Latest News
Somalia Political Process
Press Statement
Mark C. Toner
Deputy Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
May 3, 2012
Less than four months remain for Somali leaders to complete the steps they agreed to in the Roadmap to End the Transition, which lays out the steps for replacing Somalia’s transitional government with a more representative governance structure that will bring Somalia closer to the security and political stability for which Somalis have waited for too long. The United States is encouraged by the progress made so far, however, several steps remain to be completed: selection of delegates to a constituent assembly; approval of a new constitution, selection of a new and smaller parliament, and the indirect election of a new speaker and president.
Secretary Clinton made clear the position of the United States during her remarks at the London Conference on Somalia in February when she stated, “Attempts to obstruct progress and maintain the broken status quo will not be tolerated. We will encourage the international community to impose further sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, on people inside and outside [Somalia’s] Transitional Federal Government who seek to undermine Somalia’s peace and security or to delay or even prevent the political transition.”
The United States supports the open letter issued on May 1 by the special representatives of the United Nations, African Union, and Intergovernmental Authority on Development that puts on notice all individuals and entities who seek to undermine Somalia’s political transition that the international community will not tolerate such action. The United States is following the lead of its African partners and working to help Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government and other Somali leaders seize the current opportunity to make progress toward greater security and political stability.
The Black Billionaires 2012
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote is no longer the richest black person in the world. He’s been ousted by Ethiopian-born Saudi billionaire Sheikh Mohammed Al-Amoudi who is worth an estimated $12.5 billion. That’s $1.3 billion richer than Dangote.
American TV mogul Oprah Winfrey remains the only black female billionaire in the world.
Of the 1,226 people who made it to the 2012 FORBES list of the world billionaires, only 6 are black. These are 6 who made the cut:
Mohammed Al-Amoudi, $12.5 billion
Saudi Arabia. Oil
Born to a Saudi father and Ethiopian mother, Mohammed Al-Amoudi immigrated to Saudi Arabia as a child where he made a fortune handling lucrative construction contracts for the Saudi Royal family. He subsequently invested in Sweden, Morocco and Ethiopia. His most prominent assets include oil companies Svenska Petroleum Exploration, which produces crude oil in Africa, and refinery operator Preem. Al-Amoudi stays committed to the country of his birth: Ethiopia. In February, he announced a $3.4 billion investment in Ethiopia via his newly formed Derba conglomerate. The funds will be invested in agriculture, cement production, steel and transport. He also owns gold mines in the country and the very prestigious 5-star Sheraton Hotel, Addis. Passionate soccer fan.
Aliko Dangote, $11.2 billion
Nigeria. Sugar, Cement, Flour
Dangote loses his position as the world’s richest black man, but he remains Africa’s wealthiest individual nevertheless. He shed more than $2.6 billion from his net worth since last year as a consequence of Nigeria’s floundering stock market. His $15 billion (market cap) Dangote Group is Nigeria’s largest industrial conglomerate, with interests in everything from sugar refineries, flour milling, salt processing and cement plants in Nigeria, Zambia, Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa. Passionate philanthropist has given away millions to education, health and social causes.
Forbes: Mfonobong Nsehe, Contributor
Mike Adenuga, $4.3 billion
Nigeria. Telecom, banking, oil
Adenuga started off trading lace and Coca-cola before Nigeria’s former military president, Ibrahim Babangida took him under his wing. Adenuga was subsequently rewarded with lucrative oil blocks which changed his fortunes forever and saw him become the first Nigerian to strike oil in commercial quantities in the early 1990s. Today, his Conoil Producing Company is Nigeria’s largest indigenous oil exploration company. Daily production: 100,000 barrels per day. New ambition: Striving to build Africa’s largest mobile telecommunications network. His mobile phone operator, Globacom, already has over 15 million subscribers in Nigeria and over 500,000 in Benin Republic.
Patrice Motsepe, $2.7 billion
South Africa. Mining
South Africa’s first black billionaire trained as a lawyer at the University of Witwatersrand and went on to become the first black partner at storied Johannesburg law firm, Bowman Gilfillan. He later founded a small contracting business doing scut work, then acquired low-producing gold shaft mines in 1994. He turned the shafts profitable using lean management style. Today he is the Executive chairman of African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), a South African mining company with interests in platinum, nickel, chrome, iron, manganese, coal, copper and gold. He owns 41% of the company. Also owns Mamelodi Sundowns, a South African Football Club.
Oprah Winfrey, $2.7 billion
USA. Television
The Queen of all media is having a difficult time working her magic on OWN- the lifestyle-themed cable network she founded in a joint venture withDiscovery Communications. The network completed its first full year, marked by ratings disappointments and turnover at the top. Never mind: She’s still the world’s richest black woman. In January, her Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy in South Africa graduated its first set of students.
Mo Ibrahim, $1.1 billion
United Kingdom. Telecoms
The Sudanese-born telecoms magnate conceptualized an unorthodox approach to solving Africa’s leadership problems. Through his Mo Ibrahim Foundation, he awards $5 million annually to democratically-elected African leaders who deliver the dividends of good governance to their people and equally transfer power to their successors in democratic fashion. Mo made his fortune by founding Celtel, a mobile a mobile phone company that serves 23 countries in Africa and the Middle East. He sold it off in 2005 for $3.4 billion. He subsequently founded Satya Capital, a $150 million private equity firm which invests solely in African companies. Enjoys smoking pipe.
