January 1, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
KDF Kills 5 Al-Shabaab Militants, Recovers Assorted Weapons
01 January – Source: The Star – 145 Words
Kenya Defence Forces on Sunday killed five Al-Shabaab militants and recovered assorted weapons in Garissa, near Kenya-Somalia border. The militants had attacked Ijara police station on Friday and made away with a police Land Cruiser. They also torched down the police station. KDF spokesman Col. David Obonyo said bomb-making materials that were being ferried in the stolen police Land Cruiser exploded destroying it.
“The troops caught up with the militants as they tried to get to the Somalia border. In the ensuing firefight, suspected bomb-making materials that were being ferried exploded destroying the vehicle,” Obonyo said.”However, a motorcycle also suspected to have been stolen in Ijara, five AK 47 rifles, 13 magazines with 370 rounds of ammunition, two grenades, bomb-making materials and personal items were recovered.” Obonyo said the soldiers are still pursuing other militants who managed to escape some with gun wounds.
Key Headlines
- KDF Kills 5 Al-Shabaab Militants Recovers Assorted Weapons (The Star Kenya)
- PM Kheire Visits Senator Qaybdid’s Home (Goobjoog News)
- President Farmajo To Sign Government’s 2018 Budget Today (Radio Dalsan)
- Minister Yarisow Unveils Government Plans In 2018 (Shabelle Media)
- Terror Suspect Detained Police Say He Is Al-Shabaab Spy Recruiting Youths (The Star Kenya)
- Is Social Media Eroding The Somali Culture? (Hiiraan Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
PM Kheire Visits Senator Qaybdid’s Home
01 January – Source: Goobjoog News – 212 Words
Somali Prime Minister, Hassan Ali Kheire yesterday visited the house of Senator Abdi Hassan Qaybdid in Mogadishu. The purpose of the visit was to show solidarity with the senator whose home was attacked three days ago by government soldiers. Nearly 41 soldiers including 2 senior officers are now behind bars following a presidential order to the commander of the Somali national army General Abdiweli Gorod to apprehend those behind the unlawful and forceful attack.
Senator Qaybdid is the chairperson of the constitutional review committees of the two federal houses. On the other hand, Galmudug state assembly released yesterday a press release condemning the attack describing it as a threat to the existence of the Somali government and violation of the constitution of the country since there is impunity upon a house belonging to a senator. They appealed to the federal government to have a special attention to the preservation of the laws and the perpetrators to face the full wrath of the law. On Saturdaysoldiers entered the house of the senator by breaking most of the doors, searched the house thoroughly and they emptied all the contents in the wardrobes. They checked every one in the house and took all the mobile phones including that of his wife and daughter.
President Farmajo To Sign Government’s 2018 Budget Today
01 January – Source: Radio Dalsan – 120 Words
The Somali Senate has yesterday approved the government’s budget for the year 2018 which was earlier approved by the parliament on 13th of December 2017. The President is today expected to sign the USD 274 million budget which is slightly higher than the budget for last year. The budget covers among other things; developments in education, arts and literature and infrastructure.
Speaker of the Senate, Abdi Hashi Abdullahi who chaired yesterday’s Senate session said that the budget will be signed by the president the following day which is the first day of January. This is an important step that indicates the country is moving towards the right direction and the Somali people now raise their heads high in hope.
Minister Yarisow Unveils Government Plans In 2018
01 January – Source: Shabelle Media – Words
The Minister of Information, Eng Abdirahman Omar Osman Yarisow has announced the Federal government’s plans for the new year, 2018. Among the main government tasks ahead include the implementation of the 2020 election process, registration of the political parties, the review of the provisional constitution. The minister has called the public to join hands and work with the government to move the country towards prosperous, peace and one person, one vote election in 2020.
On the other hand, Eng Yarisow stated that the current government has made a significant progress during 2017, including security and the regaining of the country’s airspace. Last year, 512 people died and hundreds wounded in the deadliest ever attack in Somalia which took place at Zoobe junction in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, Oct 14.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Terror Suspect Detained, Police Say He Is Al-Shabaab Spy, Recruiting Youths
30 December – Source: The Star – 375 Words
A terror suspect linked to the recruitment and radicalisation of youths in Mombasa has been arrested. Abdulrazak Haji was arrested in Nyali on Wednesday and arraigned in a Nairobi court the following day. He was picked from a Java restaurant by anti-terror police unit officers and later escorted to the division’s headquarters in Nairobi. Police then took Haji to his house in Kileleshwa, where they recovered a mini pistol and a firearm licence. Police said they were yet to confirm the authenticity of the licence.
State counsel Duncan Ondimu asked Nairobi senior principal magistrate Martha Mutuku to allow police to remand Haji for five days as investigations continue. Mutuku allowed police to detain the suspect for five working days. In an affidavit produced in court, police claimed Haji was being used by Al-Shabaab to spy on Kenyan security agencies. Haji was also spying on several shopping malls within Mombasa town and the Nyali areas in preparation for a terrorist attacks during New Year festivities.
