apologies. Hindsight is 20/20 and looking back I notice my tone is somewhat combative. Still, it was more a response to your lack of empathy and sympathy to the causes which led the populace of Mogadishu to make their voices heard for the first time. His resignation is a disappointment but I am not completely blind to the sort of external, as well as internal, pressures that might have led to it. Also, I have just heard that if the current interim prime minister is named prime minister, he has vowed to name Farmaajo as deputy-prime minister in order to both keep his skills inside the TFG as well as keep him in the game in order to be in a position to succeed Sheikh Sharif as president come next year's presidential "elections." The story continues to unfold.

N.O.R.F;729783 wrote: ^ the man asked a simple question. Ama ka jawaab ama acknowledge Farmaajo didn't actually do much. Even I wondered what he acheived when I saw islaamo coming out supporting him. Ngonge, there was euphoria when Sheikh Sharif was elected. In Farmaajo's case the euphoria occured when he was asked to resign He didn't ask a simple or even an honest question. That you are the only person in this topic to give him credibility should give you a pause. Also, you are right in the difference of euphoria. People were ecstatic when Sheikh Sharif was elected whereas for Farmaajo it was when he was asked to resign. In your less then intelligent attempt at a political jab you have failed to see people were moved by what Sheikh Sharif could have represented whereas for Farmaajo it was what he represented. Euphoria after accomplishment is the substantive euphoria, not the euphoria based on expectation. What your Siilaanyo spokesman friend Ngonge here, opining from his private quarters somewhere in London, can never fully see is the story in Mogadishu streets: Angry Somali citizens and agitated members of parliament said Tuesday they fear the recent forced resignation of the country's Somali-American prime minister will allow government corruption to rise again, bringing back a time when soldiers went unpaid for months. Mohamed was seen as the rare honest politician in Mogadishu. ... The mother of six said her life has changed dramatically over the past six months. Three of her children have attended a free government-run school the former prime minister was responsible for opening. Her son joined the army after being encouraged by the government's renewed seriousness to care for its soldiers, and brings home about $150 a month. Mohamed "was like a rain after a long, drawn-out drought," said Ali. "It's been the best life I have seen for 20 years." Sadaat Mohamed Nur, the director of the department of planning and training at the Women's Ministry, said he received only two months of salary in 2009 and five months in 2010, but since Mohamed took office last fall, he has received regular pay. "I'm worried because the corruption can rear its head again," the 32-year-old said, adding that he put his plans to get married this year on hold "because I don't know what will happen next month." ... Mohamed Abdulqadir Mohamud, who works for a local organization called Aragti Relief and Development, said the deal was an affront to Mohamed's government, which cleaned up government institutions and started to deliver services. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/9705530 ^and thus why both you and him will fail to comprehend why those "islaamo" took to the streets.