Forbes: Mfonobong Nsehe, Contributor
Thank you for all those who made the 2011 Sullivan Honors a success. Please enjoy this commemorative publication from the historic night.
Will Artificial Rain End the Cycle of Hunger?
At a time when 11 million people are facing starvation in the worst drought in 60 years in Northern Kenya and the Horn of Africa, a group of scientists now say they can make rain.
The scientists say they can use weather modification technology to halt the devastating drought and bring rain in northern Kenya, Somali and Ethiopia, within 90 days.
“Aquiess Global Rain Project is offering its rainfall technology to break the drought by bringing gentle soaking rain to the region within the next 90 days,” says Mr David Miles, the director of operations and planning at Aquiess Global Rain Project.
He says they plan to do this as part of their humanitarian support for the region.
“We can not just sit and pretend that all is well, we have decided to come and see how we can help in alleviating the situation in this region,” said Mr Miles.
So, how will they make rain?
Mr Miles says an experiment on weather modification by Aquiess revealed that “small amounts of electromagnetic energy, applied intelligently,” could force change in the weather.
“This research culminated in the development of an atmospheric resonance technology that can adjust the path of rain bearing clouds,” said Mr Miles.
Last week, the company met UN agencies in Rome to discuss ways of applying their weather modification technology to break the drought in the Horn of Africa.
Mahendra Shah, the Director for International Policy and Communications at AquiessGlobal said the Horn of Africa project will not be the first in the world. He said they had held successful rain making projects in Australia, Qatar and the US.
“We used our rain making technology in Australia in 2005 to draw rains into Murray Darling Basin, Eastern Australia, which ended their drought within five months,” says Mr Shah.
He says 50 years of research had enhanced their knowledge on the dynamics of rain making and that the world cannot watch as human beings die without doing anything.
“Aquiess is doing this project on humanitarian grounds and the project will cost $10 million (Sh900 million), which we would request the donor community to fund for the sake of ending the drought,” said Mr Shah.
Mr Bill Pollock, the chairman of Aquiess Global, said whereas the top priority in the region is emergency relief aid, there can be no end to the humanitarian crisis until the rains come and the drought is broken.
“The weathermen are saying the soonest the region can get rains is in October, until then the world would have used billions of shillings in addressing the situation, but rain will be a cost-cutting measure because we can have people go back to their normal lives,” said Mr Pollock.
He said that there has been a decline in the support for weather modification research in recent years because of skeptics who doubt the technology.
Mr Miles said 70 per cent of the world’s rain falls into the oceans, and they were interested in diverting part of these rains to the semi-arid lands in the region.
The Weather Meteorological Organisation says the rain making technology dates back to the late 1940s. According to organisation, there are currently a dozens of nations operating hundreds of weather modification projects, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions all over the world. Kenya Meteorological Department’s deputy director, PeterAmbenje, said weather modification was not new in Kenya and that it was part of Vision2030.He said the ministry of the Environment and Mineral Resources plans to the establish a cloud chamber laboratory for rainfall enhancement and hailstone suppression.
“As a country we cannot overlook the project, we would have liked to pursue it but the problem is the cost. It is expensive to create rain, but it is part of our vision 2030,” said Mr Ambenje.
Mr Ambenje said there was a complete department on the weather modification at the Metrological Department.
Al-Shabaab Retreats from Mogadishu
Mogadishu — The Somali army has declared Mogadishu a “free territory” after fighters from the radical al-ShabaabIslamist group fled the capital.
Deputy army commander Gen Abdikarim Yusuf Aden confirmed the fundamentalist group’s dramatic pull-out Sunday morning, adding that it had been as a result of military pressure from government forces and its allies, including AU peacekeepers.
“I embrace with happiness the setback that overwhelmed al-Shabaab,” he said. “I can now declare Mogadishu a free territory.”
Gen Aden said al-Shabaab fighters had probably realised the odds were against them in the face of a planned major offensive, informing their withdrawal from their key positions in the capital.
Most of the retreating al-Shabaab combatants headed towards Lower Shabelle and Middle Shabelle regions, respectively south and north of Mogadishu, in what they claimed was a “change in tactic”.
“They must have received confidential information to convince them to vacate the capital,” said Gen Aden while speaking to the media at Mogadishu Stadium, al-Shabaab’s main base in the Somali capital.
On Saturday, Somali prime minister Prof Abdiweli Mohamed Ali labelled the leaders ofal-Shabaab as fugitives and said security forces were on their trail.
“We are going to pursue them until their last fighter is put out of action,” said Gen Aden.
And in a related development, the transitional government’s National Security Agency (NSA) has ordered al-Shabaab fighters hiding in the capital to surrender by August 7.
NSA director Ahmed Moalim Fiqi told the press that the intelligence agency was aware of rebels holed up in Mogadishu and ordered them to give themselves up to security forces.
“If they present themselves, we will recognise them as citizens with rights to go through corrective means. Should they remain in hiding, we will treat them as enemy to be dealt with an iron fist,” said Mr Fiqi, a former Somali ambassador to Khartoum.
