Senior militia commander Ahmed Mohamed Islam, better known as Sheikh Madobe, declared himself president of a self-declared autonomous state known as Jubaland. Credit: Abdurrahman Warsameh /IPS

By Abdurrahman Warsameh
MOGADISHU, May 31 2013 (IPS)

Attempts by clan elders and militia commanders in southern Somalia to form an autonomous state, without the consent of the central government but with the apparent backing of foreign countries, remains a dangerous, destabilising element in the region, say analysts.

“Jubaland has all the dangerous elements necessary to kick the stabilisation plan of the liberated territories down like a sand castle,” Abukar Arman, a former diplomat and widely-published political analyst, told IPS. He was speaking of towns and regions in this Horn of African nation that were recently liberated from Al-Shabaab control by regional troops.

On May 15, the senior militia commander Ahmed Mohamed Islam, better known as Sheikh Madobe, declared himself president of a self-declared autonomous state known as Jubaland, which comprises the Lower and Middle Juba provinces as well as the Gedo region. The latter borders Kenya.

Islam is said to have close ties with Kenyan forces stationed in the key port city of Kismayo, which is the commercial capital of Jubaland.

Two more local warlords – Barre Hiiraale and Omar Burale Ahmed – were also named as presidents of Jubaland by their respective clan-based supporters.

The Somali government refused to recognise any of the “presidents”.

Somalia is still recovering from almost two decades of war, and large parts of the country were once under siege by the Islamist rebel group Al-Shabaab. However, with the help of regional forces, the Somali government was able to recapture some key points in the country in 2012.

On May 24, in an effort to defuse the brewing tension between the Somali federal government and authorities in Jubaland, the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) urged the Somali government to convene a reconciliation conference in Mogadishu. IGAD recommended that the Somali government form an interim administration for the region.

The move comes after a mission sent by IGAD – which comprises eight Horn of Africa countries – reported its findings to a meeting of the bloc’s heads of states and governments in Addis Ababa. The regional grouping has been overseeing the situation in southern Somalia since Kenyan troops, who are part of the African Union Mission in Somalia, ousted Al-Shabaab from the region in 2012.

Since then, efforts by militia leaders allied with Kenya have been underway to form the autonomous administration of Jubaland.

Arman said that Somalia was faced with “armed militias, clan lords and foreign (intruders with) competing interests,” as well as an ambiguous constitution that did not clearly specify how federal states would be formed and that deferred some of the key issues.

The Somali government has voiced its discontent about the formation of any administration in the area from the outset, and described the process as “unconstitutional”, stating that it would create tribal divisions.

Abdirashid Hashi, deputy director of the Mogadishu-based Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, an independent think-tank, disagrees with Arman about the position of the constitution. He said that the constitution is “very clear” on the formation of federal Somali states.

“It’s the politicking, obfuscation and doubletalk of politicians that creates and fuels the ongoing drama,” Hashi told IPS in Mogadishu.

With regard to how federal states will be formed, Article 49 of the Provisional National Constitution (PNC) stipulates that “the number and boundaries of the regional states shall be determined by parliament.”

However, before determining the number and boundaries of the federal member states, parliament is required to nominate a national commission tasked with studying the issue. According to the PNC, the commission has to submit a report of its findings and recommendations.

But since the constitution was endorsed almost a year ago, no such national commission has been formed.

Article 49 (6) of the PNC seems to further complicate matters, as it states that “based on a voluntary decision, two or more regions may merge to form a federal member state.”  This is where the bone of contention lies.

It appears that, on one hand, the constitution gives the authority to form autonomous states to the 18 regions. But on the other hand, it calls on parliament to determine the number and boundaries of autonomous states the country will have.

Mohamod Hubey, a constitutional lawyer in Mogadishu, said the constitution is ambiguous regarding the sensitive issue of federalism in Somalia, but adds that the differences can be overcome if parties are willing to cooperate.

“The issue of federalism is a sensitive one as it is not clear-cut in the constitution which region will form a state with which, and clan balance in each region is not uniform, but all these can be resolved if there is will on the part of those concerned,” Hubey told IPS.

The perception that foreign involvement is complicating the Jubaland issue is widespread.

“Kenya for a while wanted to establish in southern Somalia a buffer zone administrated by friendly locals. Hence its support for the creation of Jubaland,” Hubey said.

Kenya has repeatedly dismissed these claims as “baseless and unfounded” and says that its troops are in Somalia to enhance stability in the region.

Nonetheless, many Somalis see Kenyan involvement in their country as being beyond security concerns.

The southern part of Somalia is strategic, rich in resources – particularly marine resources – and agriculture. It is also where the port city of Kismayo, the third-largest city in Somalia, and a potential commercial hub, is located, said Hashi

He added that many interpret “Kenya’s bellicose posturing on the Jubaland issue” as having to do with the oil deposits around the Somali coast. In 2012 there was controversy and some tension between the two nations when Kenya allegedly awarded exploration contracts in contested waters.

