STORY: Somali regional MPs commit to implement

lessons learned from working tour in Kenya

DURATION: 4:14
SOURCE: AMISOM PUBLIC INFORMATION
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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/SOMALI/NATURAL SOUND
DATELINE: 29/MARCH/2018, BAIDOA, SOMALIA

SHOT LIST:

1. Wide shot, HirShabelle legislatures present at the training seminar in Nairobi

2. Med shot, HirShabelle legislatures present at the training seminar in Nairobi
3. Close up, HirShabelle legislatures present at the training seminar in Nairobi
4. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Simon Mulongo, Deputy Special Representative of the
Chairperson of the African Union Commission (DSRCC) for Somalia.
“We are now going into the phase of transition, this means we’re preparing to
exit, which means we’re going to handover the responsibilities given to us by the
United Nations and the Peace and Security Council of the African Union
Commission to you, as Somalis. The Somali Federal Security Forces and the State
Security Forces. Particularly those of HirShabelle. This means we must prepare
you to be capable of managing your own affairs without us as international
communities. We expect you to be the lead parliament in the entire Somalia.
Take advantage of this training seriously and when you go back you become a
formidable member of parliament.”

5. Wide shot, Simon Mulongo, Deputy Special Representative of the Chairperson of

the African Union Commission (DSRCC) for Somalia, Sheikh Osman Bare
Mohamed, HirShabelle Assembly Speaker and Fadhil Karrar, conference
facilitator
6. Med shot, Sheikh Osman Bare Mohamed, HirShabelle Assembly Speaker and
Fadhil Karrar, conference facilitator
7. Close up, Fadhil Karrar, conference facilitator
8. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Aden Duale, Leader of Majority in the National
Assembly of Kenya.
“There’s need for enhancing the capacity of the Regional States in the Federal
Government of Somalia and this is crucial in consolidating the gains made by
Somalia after more than two decades of conflict. We take this opportunity to
congratulate the authorities of HirShabelle State for completing the state
formation process and giving priority to capacity building of the parliamentarians
to enable them play their rightful role in state building and legislative process.
Kenyan legislature is willing to help Somalia’s legislative institutions in capacity
 building and benchmarking to learn how to borrow the best practices from each
other. Equally important is the role of women in parliamentary duties since it
demonstrates the existence of equal opportunities and giving challenges to
women to contribute to Nation building.”

9. Wide shot, HirShabelle legislatures present at the training seminar in Nairobi

10. Med shot, HirShabelle legislatures present at the training seminar in Nairobi
11. Closes up, HirShabelle legislatures present at the training seminar in Nairobi
12. Med shot, HirShabelle legislatures present at the training seminar in Nairobi
13. SOUNDBITE: (SOMALI) Sheikh Osman Bare Mohamed, HirShabelle Assembly
Speaker
“We will go back with the lessons we have learnt here and implement it back
home. We will practically implement it based on our constitution. We are
grateful to AMISOM for facilitating this training and also for their selfless
peacekeeping mission and the sacrifice of KDF. Their sons and daughters are
sacrificing their lives for Somalia to attain peace and stability. AMISOM has done
a lot for Somalia. The nearest of people to you are the ones who come to your
rescue when you are in distress.”

14. Wide shot, HirShabelle legislatures present at the training are awarded with
certificates
15. Med shot, HirShabelle legislatures present at the training are awarded with
certificates
16. Med shot, HirShabelle legislatures present at the training are awarded with
certificates
17. Close up, HirShabelle legislatures present at the training are awarded with
certificates
18. Wide shot, HirShabelle legislatures present at the training are awarded with
certificates

STORY
Somali regional MPs commit to implement lessons learned from working tour in
Kenya
Nairobi, 29 March 2018 - A delegation of 42 HirShabelle state MPs drawn from
oversight committees of the state’s regional assembly have concluded their capacity
building workshop in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, with a pledge to emulate lessons
learned during their six-day training.
The MPs committed to implement initiatives that would be beneficial to the growth
of the state assembly and the people of HirShabelle, Somalia’s youngest federal
member state.
The Deputy Head of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), Simon
Mulongo, told the MPs at the end of their six-day workshop on Thursday evening,
that the viability of their state assembly was key to the AU Mission’s peace-building
efforts. “We expect you to be the lead parliament in the entire Somalia. Take
advantage of this training seriously and when you go back, you become a formidable
member of parliament,” he said in his remarks.
He highlighted some of the projects AMISOM planned to implement in HirShabelle
state, including the training of local defence forces and police; and opening up of the
Main Supply Routes, to allow movement of people and distribution of humanitarian
supplies in remote parts.
Earlier in the day, the AMISOM deputy head had underscored the critical role
Parliament and state assemblies play in Somalia’s peace-building efforts.
Hon. Aden Duale, the Leader of Majority in Kenya’s National Assembly, who
officiated the closing ceremony of the training workshop lauded HirShabelle for
“completing the state formation process” and enhancing its legislative agenda.
Hon. Duale urged the MPs to give “chances to women” to contribute to nation
building. He called on the legislators to apply the lessons learned in the workshop, to
generate ideas that would strengthen the capacity and democracy in their state and
in Somalia as a whole.
“There’s need for enhancing the capacity of the Regional States in the Federal
Government of Somalia and this is crucial in consolidating the gains made by Somalia
after more than two decades of conflict,” Duale said, while promising that the
Kenya’s Parliament’s willingness to help Somalia’s legislative institutions in capacity
building and benchmarking.

On the final leg of the six-day workshop, the MPs simulated a parliamentary session
based on the lessons gathered during their visits to two Kenyan county assemblies,
with Speaker Sheikh Osman Bare Mohamed playing his actual role.
Two motions of simulation were about the role of women in authority and the
proliferation of firearms within the HirShabelle state.
The deliberations elicited widespread debate among participants, especially after
they were clustered into two – Government and Opposition. Of note, the debate was
devoid of the interruptions, noisy interjections and grandstanding, which the MPs
confessed, was reminiscent of their debates back home.
The coordinators of the workshop, Dr. Ododa Opiyo and Fadil Karrar, both from
AMISOM; and external facilitators, led the MPs through a 2-hour parliamentary
simulation, with the outcome by acclamation, acknowledged by the majority and
minority sides.
During their tour of Nairobi and Machakos county assemblies during the week, the
MPs from Somalia experienced firsthand parliamentary practices, in Kenya’s
foremost counties.
Apart from listening in to the debates at the assemblies, the Somali MPs also
attended deliberations by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) – a parliamentary
watchdog committee of the National Assembly of Kenya, that scrutinizes Treasury
spending.
Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, MP Yusuf Ahmed Yalahow termed the training
“an eye-opener” and said the group had learned a lot and gained plenty of
knowledge. “We will take home the lessons we learned here.”
The HirShabelle assembly Speaker Sheikh Osman Bare Mohamed described the
capacity building sessions as “one of the best”, they have had so far.
HirShabelle is the youngest Federal Member State among Somalia’s six semi-
autonomous states. The state’s county assembly was established in October 2016.
AMISOM supports capacity building on legislative and oversight parliamentary
functions of assemblies of Somalia’s Federal Member States, through its Stabilization
Programme, as part of its mandate to help build democratically sound institutions,
alongside securing the country, to allow reconstruction and state building to
continue.

END.