Press Statement
Mark C. Toner
Deputy Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
May 3, 2012
Less than four months remain for Somali leaders to complete the steps they agreed to in the Roadmap to End the Transition, which lays out the steps for replacing Somalia’s transitional government with a more representative governance structure that will bring Somalia closer to the security and political stability for which Somalis have waited for too long. The United States is encouraged by the progress made so far, however, several steps remain to be completed: selection of delegates to a constituent assembly; approval of a new constitution, selection of a new and smaller parliament, and the indirect election of a new speaker and president.
Secretary Clinton made clear the position of the United States during her remarks at the London Conference on Somalia in February when she stated, “Attempts to obstruct progress and maintain the broken status quo will not be tolerated. We will encourage the international community to impose further sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, on people inside and outside [Somalia’s] Transitional Federal Government who seek to undermine Somalia’s peace and security or to delay or even prevent the political transition.”
The United States supports the open letter issued on May 1 by the special representatives of the United Nations, African Union, and Intergovernmental Authority on Development that puts on notice all individuals and entities who seek to undermine Somalia’s political transition that the international community will not tolerate such action. The United States is following the lead of its African partners and working to help Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government and other Somali leaders seize the current opportunity to make progress toward greater security and political stability.
The Black Billionaires 2012
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote is no longer the richest black person in the world. He’s been ousted by Ethiopian-born Saudi billionaire Sheikh Mohammed Al-Amoudi who is worth an estimated $12.5 billion. That’s $1.3 billion richer than Dangote.
American TV mogul Oprah Winfrey remains the only black female billionaire in the world.
Of the 1,226 people who made it to the 2012 FORBES list of the world billionaires, only 6 are black. These are 6 who made the cut:
Mohammed Al-Amoudi, $12.5 billion
Saudi Arabia. Oil
Born to a Saudi father and Ethiopian mother, Mohammed Al-Amoudi immigrated to Saudi Arabia as a child where he made a fortune handling lucrative construction contracts for the Saudi Royal family. He subsequently invested in Sweden, Morocco and Ethiopia. His most prominent assets include oil companies Svenska Petroleum Exploration, which produces crude oil in Africa, and refinery operator Preem. Al-Amoudi stays committed to the country of his birth: Ethiopia. In February, he announced a $3.4 billion investment in Ethiopia via his newly formed Derba conglomerate. The funds will be invested in agriculture, cement production, steel and transport. He also owns gold mines in the country and the very prestigious 5-star Sheraton Hotel, Addis. Passionate soccer fan.
Aliko Dangote, $11.2 billion
Nigeria. Sugar, Cement, Flour
Dangote loses his position as the world’s richest black man, but he remains Africa’s wealthiest individual nevertheless. He shed more than $2.6 billion from his net worth since last year as a consequence of Nigeria’s floundering stock market. His $15 billion (market cap) Dangote Group is Nigeria’s largest industrial conglomerate, with interests in everything from sugar refineries, flour milling, salt processing and cement plants in Nigeria, Zambia, Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa. Passionate philanthropist has given away millions to education, health and social causes.
Forbes: Mfonobong Nsehe, Contributor
Mike Adenuga, $4.3 billion
Nigeria. Telecom, banking, oil
Adenuga started off trading lace and Coca-cola before Nigeria’s former military president, Ibrahim Babangida took him under his wing. Adenuga was subsequently rewarded with lucrative oil blocks which changed his fortunes forever and saw him become the first Nigerian to strike oil in commercial quantities in the early 1990s. Today, his Conoil Producing Company is Nigeria’s largest indigenous oil exploration company. Daily production: 100,000 barrels per day. New ambition: Striving to build Africa’s largest mobile telecommunications network. His mobile phone operator, Globacom, already has over 15 million subscribers in Nigeria and over 500,000 in Benin Republic.
Patrice Motsepe, $2.7 billion
South Africa. Mining
South Africa’s first black billionaire trained as a lawyer at the University of Witwatersrand and went on to become the first black partner at storied Johannesburg law firm, Bowman Gilfillan. He later founded a small contracting business doing scut work, then acquired low-producing gold shaft mines in 1994. He turned the shafts profitable using lean management style. Today he is the Executive chairman of African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), a South African mining company with interests in platinum, nickel, chrome, iron, manganese, coal, copper and gold. He owns 41% of the company. Also owns Mamelodi Sundowns, a South African Football Club.
Oprah Winfrey, $2.7 billion
USA. Television
The Queen of all media is having a difficult time working her magic on OWN- the lifestyle-themed cable network she founded in a joint venture withDiscovery Communications. The network completed its first full year, marked by ratings disappointments and turnover at the top. Never mind: She’s still the world’s richest black woman. In January, her Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy in South Africa graduated its first set of students.
Mo Ibrahim, $1.1 billion
United Kingdom. Telecoms
The Sudanese-born telecoms magnate conceptualized an unorthodox approach to solving Africa’s leadership problems. Through his Mo Ibrahim Foundation, he awards $5 million annually to democratically-elected African leaders who deliver the dividends of good governance to their people and equally transfer power to their successors in democratic fashion. Mo made his fortune by founding Celtel, a mobile a mobile phone company that serves 23 countries in Africa and the Middle East. He sold it off in 2005 for $3.4 billion. He subsequently founded Satya Capital, a $150 million private equity firm which invests solely in African companies. Enjoys smoking pipe.
