October 16, 2014 | Morning Headlines.

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Somali Health Minister: no troops from Ebola-affected countries will be deployed in Somalia

15 Oct – Source: Hiiraan Online – 297 Words

Somali Ministry of Health Ali Mohamed Mohamud (Ali Hared) dismissed reports that troops from the Ebola-hit country of Sierra Leone will be deployed in the country, saying that it had an earlier agreement with the AU mission not to bring troops from West African countries reeling under the deadly virus that has so far killed thousands of people.
“We had met with AMISOM on this issue before and agreed not to bring troops from Ebola-hit countries,” Mr. Ali Hared told Hiiraan Online by phone from Mogadishu. “I don’t think even AMISOM itself will entertain the idea of bringing soldiers from west Africa.”

International news agencies have reported on Tuesday that Sierra Leone has isolated 800 troops headed for Somalia after one of the soldiers tested positive for EBOLA. The Sierra Leonean government denied that the sick soldier had contact with other soldiers.

“As a ministry of health, my responsibility is to make sure the health and wellbeing of the Somali people” said Mr. Ali Hared. But the very news that troops from Sierra Leone, a country affected by the virus along with Liberia and much of the west African region, could be deployed has sent shivers down the spines of Somalis across the world.

As a country riven by war for more than two decades, Somalia is ill prepared to tackle a disease such as the deadly Ebola.

Hiiraan Online were inundated with calls and emails seeking to get information about the reports saying that Sierra Leone is deploying troops to Somalia.

Health Minister said the issue is of a regional concern because if the disease is found in any country in the region it will definitely affect others as the region is interconnected.

Key Headlines

Somali Health Minister: no troops from Ebola-affected countries will be deployed in Somalia (Hiiraan Online)
Bomb planted in a car kills two in Mogadishu (Radio Goobjoog/Radio Dalsan/Mareeg.com)
Federal government lay strategies to curb increasing number of universities (Radio Goobjoog)
Somaliland fears an outbreak of Ebola (Radio Dalsan/Horseed media.net)
Families living near River Shabelle are vulnerable to flooding (Goonjoog News)
Central Somalia administrations boycott Garowe agreement (Goobjoog News)
Governor Ali Roba survives Mandera explosion (Standard Media)
Car bomb in Somali capital kills 5 mostly kids (Associated Press/Reuters)
Somaliland mulls oil-bid round energy minister says (Bloomberg)

SOMALI MEDIA

Bomb planted in a car kills two in Mogadishu

15 Oct – Source: Radio Dalsan/Mareeg.com/Horseedmedia.net/- 111 Words

A bomb explosion in a car killed at least two persons, one of them a government soldier and six others sustained injuries in Mogadishu’s Afarta Jirdin area on Wednesday.

Eye witness say the bomb was planted in the car of the soldier and exploded while he is buying Mira in the area. Also one of the Mira sellers died on the spot.

The wounded people, mostly civilians were rushed to hospitals in the area for treatment. Public transport in the area was curtailed as security forces who reached the scene launched operations to pursue the perpetrators, no one was arrested in connection with the crime so far.

Somali Health Minister: no troops from Ebola-affected countries will be deployed in Somalia

15 Oct – Source: Hiiraan Online – 297 Words

“We had met with AMISOM on this issue before and agreed not to bring troops from Ebola-hit countries,” Mr. Ali Hared told Hiiraan Online by phone from Mogadishu. “I don’t think even AMISOM itself will entertain the idea of bringing soldiers from west Africa.”

Hiiraan Online were inundated with calls and emails seeking to get information about the reports saying that Sierra Leone is deploying troops to Somalia.

Health Minister said the issue is of a regional concern because if the disease is found in any country in the region it will definitely affect others as the region is interconnected.

Somalia: federal government lay strategies to curb increasing number of universities

15 Oct – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 171 Words

The assistant minister for research and higher education of federal government of Somalia stated the ministry has laid strategies to curb the increasing number of universities in the country to promote the standard of the education in the country.

He was speaking during a graduation ceremony in Mogadishu. The minister praised the graduating students and encouraged them to pursue higher education.

Mr. Kulane added that the ministry will shut down the universities in the country that cannot offer proper education to the standard of international universities. First batch of students graduate from Salaam University in Mogadishu on Tuesday, the graduation ceremony was witnessed by the assistant minister for research and higher education Mohamed Ahmed Kulane, the former minister for foreign affairs of federal government Fowzia Yusuf Haji Adan, lawmakers and other invited guests.

