Galmudug Regional Assembly members are the first group of lawmakers to undergo the first of a series of capacity building workshops, on rules and procedures of parliament, law-making, legislative processes, parliamentary ethics and the role of parliamentary committees among others.

The purpose and objectives of the training, organized by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), is to educate the new members of Assembly about the role and functions of parliament, to enable them discharge their constitutional mandate effectively.

"Galmudug state is a young state and parliament is still very new but they are already doing a very good job right now because they are trying to learn everything as parliamentarians. Some of the things they learned today are how to behave, how to make decisions, how to prepare oneself, how to deal with a journalist who asks tough questions and the nature of journalism in Somalia. They also learned how to handle messages and the best media available for a particular message,”said Major General Fidza Dludlu, the Acting AMISOM Head of Mission.

At the end of the five-day training, the new members of Assembly are expected to have a deeper understanding of the general role of parliament, representation, law-making and oversight; the Somalia provisional constitution and the existing legal system; the principle of separation of powers and the concept of checks and balances of powers; understand the workings of parliamentary secretariat and administrative structure of parliament and parliamentary practice and procedure.

On the third day of the training, which opened on Saturday 21 November 2015, the members of Assembly, totaling 89, held a two hour session with top Somali journalists, Yusuf Garard and Yusuf Hassan, who took them through the basics on media engagement.

"Galmudug state is a young state and parliament is still very new but they are already doing a very good job right now because they are trying to learn everything as parliamentarians. Some of the things they learned today are how to behave, how to make decisions, how to prepare oneself, how to deal with a journalist who asks tough questions and the nature of journalism in Somalia. They also learned how to handle messages and the best media available for a particular message”, said Hassan.

Ms Maryan Ali Ahtidoon described today’s session as an eye-opener, saying she had learnt a lot about media relations and outreach.

"Today, truly I have benefited a lot from the training. I have gained communication skills on how to deal with the media and how to best serve my constituents, the people I represent. I have learnt how to communicate with journalists and the public”, Ms Ahtidoon who is an MP from the new state noted.

Another legislator, Mohamed Abdulkadir Haanshi acknowledged that they had gained enormous knowledge from the training. He added that the knowledge gained would be fully utilized by the Galmudug Assembly members.

"Today is the third day of the seminar and we have so far gained a lot of important knowledge including how to audit the operations of the regional state; how to prepare, execute and audit the budget and also vetting auditors in order to get the best results for our people while strictly observing the due process of the law. We have also understood very well the relations between Parliament and the media as well as the conduct of the Members of Parliament”, Mr Haanshi remarked.

MP Hassan Abdullahi Mohamed echoed Mr Haanshi’s sentiments. He said the training of the assembly members would help the three arms of government check each other in the spirit of transparency and accountability.

"As you know there are three arms of government, the parliament, the executive and the judiciary and we have learnt the powers of each as well as the channel of communication among them,” Mohammed said.

The five-day training comes to a close on Wednesday, 25 November 2015. The training is part of AMISOM’s mandate of supporting the Federal Government establish required institutions to fast track the country’s political development.

Galmudug Regional Assembly members are the first group of lawmakers to undergo the first of a series of capacity building workshops, on rules and procedures of parliament, law-making, legislative processes, parliamentary ethics and the role of parliamentary committees among others.

The purpose and objectives of the training, organized by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), is to educate the new members of Assembly about the role and functions of parliament, to enable them discharge their constitutional mandate effectively.

"Galmudug state is a young state and parliament is still very new but they are already doing a very good job right now because they are trying to learn everything as parliamentarians. Some of the things they learned today are how to behave, how to make decisions, how to prepare oneself, how to deal with a journalist who asks tough questions and the nature of journalism in Somalia. They also learned how to handle messages and the best media available for a particular message,”said Major General Fidza Dludlu, the Acting AMISOM Head of Mission.

At the end of the five-day training, the new members of Assembly are expected to have a deeper understanding of the general role of parliament, representation, law-making and oversight; the Somalia provisional constitution and the existing legal system; the principle of separation of powers and the concept of checks and balances of powers; understand the workings of parliamentary secretariat and administrative structure of parliament and parliamentary practice and procedure.

On the third day of the training, which opened on Saturday 21 November 2015, the members of Assembly, totaling 89, held a two hour session with top Somali journalists, Yusuf Garard and Yusuf Hassan, who took them through the basics on media engagement.

"Galmudug state is a young state and parliament is still very new but they are already doing a very good job right now because they are trying to learn everything as parliamentarians. Some of the things they learned today are how to behave, how to make decisions, how to prepare oneself, how to deal with a journalist who asks tough questions and the nature of journalism in Somalia. They also learned how to handle messages and the best media available for a particular message”, said Hassan.

Ms Maryan Ali Ahtidoon described today’s session as an eye-opener, saying she had learnt a lot about media relations and outreach.

"Today, truly I have benefited a lot from the training. I have gained communication skills on how to deal with the media and how to best serve my constituents, the people I represent. I have learnt how to communicate with journalists and the public”, Ms Ahtidoon who is an MP from the new state noted.

Another legislator, Mohamed Abdulkadir Haanshi acknowledged that they had gained enormous knowledge from the training. He added that the knowledge gained would be fully utilized by the Galmudug Assembly members.

"Today is the third day of the seminar and we have so far gained a lot of important knowledge including how to audit the operations of the regional state; how to prepare, execute and audit the budget and also vetting auditors in order to get the best results for our people while strictly observing the due process of the law. We have also understood very well the relations between Parliament and the media as well as the conduct of the Members of Parliament”, Mr Haanshi remarked.

MP Hassan Abdullahi Mohamed echoed Mr Haanshi’s sentiments. He said the training of the assembly members would help the three arms of government check each other in the spirit of transparency and accountability.

"As you know there are three arms of government, the parliament, the executive and the judiciary and we have learnt the powers of each as well as the channel of communication among them,” Mohammed said.

The five-day training comes to a close on Wednesday, 25 November 2015. The training is part of AMISOM’s mandate of supporting the Federal Government establish required institutions to fast track the country’s political development.