Forbes: Mfonobong Nsehe, Contributor
Thank you for all those who made the 2011 Sullivan Honors a success. Please enjoy this commemorative publication from the historic night.
Will Artificial Rain End the Cycle of Hunger?
At a time when 11 million people are facing starvation in the worst drought in 60 years in Northern Kenya and the Horn of Africa, a group of scientists now say they can make rain.
The scientists say they can use weather modification technology to halt the devastating drought and bring rain in northern Kenya, Somali and Ethiopia, within 90 days.
“Aquiess Global Rain Project is offering its rainfall technology to break the drought by bringing gentle soaking rain to the region within the next 90 days,” says Mr David Miles, the director of operations and planning at Aquiess Global Rain Project.
He says they plan to do this as part of their humanitarian support for the region.
“We can not just sit and pretend that all is well, we have decided to come and see how we can help in alleviating the situation in this region,” said Mr Miles.
So, how will they make rain?
Mr Miles says an experiment on weather modification by Aquiess revealed that “small amounts of electromagnetic energy, applied intelligently,” could force change in the weather.
“This research culminated in the development of an atmospheric resonance technology that can adjust the path of rain bearing clouds,” said Mr Miles.
Last week, the company met UN agencies in Rome to discuss ways of applying their weather modification technology to break the drought in the Horn of Africa.
Mahendra Shah, the Director for International Policy and Communications at AquiessGlobal said the Horn of Africa project will not be the first in the world. He said they had held successful rain making projects in Australia, Qatar and the US.
“We used our rain making technology in Australia in 2005 to draw rains into Murray Darling Basin, Eastern Australia, which ended their drought within five months,” says Mr Shah.
He says 50 years of research had enhanced their knowledge on the dynamics of rain making and that the world cannot watch as human beings die without doing anything.
“Aquiess is doing this project on humanitarian grounds and the project will cost $10 million (Sh900 million), which we would request the donor community to fund for the sake of ending the drought,” said Mr Shah.
Mr Bill Pollock, the chairman of Aquiess Global, said whereas the top priority in the region is emergency relief aid, there can be no end to the humanitarian crisis until the rains come and the drought is broken.
“The weathermen are saying the soonest the region can get rains is in October, until then the world would have used billions of shillings in addressing the situation, but rain will be a cost-cutting measure because we can have people go back to their normal lives,” said Mr Pollock.
He said that there has been a decline in the support for weather modification research in recent years because of skeptics who doubt the technology.
Mr Miles said 70 per cent of the world’s rain falls into the oceans, and they were interested in diverting part of these rains to the semi-arid lands in the region.
The Weather Meteorological Organisation says the rain making technology dates back to the late 1940s. According to organisation, there are currently a dozens of nations operating hundreds of weather modification projects, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions all over the world. Kenya Meteorological Department’s deputy director, PeterAmbenje, said weather modification was not new in Kenya and that it was part of Vision2030.He said the ministry of the Environment and Mineral Resources plans to the establish a cloud chamber laboratory for rainfall enhancement and hailstone suppression.
“As a country we cannot overlook the project, we would have liked to pursue it but the problem is the cost. It is expensive to create rain, but it is part of our vision 2030,” said Mr Ambenje.
Mr Ambenje said there was a complete department on the weather modification at the Metrological Department.
Al-Shabaab Retreats from Mogadishu
Mogadishu — The Somali army has declared Mogadishu a “free territory” after fighters from the radical al-ShabaabIslamist group fled the capital.
Deputy army commander Gen Abdikarim Yusuf Aden confirmed the fundamentalist group’s dramatic pull-out Sunday morning, adding that it had been as a result of military pressure from government forces and its allies, including AU peacekeepers.
“I embrace with happiness the setback that overwhelmed al-Shabaab,” he said. “I can now declare Mogadishu a free territory.”
Gen Aden said al-Shabaab fighters had probably realised the odds were against them in the face of a planned major offensive, informing their withdrawal from their key positions in the capital.
Most of the retreating al-Shabaab combatants headed towards Lower Shabelle and Middle Shabelle regions, respectively south and north of Mogadishu, in what they claimed was a “change in tactic”.
“They must have received confidential information to convince them to vacate the capital,” said Gen Aden while speaking to the media at Mogadishu Stadium, al-Shabaab’s main base in the Somali capital.
On Saturday, Somali prime minister Prof Abdiweli Mohamed Ali labelled the leaders ofal-Shabaab as fugitives and said security forces were on their trail.
“We are going to pursue them until their last fighter is put out of action,” said Gen Aden.
And in a related development, the transitional government’s National Security Agency (NSA) has ordered al-Shabaab fighters hiding in the capital to surrender by August 7.
NSA director Ahmed Moalim Fiqi told the press that the intelligence agency was aware of rebels holed up in Mogadishu and ordered them to give themselves up to security forces.
“If they present themselves, we will recognise them as citizens with rights to go through corrective means. Should they remain in hiding, we will treat them as enemy to be dealt with an iron fist,” said Mr Fiqi, a former Somali ambassador to Khartoum.
Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote is no longer the richest black person in the world. He’s been ousted by Ethiopian-born Saudi billionaire Sheikh Mohammed Al-Amoudi who is worth an estimated $12.5 billion. That’s $1.3 billion richer than Dangote.
American TV mogul Oprah Winfrey remains the only black female billionaire in the world.
Of the 1,226 people who made it to the 2012 FORBES list of the world billionaires, only 6 are black. These are 6 who made the cut:
Mohammed Al-Amoudi, $12.5 billion
Saudi Arabia. Oil
Born to a Saudi father and Ethiopian mother, Mohammed Al-Amoudi immigrated to Saudi Arabia as a child where he made a fortune handling lucrative construction contracts for the Saudi Royal family. He subsequently invested in Sweden, Morocco and Ethiopia. His most prominent assets include oil companies Svenska Petroleum Exploration, which produces crude oil in Africa, and refinery operator Preem. Al-Amoudi stays committed to the country of his birth: Ethiopia. In February, he announced a $3.4 billion investment in Ethiopia via his newly formed Derba conglomerate. The funds will be invested in agriculture, cement production, steel and transport. He also owns gold mines in the country and the very prestigious 5-star Sheraton Hotel, Addis. Passionate soccer fan.
Aliko Dangote, $11.2 billion
Nigeria. Sugar, Cement, Flour
Dangote loses his position as the world’s richest black man, but he remains Africa’s wealthiest individual nevertheless. He shed more than $2.6 billion from his net worth since last year as a consequence of Nigeria’s floundering stock market. His $15 billion (market cap) Dangote Group is Nigeria’s largest industrial conglomerate, with interests in everything from sugar refineries, flour milling, salt processing and cement plants in Nigeria, Zambia, Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa. Passionate philanthropist has given away millions to education, health and social causes.
Forbes: Mfonobong Nsehe, Contributor
Mike Adenuga, $4.3 billion
Nigeria. Telecom, banking, oil
Adenuga started off trading lace and Coca-cola before Nigeria’s former military president, Ibrahim Babangida took him under his wing. Adenuga was subsequently rewarded with lucrative oil blocks which changed his fortunes forever and saw him become the first Nigerian to strike oil in commercial quantities in the early 1990s. Today, his Conoil Producing Company is Nigeria’s largest indigenous oil exploration company. Daily production: 100,000 barrels per day. New ambition: Striving to build Africa’s largest mobile telecommunications network. His mobile phone operator, Globacom, already has over 15 million subscribers in Nigeria and over 500,000 in Benin Republic.
Patrice Motsepe, $2.7 billion
South Africa. Mining
South Africa’s first black billionaire trained as a lawyer at the University of Witwatersrand and went on to become the first black partner at storied Johannesburg law firm, Bowman Gilfillan. He later founded a small contracting business doing scut work, then acquired low-producing gold shaft mines in 1994. He turned the shafts profitable using lean management style. Today he is the Executive chairman of African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), a South African mining company with interests in platinum, nickel, chrome, iron, manganese, coal, copper and gold. He owns 41% of the company. Also owns Mamelodi Sundowns, a South African Football Club.
Oprah Winfrey, $2.7 billion
USA. Television
The Queen of all media is having a difficult time working her magic on OWN- the lifestyle-themed cable network she founded in a joint venture withDiscovery Communications. The network completed its first full year, marked by ratings disappointments and turnover at the top. Never mind: She’s still the world’s richest black woman. In January, her Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy in South Africa graduated its first set of students.
Mo Ibrahim, $1.1 billion
United Kingdom. Telecoms
The Sudanese-born telecoms magnate conceptualized an unorthodox approach to solving Africa’s leadership problems. Through his Mo Ibrahim Foundation, he awards $5 million annually to democratically-elected African leaders who deliver the dividends of good governance to their people and equally transfer power to their successors in democratic fashion. Mo made his fortune by founding Celtel, a mobile a mobile phone company that serves 23 countries in Africa and the Middle East. He sold it off in 2005 for $3.4 billion. He subsequently founded Satya Capital, a $150 million private equity firm which invests solely in African companies. Enjoys smoking pipe.
Forbes: Mfonobong Nsehe, Contributor
Thank you for all those who made the 2011 Sullivan Honors a success. Please enjoy this commemorative publication from the historic night.
Will Artificial Rain End the Cycle of Hunger?
At a time when 11 million people are facing starvation in the worst drought in 60 years in Northern Kenya and the Horn of Africa, a group of scientists now say they can make rain.
The scientists say they can use weather modification technology to halt the devastating drought and bring rain in northern Kenya, Somali and Ethiopia, within 90 days.
“Aquiess Global Rain Project is offering its rainfall technology to break the drought by bringing gentle soaking rain to the region within the next 90 days,” says Mr David Miles, the director of operations and planning at Aquiess Global Rain Project.
He says they plan to do this as part of their humanitarian support for the region.
“We can not just sit and pretend that all is well, we have decided to come and see how we can help in alleviating the situation in this region,” said Mr Miles.
So, how will they make rain?
Mr Miles says an experiment on weather modification by Aquiess revealed that “small amounts of electromagnetic energy, applied intelligently,” could force change in the weather.
