April 10, 2014 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

82 Somali nationals deported in ongoing crackdown on illegal immigrants

09 Apr – Source: Standard Media – 91 words

The Kenyan government has deported 82 Somali nationals to Mogadishu, Somalia in an ongoing operation on illegal immigrants. 472 suspects are still in custody. Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Ole Lenku said all due process was followed adding that Somalia Ambassador to Kenya accompanied them to their home country Wednesday morning. Lenku further said Somalia supports the deportation. 101 suspects are being held at Kasarani and police boss David Kimaiyo has gazetted Kasarani as a police station to enhance the operation. Several refugees have also been repatriated back to their camps.

Key Headlines

Prime Minister Meets EU and UNMAS (Office of the Prime Minister)
Somalis deported from Kenya arrive in Mogadishu (Hiiraan Online)
Security authorities refuse Humanitarian organizations to access refugees under arrest in Nairobi’s Kasarani (RBC)
82 Somali nationals deported in ongoing crackdown on illegal immigrants (Standard Media)
Three injured in Somali government forces infighting in Jowhar (Radio Bar-Kulan)
Public service vehicles’ drivers go on strike in Eelasha Biyaha (Radio Goobjoog)
Respect human rights in Eastleigh crackdown – US (Capital FM)
Bribery claims rock MPs’ Somalia trip (Observer)
Raila faults police tactics used in Eastleigh (Nairobi News)
Kenya sends back ‘illegal’ Somalis after Nairobi raids (BBC)

PRESS STATEMENT

Prime Minister Meets EU and UNMAS

09 Apr – Source: Office of the Prime Minister – 247 words

His Excellency Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed attended a meeting with the European Union and UNMAS to discuss on-going accomplishments in regards to safety and security within Mogadishu.

The Prime Minister and members of EU and UNMAS unfolded the news of the elimination of all explosive objects within Mogadishu. The government led by the Prime Minister has aided in this accomplishment and thirteen districts have been cleared.

“We do not want our people continuing a life of fear and instability. Children must have a future that is no longer filled with strife and given an opportunity to experience a joyous childhood. Most importantly we must have the ability to give our youth a better life towards greater accomplishments.”

“We also have a responsibility to clean up and eliminate destructive items. I would like to thank those who have aided us and who are a vital part of this team” Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister expressed his delight and emphasized the importance of a secure and stabilized nation in regards to the protection and growth of Somali citizens. He stated that the importance of safety is not only a Mogadishu affair but a nationwide issue. The unrelenting and uncompromising goal towards indefinite peace must be continued.

The Prime Minister stated that decades of lives lost were due to the mines surrounding the city and beyond it. The removal of land mines in Mogadishu marks an extraordinary triumph and signals Somalia is on a path to greater change.

SOMALI MEDIA

Somalis deported from Kenya arrive in Mogadishu

09 Apr – Source: Hiiraan Online – 109 words

At least 85 Somali nationals including women and children deported from Kenya have arrived in Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday. Somali ambassador to Kenya Mohamed Ali Nur was accompanying the deported people who were received at Mogadishu’s Aden Abdulle international airport by Somali government officials including lawmakers and the State Minister of Foreign Affairs Bur’i Mohamed Hamza. The deported Nationals were among hundreds of Somalis arrested from their homes in the Somali-dominant neighbourhood of Eastleigh in Kenyan capital Nairobi for the past several days.In the aftermath of bombings in Kenya, President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered his forces to conduct a month-long operation which mainly targeting Somali refugees in Kenya.

Security authorities refuse Humanitarian organizations to access refugees under arrest in Nairobi’s Kasarani

09 Apr – Source: RBC – 89 words

Kenyan police in Kasarani stadium where over 4000 people had been held in connection with the terror crackdown operation, refused Humanitarian agencies to access the refugees under the arrest in the stadium. United Nations High Commission for refugees is among the humanitarian organizations which have been seeking access to the stadium to enable its officials to assess the humanitarian crises reported from the detainees. Inspector General of Kenyan police David Kimaiyo withdrew directive banning all Humanitarian organizations to access the detainees who many of them are asylum seekers in the country.

Three injured in Somali government forces infighting in Jowhar

09 Apr – Source: Bar-kulan – 101 words

Three people have been injured in infighting between federal governments of Somalia forces in Jowhar district in central Somalia. According to Ali Jimale a government official in the area who spoke to Bar-Kulan said the conflict was resulted by a disagreement on the manning the traffic in the major roads in the town and steps to take against those who defy the rules. He said the local administration is now involved in bringing solution on the issue. Somalia government forces have fought amongst themselves several times before a key challenge in the government of president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud western backed government.