Police said they believe Haji was an Al-Shabaab agent recruiting and radicalising youths for the terror group. Haji is also believed to be offering logistical support and facilitating al Shabaab fighters from Lamu, Wajir and Mandera counties. Corporal James Muthusi, who swore the affidavit, is leading the investigating team. “I am investigating a case of soliciting and giving support for the commission of terrorist acts and advocating, promoting, advising or facilitating a terrorist act,” Muthusi said.
https://www.the-star.co.ke/
OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE
“However, in these hostile spaces, there are number of genuine and inspirational individuals who have taken upon themselves the responsibility to contribute positively to the community. Their sessions ranging from practical demonstration of how to prepare a delicious Somali cuisine to inspirational stories of resilience, their educative and informative topics such as tips on happy marriage, religious sermons and healthy politics generate interest among the young Somali people,”
Is Social Media Eroding The Somali Culture?
31 December – Source: Hiiraan Online – 652 Words
The Somali community has always lived true to its popular adage that it is an oral society that relies more on word of mouth. From the generation of yore, folklores, poems and songs have been passed over through word of mouth. Despite the exposure to distortion, many of these folklores are often rich and complex with incredible depth. Artists, conscious of cultural norms couldn’t explicitly sing on topics regarded as taboos such as sexual intimacy.
Powerful messages on topics such as love were passed through intricate songs, ballads and poems that was difficult to comprehend and interpret. Literature rich songs used figurative devices such as metaphors to describe one thing while implying another. A good example is Hassan Adan Samatar’s song Saxan Saaxo which continue to draw varied interpretations for decades. Such concealing practices attests to a culturally conservative society that was careful with and mindful of speech. Blame it mainly on social media, more specifically on Facebook’s Live function, an unprecedented drastic shift from the guarded speech to unrestrained ranting, shouting and screaming dealt the conservative culture a blow.
Facebooks’ Live function provides the space to spontaneously interact and reach a vastly dispersed audience. For some Somalis, this function continues to enormously contribute to the deviation from conservativeness to unrestrained freedom of expressing anything and everything with complete disregard for moral values – a trend that reeks of moral bankruptcy which, if not contained, will contaminate the minds of the young generation. Cyber bullying, trolling and exposing the underage to adult contents taken tons of notches higher. The last few years has seen a rise in the plethora of charlatans masquerading as motivational speakers who trade on tirades, obscenity and address and respond to one another in speeches laced with unprintable words. They often comprise of diverse age groups, mostly based in the West, majority of whom are middle aged women and men perhaps struggling with midlife crisis.
When they take on one another which happens often, one wonders what has remained of once upon a time a conservative society that was guided by ethics and moral values. There is a bunch of youngsters too who emulate their ‘role models’ and compete on outdoing each other not in studies and sports but in cyberbullying and trolling. Some of these social media ‘motivational speakers’ fan the ambers of ethnic strife – a vice that threw the Somalia to the dogs two decades ago and a delicate subject that needs to be handled with extreme caution, if not completely eschewed especially at a crucial time when Somalia is struggling to shake off a protracted period of violence. Unfortunately, these individuals have been made opinion shapers and role models mainly by a set of rudderless youthful audience who get swayed easily. Sometime in 2016, one of these individuals rightfully foretold targets of explosion leaving many shocked as whether he had connections with Al-Shabaab – Al-Qaida’s Somalia franchise which later claimed responsibility. Equally or more harmful are the online ‘doctors without licenses’ that don’t charge consultation fees. Preying on the uneducated Somali women, these ‘doctors’ market their own ‘beauty’ products and ‘medicines’. The result; dried out bleached faces.
TOP TWEETS
@omabha: #Somalia Somalia’s capital returns to an unpredictable new normal http://dlvr.it/Q8PM9P
@Goobjoognews: Save #Somalia before it retreats into chaos says #WadajirParty #aabdishakur http://bit.ly/2lv3D2C .
@DalsanFM: Mayor Thabit Ushers 2018 At Checkpoints With Security Forces#Mogadishu #Somalia http://radiodalsan.com/en/
@Eye_on_Somalia: #Goobjoog PM Kheire visits Senator Qaybdid’s homehttp://ift.tt/2C4MPFK #Somalia
@HarunMaruf:Mogadishu welcomes 2018 with hope and optimism that it’ll be better than 2017! Wishing everyone peace! #HappyNewYear! #Happy2018
@adammatan: Humanitarian infrastructure and IDP settlement in K13 in Mogadishu is destroyed and people left with nothing. Started yesterday, continuing today. This is violations of humanterian accord and inhumane acts. Responsible actors needs to be brought to justice.
@Wayakii: With early response, action & improved coordinated efforts we managed to avert what could have been a potential famine over the course of #2017. May 2018 be the year of prosperity hunger free, peace and development. #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Somali PM, Hassan Ali Kheyre visits the home of Senator, Abdi Qeybdiid.
Photo: Radio Muqdisho