“This research culminated in the development of an atmospheric resonance technology that can adjust the path of rain bearing clouds,” said Mr Miles.
Last week, the company met UN agencies in Rome to discuss ways of applying their weather modification technology to break the drought in the Horn of Africa.
Mahendra Shah, the Director for International Policy and Communications at AquiessGlobal said the Horn of Africa project will not be the first in the world. He said they had held successful rain making projects in Australia, Qatar and the US.
“We used our rain making technology in Australia in 2005 to draw rains into Murray Darling Basin, Eastern Australia, which ended their drought within five months,” says Mr Shah.
He says 50 years of research had enhanced their knowledge on the dynamics of rain making and that the world cannot watch as human beings die without doing anything.
“Aquiess is doing this project on humanitarian grounds and the project will cost $10 million (Sh900 million), which we would request the donor community to fund for the sake of ending the drought,” said Mr Shah.
Mr Bill Pollock, the chairman of Aquiess Global, said whereas the top priority in the region is emergency relief aid, there can be no end to the humanitarian crisis until the rains come and the drought is broken.
“The weathermen are saying the soonest the region can get rains is in October, until then the world would have used billions of shillings in addressing the situation, but rain will be a cost-cutting measure because we can have people go back to their normal lives,” said Mr Pollock.
He said that there has been a decline in the support for weather modification research in recent years because of skeptics who doubt the technology.
Mr Miles said 70 per cent of the world’s rain falls into the oceans, and they were interested in diverting part of these rains to the semi-arid lands in the region.
The Weather Meteorological Organisation says the rain making technology dates back to the late 1940s. According to organisation, there are currently a dozens of nations operating hundreds of weather modification projects, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions all over the world. Kenya Meteorological Department’s deputy director, PeterAmbenje, said weather modification was not new in Kenya and that it was part of Vision2030.He said the ministry of the Environment and Mineral Resources plans to the establish a cloud chamber laboratory for rainfall enhancement and hailstone suppression.
“As a country we cannot overlook the project, we would have liked to pursue it but the problem is the cost. It is expensive to create rain, but it is part of our vision 2030,” said Mr Ambenje.
Mr Ambenje said there was a complete department on the weather modification at the Metrological Department.
Al-Shabaab Retreats from Mogadishu
Mogadishu — The Somali army has declared Mogadishu a “free territory” after fighters from the radical al-ShabaabIslamist group fled the capital.
Deputy army commander Gen Abdikarim Yusuf Aden confirmed the fundamentalist group’s dramatic pull-out Sunday morning, adding that it had been as a result of military pressure from government forces and its allies, including AU peacekeepers.
“I embrace with happiness the setback that overwhelmed al-Shabaab,” he said. “I can now declare Mogadishu a free territory.”
Gen Aden said al-Shabaab fighters had probably realised the odds were against them in the face of a planned major offensive, informing their withdrawal from their key positions in the capital.
Most of the retreating al-Shabaab combatants headed towards Lower Shabelle and Middle Shabelle regions, respectively south and north of Mogadishu, in what they claimed was a “change in tactic”.
“They must have received confidential information to convince them to vacate the capital,” said Gen Aden while speaking to the media at Mogadishu Stadium, al-Shabaab’s main base in the Somali capital.
On Saturday, Somali prime minister Prof Abdiweli Mohamed Ali labelled the leaders ofal-Shabaab as fugitives and said security forces were on their trail.
“We are going to pursue them until their last fighter is put out of action,” said Gen Aden.
And in a related development, the transitional government’s National Security Agency (NSA) has ordered al-Shabaab fighters hiding in the capital to surrender by August 7.
NSA director Ahmed Moalim Fiqi told the press that the intelligence agency was aware of rebels holed up in Mogadishu and ordered them to give themselves up to security forces.
“If they present themselves, we will recognise them as citizens with rights to go through corrective means. Should they remain in hiding, we will treat them as enemy to be dealt with an iron fist,” said Mr Fiqi, a former Somali ambassador to Khartoum.
Thank you for all those who made the 2011 Sullivan Honors a success. Please enjoy this commemorative publication from the historic night.
Will Artificial Rain End the Cycle of Hunger?
At a time when 11 million people are facing starvation in the worst drought in 60 years in Northern Kenya and the Horn of Africa, a group of scientists now say they can make rain.
The scientists say they can use weather modification technology to halt the devastating drought and bring rain in northern Kenya, Somali and Ethiopia, within 90 days.
“Aquiess Global Rain Project is offering its rainfall technology to break the drought by bringing gentle soaking rain to the region within the next 90 days,” says Mr David Miles, the director of operations and planning at Aquiess Global Rain Project.
He says they plan to do this as part of their humanitarian support for the region.
“We can not just sit and pretend that all is well, we have decided to come and see how we can help in alleviating the situation in this region,” said Mr Miles.
So, how will they make rain?
Mr Miles says an experiment on weather modification by Aquiess revealed that “small amounts of electromagnetic energy, applied intelligently,” could force change in the weather.
“This research culminated in the development of an atmospheric resonance technology that can adjust the path of rain bearing clouds,” said Mr Miles.
