The symposium was attended by representatives from deferent sections of the society such as; imams of mosques, school teachers, university lecturers, leaders of youth organizations, officials from the government of Somaliland especially; from the ministries of social affairs, youth and sports, labour and health and also young people who have experienced the problems of illegal migration and some from abroad.

The theme of the symposium was: The dangers of illegal migration, drug abuse and violence to the Somali youth.

At the opening of the symposium, the PS of the ministry of information of Somaliland; Mohamed Musa Diiriye talked about the importance of the youth to the society and the role entrusted in them.

Also at the opening ceremony a word of welcoming was said by the Hargeisa manager of Direct Aid; Mohamed Adan Askar and Alshahid centre consultant Dr. Mohamed Nuur Ga’al.

The theme of the first session was “The needs of the youth, their role in the community and the difference between legal and illegal migration.” And the attendants head a lecture from Khalid Adam Abdi, who in depth talked about the above issues using illustrations.

After a break of 30 minutes, the symposium resumed and in the second session the attendants heard from Mr. AbdiAziz Mohamed Yunis, an independent research who addressed the effects of drugs and violence. He lengthily talked about how drugs and violence has affected the productivity of the Somali youth.

‘Pastor’ John Kamau of Victory Church and two accomplices were plead not guilty to charges of being in possession of explosive materials and also plotting to bomb a No campaign rally in Mombasa . 

Appearing before Kibera Law Courts, the suspects plead not guilty and were freed on Ksh 500,000 bond.

The bomb had been made from ammonium nitrate. Police also recovered detonators.

It also emerged that the ‘pastor’ was also nominated councilor in Githunguri.

Amid the Referendum campaign country wide, Police say he was planning to travel to Mombasa, where churches had helped organize a rally for the “No” campaign.

 The church officials yesterday said that Kamau was ex-communicated three years ago.

Detectives from the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) have taken over investigations.

The ban affected two radio stations in Abudwaaq town, where Radio Abudwaaq and Radio Badbaado were ordered not to refer Alshabab to mujaahidiin.

The authority of  Ahlu Sunn in Galgadud region defended their move by saying that “Alshabab are not true mujaahidiin (Holly warriors) as the implement a wrong interpretation of Islam.”

The administration of the two radio station in Abudwaaq town have complained about the orders saying that some of religious programs they air were banned by Ahlu Sunna because the sheikhs that present them are against the group.

Ahlu Sunna seems to have joined the media war that Alshabab and TFG are involved in.

Last year the spokesman of Alshabab Sheikh Ali Dheere ordered all Somali media houses to call his group; Harakat Alshabab Mujaahidiin, an order that seems to have been implemented by many Somalia media house.

ODM is however losing ground in the political landscape if the recent by-elections are anything to go by. The party lost heavily in Matuga parliamentary election and lost several civic seats in Rift Valley province which was one of its strongholds in the last general elections.

However, the Kenyan media concurred that the political rift between Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister, Mr. William Ruto and the Prime Minister Mr. Odinga, has hit very hard the party’s strongholds and disorganized the party’s supporters.

The former ruling party Kanu and the National Vision Party of former Minister Nicholas Biwott unexpectedly scooped civic seats from ODM and rekindled their political hopes which had almost been thrown into the political dustbins.

Another scenario which can easily complicate the run-up to the 2012 elections is the faction of Mr. Ruto. If he comes up with a new political party or joins another political party other than ODM, then the political scenario is bound to change drastically.

The political landscape is also bound to change after the referendum this year when new alliances are expected to shape-up. The youthful politicians will definitely have a bigger say in Kenya’s politics and might axe several old guards across the political divide.

Mr. Odinga, Mr. Kalonzo Musyoka, Mr. Ruto and Ms Martha Karua are obvious contenders for the Presidency in 2012. Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta is yet to declare his stand on the Presidency. Even this year’s general elections in Tanzania and Uganda’s next year

elections might shape Kenya’s politics and political dispensation.

 People in most parts of the world are now going for young leaders and the campaign for generational change in Kenya might influence 2012 general elections. However, it is too early to predict the Kenyan case. The outgoing President is yet to point out his successor or to show his political constituency the political direction to take in two years time.   

The political take is to wait for the unfolding political scenarios. Any serious political analysis cannot be made at the moment.Kanu as political party even resurrected early this week in the by-elections. The current major political parties might be overshadowed by new ones as dictated by the wind of change as we approach 2012 general elections.

Please look at the case of the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC). It swept Kanu out of power in 2002 general elections but it disintegrated within one year. It has only three Members of Parliament in the 10^th parliament. May the best party and candidate win.

A government leader told reporters that the government troops have seized more weapons and taken control of more bases initially administered by the Al-shabab fighters adding that they would step up the fighting until they rid the country of insurgents.

“We have reached success already in the war and we would like to seize more than the areas we seized in the north. Therefore we shall continue the fighting until we take over the control of the entire country,” claimed Mr. Ali Jelle one of the transitional MPs.

However, Sheik Moktar Abdirahman Abu Zubeyr, the leader of Alshabab militias also claimed victory in the Mogadishu fighting.