Public service vehicles’ drivers go on strike in Eelasha Biyaha

09 Apr – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 95 words

Mass rally against increasing roadblocks in Mogadishu Afgoye highway occurred in Eelasha Biyaha locality 17 kilometers West of Mogadishu. The protesters were complaining about increasing roadblocks in the region. The protest was organized by the drivers and the owners of public vehicles using the road between Mogadishu and Afgoye. The angry protesters blocked the main road as cloud of smoke occurring from the burnt down tires is seen. Some protesters who contacted Goobjoog FM stated that they are complaining about illegal checkpoint set by men dressed in Military uniform that extort money from public vehicles.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Bribery claims rock MPs’ Somalia trip

09 Apr – Source: Observer – 124 words

A visit by MPs to Somalia last month has run into trouble, with the Uganda police at the centre of ‘bribery’ allegations. Some MPs claim that the trip, with ‘all expenses paid’ by police, was meant to compromise the Defence and Internal Affairs committee, which plays a huge oversight role over the force. Last Thursday, Butambala MP and Shadow Internal Affairs Minister Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi said the trip was irregularly funded by the police. “Although Parliament caters for our foreign travels, the police bought air tickets for the members, paid for their full accommodation on top of giving each MP $2500 (Shs 6.2m) in allowances,” Muwanga told Parliament. Speaker Rebecca Kadaga, who chaired the House till 9pm, did not respond to the charges.

Respect human rights in Eastleigh crackdown – US

09 Apr – Source: Capital FM – 144 words

US Ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec has emphasised the need for the police to uphold human rights in the ongoing terror crackdown. While describing terrorism as a global challenge, Godec stressed that the crackdown needs to be carried out in a way that does not infringe on the fundamental rights of the suspects. “As the government does what it needs to do to secure the country, at the same time, the Constitution and the International law and commitments regarding human rights need to be respected,” he indicated. “It is important that as security operations are carried out, human rights are respected. Terrorism is a global challenge and one that we have to work together to meet,” he said. In an interview with Capital FM News on Wednesday morning, the ambassador expressed the US government’s support to the Kenyan government in the war against terrorism.

Raila faults police tactics used in Eastleigh

09 Apr – Source: Nairobi News – 127 words

Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has decried the tactics used by the government in the ongoing crackdown on terrorism following attacks in Nairobi and Mombasa. In an exclusive interview in Boston, Massachusetts, Mr Odinga said he was disturbed by the way law enforcement agencies have targeted the Somali community while flushing out suspected terrorists and refugees in Eastleigh. “The way the government has gone about in cracking down on suspected terrorists’ hideouts is not only wrong but counter productive in the long run. You can’t just unleash security organs on any Kenyan community on assumption that that community is involved in terrorism,” he said. Mr Odinga said evidence has shown that people from all communities, and not just the Somali community, perpetrate acts of terrorism in Kenya. “We have seen in the past that it was not just Somalis who are involved in acts of terrorism. We saw some young people from the Luo, Luhya, Kikuyu and other communities arraigned in court on suspicion of engaging in acts of terrorism,” he said.

82 Somali nationals deported in ongoing crackdown on illegal immigrants

09 Apr – Source: Standard Media – 91 words

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Kenya sends back ‘illegal’ Somalis after Nairobi raids

09 Apr – Source: BBC – 101 words

Kenya has sent back 82 Somalis to Somalia after launching a massive security force operation to flush out illegal immigrants and militant Islamists. The group had been in Kenya illegally, a Somali diplomat said. Nearly 4,000 people have been arrested in raids over the past week in the capital Nairobi, but police say only 447 people are still being held. Somali militants have carried out a wave of attacks in Kenya since 2011. The security operation has focused on Eastleigh, a mainly Somali neighbourhood in Nairobi. At least six people were killed in grenade explosions in Eastleigh on 31 March.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“The hold over image of the pirate from the War on Terror is the media’s very own mythology, this latter day anachronistic African figure in the form of a Somali. Add to this the frequent usage of the terms terrorist and warlord, all serving to make it difficult to even extricate the human from the Somali refugee, in a land that is fraught with overly deterministic mythologies about ethnicities in general.”

What’s it like to be Somali in Kenya

09 Apr- Source: Africas country Bog-1492 Words
Twitter is abuzz and Somalis are trending in Kenya, not for reasons of their own, but rather impositions beyond their capacity. There is quite a lot of outrage from all corners that Kenyans venture, from the passionately human to the average reactionary comments in “ full support” (“remove them”) of the state. The police chief has dubbed this “operation sanitize” and the media as usual in Kenya has a penchant for rather crude and unconscionable fascist statements towards Somali, Somalia and everything Somali, Kenyan ethnicity notwithstanding. Chime in the police who have dubbed Somalis ATM machines. The Kenyan Defense Force is in Somalia exerting its right to military voyeurism; the current vogue in Africa as usual at the behest of America’s Africa Command. Ask anyone in Eastleigh, the densely Somali populated area, if they can remember any year before or after the collapse of Somalia where there has not been a Musako (mass arrest). They will most likely say it has just been intensified from 1991 onwards. Naturally, Eastleigh a historic Somali residential area (circa early 20th century), became host to their kith and kin from across the border. Their citizenship then and now has always been treacherous. However, the rather astonishing enterprise of these “refugees” has transformed this quiet residential area into a strategic business hub for the entire East Africa and beyond. Real estate prices rival the choice downtown areas of the city. Looking at the massive buildings, hotels and malls in contrast to the moonlike crater impassable roads gives one the quick impression that the private sector has outstripped the stagnant public one. Somali enterprise post-collapse is also ascribed to a rather rabid islamophobic interpretation by the media bordering on the fantastic, rather than lauding original African do-for-self initiatives.