Last week, the company met UN agencies in Rome to discuss ways of applying their weather modification technology to break the drought in the Horn of Africa.
Mahendra Shah, the Director for International Policy and Communications at AquiessGlobal said the Horn of Africa project will not be the first in the world. He said they had held successful rain making projects in Australia, Qatar and the US.
“We used our rain making technology in Australia in 2005 to draw rains into Murray Darling Basin, Eastern Australia, which ended their drought within five months,” says Mr Shah.
He says 50 years of research had enhanced their knowledge on the dynamics of rain making and that the world cannot watch as human beings die without doing anything.
“Aquiess is doing this project on humanitarian grounds and the project will cost $10 million (Sh900 million), which we would request the donor community to fund for the sake of ending the drought,” said Mr Shah.
Mr Bill Pollock, the chairman of Aquiess Global, said whereas the top priority in the region is emergency relief aid, there can be no end to the humanitarian crisis until the rains come and the drought is broken.
“The weathermen are saying the soonest the region can get rains is in October, until then the world would have used billions of shillings in addressing the situation, but rain will be a cost-cutting measure because we can have people go back to their normal lives,” said Mr Pollock.
He said that there has been a decline in the support for weather modification research in recent years because of skeptics who doubt the technology.
Mr Miles said 70 per cent of the world’s rain falls into the oceans, and they were interested in diverting part of these rains to the semi-arid lands in the region.
The Weather Meteorological Organisation says the rain making technology dates back to the late 1940s. According to organisation, there are currently a dozens of nations operating hundreds of weather modification projects, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions all over the world. Kenya Meteorological Department’s deputy director, PeterAmbenje, said weather modification was not new in Kenya and that it was part of Vision2030.He said the ministry of the Environment and Mineral Resources plans to the establish a cloud chamber laboratory for rainfall enhancement and hailstone suppression.
“As a country we cannot overlook the project, we would have liked to pursue it but the problem is the cost. It is expensive to create rain, but it is part of our vision 2030,” said Mr Ambenje.
Mr Ambenje said there was a complete department on the weather modification at the Metrological Department.
Al-Shabaab Retreats from Mogadishu
Mogadishu — The Somali army has declared Mogadishu a “free territory” after fighters from the radical al-ShabaabIslamist group fled the capital.
Deputy army commander Gen Abdikarim Yusuf Aden confirmed the fundamentalist group’s dramatic pull-out Sunday morning, adding that it had been as a result of military pressure from government forces and its allies, including AU peacekeepers.
“I embrace with happiness the setback that overwhelmed al-Shabaab,” he said. “I can now declare Mogadishu a free territory.”
Gen Aden said al-Shabaab fighters had probably realised the odds were against them in the face of a planned major offensive, informing their withdrawal from their key positions in the capital.
Most of the retreating al-Shabaab combatants headed towards Lower Shabelle and Middle Shabelle regions, respectively south and north of Mogadishu, in what they claimed was a “change in tactic”.
“They must have received confidential information to convince them to vacate the capital,” said Gen Aden while speaking to the media at Mogadishu Stadium, al-Shabaab’s main base in the Somali capital.
On Saturday, Somali prime minister Prof Abdiweli Mohamed Ali labelled the leaders ofal-Shabaab as fugitives and said security forces were on their trail.
“We are going to pursue them until their last fighter is put out of action,” said Gen Aden.
And in a related development, the transitional government’s National Security Agency (NSA) has ordered al-Shabaab fighters hiding in the capital to surrender by August 7.
NSA director Ahmed Moalim Fiqi told the press that the intelligence agency was aware of rebels holed up in Mogadishu and ordered them to give themselves up to security forces.
“If they present themselves, we will recognise them as citizens with rights to go through corrective means. Should they remain in hiding, we will treat them as enemy to be dealt with an iron fist,” said Mr Fiqi, a former Somali ambassador to Khartoum.
At a time when 11 million people are facing starvation in the worst drought in 60 years in Northern Kenya and the Horn of Africa, a group of scientists now say they can make rain.
The scientists say they can use weather modification technology to halt the devastating drought and bring rain in northern Kenya, Somali and Ethiopia, within 90 days.
“Aquiess Global Rain Project is offering its rainfall technology to break the drought by bringing gentle soaking rain to the region within the next 90 days,” says Mr David Miles, the director of operations and planning at Aquiess Global Rain Project.
He says they plan to do this as part of their humanitarian support for the region.
“We can not just sit and pretend that all is well, we have decided to come and see how we can help in alleviating the situation in this region,” said Mr Miles.
So, how will they make rain?
Mr Miles says an experiment on weather modification by Aquiess revealed that “small amounts of electromagnetic energy, applied intelligently,” could force change in the weather.
“This research culminated in the development of an atmospheric resonance technology that can adjust the path of rain bearing clouds,” said Mr Miles.
Last week, the company met UN agencies in Rome to discuss ways of applying their weather modification technology to break the drought in the Horn of Africa.
Mahendra Shah, the Director for International Policy and Communications at AquiessGlobal said the Horn of Africa project will not be the first in the world. He said they had held successful rain making projects in Australia, Qatar and the US.
“We used our rain making technology in Australia in 2005 to draw rains into Murray Darling Basin, Eastern Australia, which ended their drought within five months,” says Mr Shah.