Sheik Abu Zubeyr claimed that Al-shabab fighters had burned tanks belonging to the African Union troops AMISOM and he called upon the Somali people to join them in the holy war against the UN backed government.

Somali President joined the frontlines with an AK 47 last week at the commencement of the clash, but currently he is in Addis Ababa Ethiopia for an IGAD summit.

Sub-regional leaders under the IGAD, including Somalia President Sheikh Sharif, are in an urgently convened meeting to discuss the continuing political upheavals in Somalia and call upon the UN to provide troops and ask the international community to honour their financial pledges towards reconstruction of Somalia.

In the final day of the workshop, attendants; who comprised of school teachers, heads of learning institution and educationist discussed about the future of Somalia’s higher education.

A lecture on the future prospects of Somalia’s higher education was delivered by the dean of the faculty of education at the Islamic University of Somalia; Muse Mohamed Alasow.

Mr. Alasow, talked lengthily about the future prospects of Somalia’s higher education, citing that for Somalia to improve its higher education, utmost care should be given to: Improving the system of education and the living standards of university staffs and also that of students.

As Mr. Alasow continued with his lecture, he raised several important questions among them; Why are there  few students enrolled in Somalia’s tertiary education? And how can more new universities be established in the country?

It is worth noting that, a group of attendants in the workshop who were assigned to come up with the best solutions for the problems faced by the higher education in Somalia came up with a number recommendation among them: setting aside a number of scholarships in Somalia universities for those students who perform well in their secondary school final exams and creating awareness among secondary school leavers to join the countries universities to avoid losing them to outside ones.

On the other hand, a number of universities and colleges who attended the workshop promised to offer scholarships to secondary leavers while others said that they will cordially welcome the new students.

Mr. Alasow, urged those universities that promised scholarships to fulfill their pledges.

Finally, the workshop was concluded by Alshahid’s consultant; Dr. Mohamed Nuur Ga’al who hailed the work of Alshahid Centre for Research and Media Studies and promised that the centre will put a lot of effort in improving and strengthening  education in Somalia.

In attendance were representatives from; Universities, Schools and Educational Institutions, discussing how to develop education in Somalia and the ways to do so.

At the opening of the workshop Ali Mudey hailed the efforts of Alshahid Centre for Research and Media Studies towards the holding of the workshop.

 Dr. Mohamed Nuur Ga’al who was the coordinator of the workshop stated that the workshop was the second one that Alshahid has held in Mogadishu, the first was on the “Community peace building and political reconciliation” held in April 2010. He added that the centre owns the website www.alshahid.net which writes in English, Somali and Arabic. The Centre also publishes reports and educational researches on Somalia issues which are appreciated both in Somalia and the outside world.

Mohamed Maalim who  gave a lecture at the workshop talked about the different stages that the education in Somalia passed, which he categories as; education in the colonial period, education during the stable periods of Somalia and that of during the civil war which he said had experienced many difficulties.

Dr. Yussuf Hiraabe talked about the interdependence between the different levels of education and how the primary education forms the bases for the secondary and tertiary ones.

Mohamed Ilmi Toohow, gave a lecture on the effects of wars on education and how human live is dependent on education. He also talked about those institutions that stood for the provision of education after Somalia slid into the civil war, the hardships faced by such institution which included: Insecurity, lack of enough funding, low level of income, lack of modern educational facilities and most importantly absence of national educational policies and goals.

The attendants contributed their ideas about the topics on: The future of Somalia’s education at this time of conflict, the role of the parent and the educational institutions on how to support the ambitions of students.

Those present at the workshop proposed the formation of a committee to work on developing education in Somalia and the same time coordinate between different educational institutions in the country. Empowering through education, assisting the financial needy students and encouraging students to be patriotic to their country.

The workshop continues till 30th Wednesday and the topics of discussion will be: The future of Somalia’s higher education, especially at university level and how it can produce young people who can steer the country out of its current mess.”

The Symposium was opened by Dr. Mohamed Ahmed Sheikh of Alshahid Centre for Research and Media Studies who welcomed the attendants to the symposium.

Dr. Mohamed talked about the aim of the symposium which was to coordinate and bring together the Somali local NGOs and have them discuss the way to fill the gap left by the international aid organizations in Somalia.

Also Dr. Mohamed highlighted on the difficulties faced by the Somali people whom their situation worsens from time to time.

In the first session of the symposium, the attendants were addressed by Dr. Ibrahim Dagane; an expert on Somalia affairs who worked for 25 years with different organizations both local and international including the Somalia’s agricultural ministry  of late 80s, FAO, UNDP. He also has a farther experience for community development.

Dr. Dagane explained the relationship between Aid and development, touching on different kinds of development such as; Social, economical, political and even physical development.

He also talked about the factors that lead to the need for aid, classifying them as either Natural or Manmade.

Dr. Dagane concluded his lecture by saying that local NGOs can fill the gap left by the international ones if the former is ready to take up the task.

In the second session of the symposium, the attendants received a lecture from; Hassan Sheikh, a Somali scholar who did a lot about community development and has researched for several years on Somalia issues. Mr. Hassan is an independent expert on Somalia affairs.