“Some even go as far as to claiming that there are concerted international schemes aimed at swindling Somalia out of its territorial waters and the oil under it,” Hashi told IPS.

Mohamed Ibrahim Rageh, a journalist who worked for state media, was killed in Mogadishu on Apr. 22, 2013. Analysts say that Somalia cannot protect its officials, let alone journalists. Credit: Abdurrahman Warsameh/IPS

By Abdurrahman Warsameh
MOGADISHU, Apr 29 2013 (IPS)

When journalist Mohamed Ibrahim Rageh was shot by unknown assailants outside his home in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Apr. 22, his name was added to a list of four journalists who have been killed in this Horn of Africa nation since January.

Last year, 18 members of the media were killed across the country, according to figures from the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) – the country’s largest.

But despite efforts by the Somali government, which earlier this year offered a reward of 50,000 dollars for information leading to the arrest and conviction of persons involved in the murder of reporters, analysts say that Somalia cannot protect its officials, let alone journalists.

Abdirashid Hashi, the deputy director of the Mogadishu-based Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, a non-profit policy research and analysis institute, says there is not much that the Somali government can do for the media.

“Frankly, I do not think that the government is going to do, or is able to do, anything special for any professional group, like journalists. It cannot do anything for its members of parliament, government employees, or National Security Service operatives who are killed day in and day out in Mogadishu. The government can only improve the general security,” Hashi tells IPS.

On Apr. 14, 30 people were killed in bombings near Mogadishu’s courthouse. And in March, a suicide car bomb meant for Mogadishu’s security chief Khalif Ahmed Ereg exploded near the presidential palace, killing 10 people, including a journalist. Ereg was not injured. The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for both attacks.

While the Islamist extremist group has not claimed responsibility for the death of reporters here, it does maintain that those working for government media are “legitimate targets.”

Rageh, who worked for state broadcasters Radio Mogadishu and Somalia National Television, was shot several times as he stood at the gate of his home in Dharkenley district, western Mogadishu.

He died immediately, in front of his family. There have been no arrests.

His friend and colleague, Mohamed Nur Amiin, tells IPS: “We don’t know who will be next and who is targeting us. I leave my house everyday not knowing if I will return safely. And neither does my family know (if I will return).”

According to Reporters Without Borders, an NGO that protects the rights of media workers, Somalia is “one of the world’s most dangerous places for journalists.”

A reporter based in Galkayo town in central Somalia, who sought anonymity because he fears for his life, tells IPS by phone: “We place our trust in Allah because we don’t know who is killing us and why we are being targeted. And that is the worst part of it.”

But Hashi says that a lack of adequate resources, scarcely competent government personnel and an absence of effective security institutions are hampering the government’s efforts to improve security in the country.

He says that the insecurity is “part and parcel” of the situation in Somalia and that the media “need to try their best to stay safe as they are on their own, like most of us.”

But Rageh’s murder has resulted in renewed calls for an investigation into the assassinations of reporters here. According to NUSOJ and other international media watchdogs, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), more than 50 reporters have been killed in Somalia since 1992.

“The government has made a firm pledge to root out the perpetrators who target journalists, and now is the time to honour that commitment by ensuring those responsible for Mohamed’s (Rageh) death are brought to book,” said CPJ East Africa consultant Tom Rhodes in a recent press release.

Few cases involving the murder of Somali reporters are brought to court and, to date, no one has been convicted.

Last February the government launched the Independent Task Force on Human Rights to tackle the “culture of impunity” over rights abuses, and “investigate the broadest range of human rights abuses, including the organised killing of journalists and sexual violence against women.”

The new body has a three-month mandate and will produce a report at the end of its term.

But the country’s NUSOJ says they were never consulted on the setting up of the task force and that it is “a mere PR exercise on the part of the government.”

Numerous calls by IPS to Somali government officials remained unanswered and those who did respond refused to explain the status of the body or its investigation.

Hassan Muunye, a political commentator in Mogadishu, says an independent investigation into the murder of reporters is required.

“We hear these calls (for an investigation) from every corner of the world every time a journalist is murdered in Somalia, but nothing seems to be done by the Somali government. Weak as it may be in its capacity to investigate, we have never heard it asking for help to protect journalists,” Muunye tells IPS.

Muunye says despite “the bravery of Somali journalists and their determination to tell the truth,” the ongoing murders of media members here could slowly lead to the silencing of reporters from this part of the world. He says that the killings are “the death of nascent democracy” in Somalia.

NUSOJ secretary general, Mohamed Ibrahim, says Rageh’s murder is another episode in “the nightmare” that Somali reporters live through.

“We have called upon the government to launch an independent investigation into the murders of our colleagues but so far we don’t see any concrete actions by the government,” Ibrahim tells IPS.

Despite the persistent danger to their lives, many journalists say they continue to work in the hope that they will make a positive contribution to their communities.

One journalist from Mogadishu tells IPS: “I have dreamed of doing stories that touch people’s lives and that is what I am doing for the people. I know the price and I am prepared to pay it because it is worth it.”