He says 50 years of research had enhanced their knowledge on the dynamics of rain making and that the world cannot watch as human beings die without doing anything.
“Aquiess is doing this project on humanitarian grounds and the project will cost $10 million (Sh900 million), which we would request the donor community to fund for the sake of ending the drought,” said Mr Shah.
Mr Bill Pollock, the chairman of Aquiess Global, said whereas the top priority in the region is emergency relief aid, there can be no end to the humanitarian crisis until the rains come and the drought is broken.
“The weathermen are saying the soonest the region can get rains is in October, until then the world would have used billions of shillings in addressing the situation, but rain will be a cost-cutting measure because we can have people go back to their normal lives,” said Mr Pollock.
He said that there has been a decline in the support for weather modification research in recent years because of skeptics who doubt the technology.
Mr Miles said 70 per cent of the world’s rain falls into the oceans, and they were interested in diverting part of these rains to the semi-arid lands in the region.
The Weather Meteorological Organisation says the rain making technology dates back to the late 1940s. According to organisation, there are currently a dozens of nations operating hundreds of weather modification projects, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions all over the world. Kenya Meteorological Department’s deputy director, PeterAmbenje, said weather modification was not new in Kenya and that it was part of Vision2030.He said the ministry of the Environment and Mineral Resources plans to the establish a cloud chamber laboratory for rainfall enhancement and hailstone suppression.
“As a country we cannot overlook the project, we would have liked to pursue it but the problem is the cost. It is expensive to create rain, but it is part of our vision 2030,” said Mr Ambenje.
Mr Ambenje said there was a complete department on the weather modification at the Metrological Department.
Al-Shabaab Retreats from Mogadishu
Mogadishu — The Somali army has declared Mogadishu a “free territory” after fighters from the radical al-ShabaabIslamist group fled the capital.
Deputy army commander Gen Abdikarim Yusuf Aden confirmed the fundamentalist group’s dramatic pull-out Sunday morning, adding that it had been as a result of military pressure from government forces and its allies, including AU peacekeepers.
“I embrace with happiness the setback that overwhelmed al-Shabaab,” he said. “I can now declare Mogadishu a free territory.”
Gen Aden said al-Shabaab fighters had probably realised the odds were against them in the face of a planned major offensive, informing their withdrawal from their key positions in the capital.
Most of the retreating al-Shabaab combatants headed towards Lower Shabelle and Middle Shabelle regions, respectively south and north of Mogadishu, in what they claimed was a “change in tactic”.
“They must have received confidential information to convince them to vacate the capital,” said Gen Aden while speaking to the media at Mogadishu Stadium, al-Shabaab’s main base in the Somali capital.
On Saturday, Somali prime minister Prof Abdiweli Mohamed Ali labelled the leaders ofal-Shabaab as fugitives and said security forces were on their trail.
“We are going to pursue them until their last fighter is put out of action,” said Gen Aden.
And in a related development, the transitional government’s National Security Agency (NSA) has ordered al-Shabaab fighters hiding in the capital to surrender by August 7.
NSA director Ahmed Moalim Fiqi told the press that the intelligence agency was aware of rebels holed up in Mogadishu and ordered them to give themselves up to security forces.
“If they present themselves, we will recognise them as citizens with rights to go through corrective means. Should they remain in hiding, we will treat them as enemy to be dealt with an iron fist,” said Mr Fiqi, a former Somali ambassador to Khartoum.
Mogadishu — The Somali army has declared Mogadishu a “free territory” after fighters from the radical al-ShabaabIslamist group fled the capital.
Deputy army commander Gen Abdikarim Yusuf Aden confirmed the fundamentalist group’s dramatic pull-out Sunday morning, adding that it had been as a result of military pressure from government forces and its allies, including AU peacekeepers.
“I embrace with happiness the setback that overwhelmed al-Shabaab,” he said. “I can now declare Mogadishu a free territory.”
Gen Aden said al-Shabaab fighters had probably realised the odds were against them in the face of a planned major offensive, informing their withdrawal from their key positions in the capital.
Most of the retreating al-Shabaab combatants headed towards Lower Shabelle and Middle Shabelle regions, respectively south and north of Mogadishu, in what they claimed was a “change in tactic”.
“They must have received confidential information to convince them to vacate the capital,” said Gen Aden while speaking to the media at Mogadishu Stadium, al-Shabaab’s main base in the Somali capital.
On Saturday, Somali prime minister Prof Abdiweli Mohamed Ali labelled the leaders ofal-Shabaab as fugitives and said security forces were on their trail.
“We are going to pursue them until their last fighter is put out of action,” said Gen Aden.
And in a related development, the transitional government’s National Security Agency (NSA) has ordered al-Shabaab fighters hiding in the capital to surrender by August 7.
NSA director Ahmed Moalim Fiqi told the press that the intelligence agency was aware of rebels holed up in Mogadishu and ordered them to give themselves up to security forces.
“If they present themselves, we will recognise them as citizens with rights to go through corrective means. Should they remain in hiding, we will treat them as enemy to be dealt with an iron fist,” said Mr Fiqi, a former Somali ambassador to Khartoum.