Hassan illustrated the challenges faced by the Somali local NGOs which he classified as internal challenges and external ones.

He said that the system of the modern day NGOs was new to the Somali people who used to have a traditional way of aiding those in need and that made the management of today’s NGOs in Somalia to be difficult.

The other challenges he mentioned where; lack of enough skills for the aid workers, lack of direct contact between the donor groups and local NGOs and above all the absence of functioning government which plan and manage the different sectors of the Somali society.

In the third and last session of the symposium; Farah Abdikadir, who worked for many years with aid and community development organizations gave a lecture on how best the Somalia local NGOs can increase their productivity and reach their goal.

Farah, who is a consultant on strengthening and empowering aid organizations emphasized that local NGOs have the ability to serve the community equal to those international ones.

He also talked about legalizing NGOs and the steps to follow when doing that, in areas that the NGOs are operating in, how to use the resources of the NGO efficiently and how to involve the community in taking part the work of the NGO.

After every lecture, there followed a discussion by the attendants who contributed their views towards the issue raised. The attendants varied from aid workers, heads of international aid organizations, experts on aid agencies to journalists.

At the end of the symposium, there was a call for holding discussions like this in the near future until there is a strong cooperation between the local NGOs and a body that governs them.

Dr. Mohamed Isahakia, then of the Office of the Prime Minister, Dr. Romano Kiome of Agriculture, Ali Daud Mohamed of Special Programmes, Prof. Karega Mutahi of Education and the Principal Admninistrative Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office were suspended and reinstated yesterday by the president.

She spoke in Runyenjes in Embu East District where she was guest of honour at celebrations to mark 100 years of the Girl Guide Movement, the MP, Martha Karua said entrench impunity saying the PSs should not have been reinstated before someone had made good the public loss.

“Is the Government now telling us there was no scandal?” the MP posed.

The government had sent the wrong signals and the move would only has sent the wrong signals about the government’s commitment to fighting corruption.

Karua added that the move would only entrench impunity saying the PSs should not have been reistated before someone had made good the public loss.

“Is the Government now telling us there was no scandal?” the MP posed.

The reinstated PS’s are not cleared with Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission.

The East African nation is hit with corruption and the international community is putting pressure on the two principles to fight corruption and prosecute corrupt leaders.

The new treaty signed in May 14, 2010 has triggered a flurry of diplomatic activities with Egypt though the document is expected to remain open for signatures until May 13, 2011.

Egyptian President Mr. Hosni Mubarak has held talks so far with Kenya’s Prime Minister Mr. Raila Odinga and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Mr. Joseph Kabila to find a lasting solution to the use and management of Nile water dispute.

In 1929 and 1959 Nile Treaties, signed between Britain and Egypt, Britain promised not to undertake projects in its East African colonies that would interfere with Egypt’s water supply.

The new Agreement is on the sharing of the Nile water equally among all the riparian states though Egypt considers it a “death sentence” since most of her citizens assume that the Nile water belongs to Egypt.

Egypt’s 80 million inhabitants draw about 90 per cent of their water needs from the Nile which is expected to be inadequate after 2017.

During the past 40 years, Egypt has strengthened its diplomatic relations with the North African countries, and neglected those of the South.

The seven upstream countries (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC and Ethiopia), want to undertake irrigation and hydro-power projects in consultation with Egypt and Sudan, but without Egypt’s veto power granted by 1929 treaty.

The new agreement, the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework, is to replace a 1959 accord between Egypt and Sudan that gives them control of more than 90 percent of the water flow.

The Nile Basin Initiative, which has been spearheading the talks, will now become the Nile Basin Commission and will receive, review and approve or reject projects related to Africa’s longest river.

It will be base in Addis Ababa and have representation from all the nine Nile basin countries. Egypt is now lobbying the international community to nullify the deal.

Egypt described Ethiopia’s inauguration of the 460 MW Tana Beles hydroelectric dam on the Nile, done on the same day the new agreement was signed, as provocative.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, on the other hand, said the dam’s inauguration marks the country’s success in using the Nile waters after decades of biased laws.

Tana Beles is a modern hydro- dam complex located underground and constructed at a cost of over 550 million Birr.

 Earlier efforts to build the dam were frustrated by the refusal of the African Development Bank, World Bank, and European Investment Bank among other creditors, to fund the project.

Ethiopia plans to generate 45 per cent of its energy from the Nile Basin, a plan Cairo opposes. The best approach Egypt and even Sudan could adopt is financial and technical support to the countries upstream of the River Nile.

 By allocating more resources to projects in the se countries, then they would not abstract water flowing to the river.

Such projects include environmental conservation, water harvesting, drilling of boreholes, construction of dams and pans, solar energy, wind and geothermal.

A new text on the new Nile River Agreement is intended to reconsider the two treaties of 1929 and 1959, which grant the rights to55.5 billion cubic metres of Nile waters to Egypt and 18.5 billion cubic metres to Sudan, on the whole accounting for 87 per cent of the Nile’s water flow.