Somaliland fears an outbreak of Ebola

15 Oct – Source: Radio Dalsan/Horseed Media – 119 Words

There is growing fear that Ebola may spread to Somaliland. Mohamed Haji Abdirahman is among the Guurti House of Somaliland. Hon. Mohamed said there is great fear that the dreadful disease may break out in Somaliland as well.

He said people suffering from the disease may come to the country via the border with Ethiopia. He appealed to the international community to assist Somaliland regarding the prevention of the disease.

Ebola is rife in countries like Sierra Leone, Guinea, Nigeria, among others and this fear in Somaliland comes as the deployment of more troops from Sierra Leone to Somalia was postponed for screening.

Families living near River Shabelle are vulnerable to flooding

14 Oct – Source: Goobjoog News – 177 Words

Somali intellectuals in Afgoye district of Lower Shabelle region report that the families residing near the areas where river Shabelle passes are in potential danger and vulnerable to the flooding of the river.

Lower Shabelle farmers association chairman, Hassan Malaq Hussein speaking to Goobjoog FM stated that the residents especially the farmers are usually affected by the floods of river during the start of rainy seasons adding that the floods destroy homes and vast land of farmlands.

The chairman reiterated that it’s the right time for the federal government to do something about the fear of river flooding and the deteriorating situation of the residents in the region.

The recent floods of River Shabelle in Lower and Middle Shabelle regions destroyed large hectares of farmland and displaced hundreds of families whose houses turned into pools after the river burst its banks.

UN agencies and their humanitarian partners continue to have limited access to thousands of families affected by seasonal floods and inter-communal fighting in the region.

Central Somalia administrations boycott Garowe agreement

15 Oct – Source: Goobjoog News/Mareeg.com – 161 Words

Administrations in Central Somalia regions have boycotted the agreement signed in Garowe between the federal government and regional state of Puntland in Garowe on Tuesday.

The administrations of Himan & Heb, Galmudug and Ahlu Suna Wal Jama’a holding an extraordinary meeting in Mogadishu today termed the agreement as unconstitutional.

They called president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and the federal parliament of Somalia to intervene and see the terms of the agreement signed that violates the provincial constitution of the country. Galmudug president Abdi Hassan Awale Qeydiid who briefed the media after the meeting said it unacceptable for federal government to violate the constitution that state two regions and more can form a regional state.

One of the points of the signed agreements state that the deal will not affect Puntland territorial areas, it will only affect Southern Mudug and Galgadud region. The international community particularly UN and IGAD who presided over the meeting hailed the agreement.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Governor Ali Roba survives Mandera explosion

15 Oct – Source: Standard Media – 259 Words

Mandera Governor Ali Roba Wednesday survived an explosion that was caused by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) which hit his convoy as he was being driven to office.
One of his bodyguards was injured and one vehicle damaged in the incident that happened at about 8.40am. Police at the scene said the IED had been planted on the roadside and timed to hit the convoy at Rhamu bus stop.

It is not clear who was behind the incident. Local police declined to comment on record. They however said the blast was targeting the governor.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Car Bomb in Somali Capital Kills 5, Mostly Kids

15 Oct – Source: Associated Press/Reuters – 242 Words

A car bomb close to Somalia’s presidential palace detonated while a group of children were walking by, killing five people and wounding seven, said a Somali police official. Most of the dead and wounded were children leaving a video arcade, said Capt. Mohammed Hussein, though he couldn’t say precisely how many of the causalities from the Wednesday evening attack were children.

At the scene of the blast, a screaming, bloodied child was taken away in an ambulance. His sobbing mother buried her head in grief near the wreckage of the twisted car bomb. “Is my son a government soldier?” she asked a reporter. “Those who attacked here only wanted to see dead children and mothers, not government people.”

Somaliland mulls oil-bid round, energy minister says

15 Oct – Source: Bloomberg – 246 Words

Somaliland is considering its first bidding round for oil blocks since 2009 as increasing stability begins to attract more foreign investors. “If we open up new acreage, we’re definitely thinking of a bid round,” Hussein Abdi Dualeh, minister of minerals and energy in the autonomous Horn of Africa territory, said in an interview in London yesterday.

Investors made no bids in the previous round because of concerns about security and the status of Somaliland, which is not recognized as a sovereign state following its declaration of independence from Somalia in 1991. Dualeh said investors’ perceptions had changed thanks to the region’s political stability relative to Somalia, citing four companies that received onshore oil licenses since 2012, including London-based Genel Energy Plc (GENL), headed by BP Plc’s former chief executive officer, Tony Hayward.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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

“As I explored the city of Mogadishu, met policy makers, civil society activists, academics and young people who were reshaping their nation, I was amazed by the level of human talent that had congregated in the diverse melting pot that is Somalia’s capital.”

Renewed Hope and Optimism for Mogadishu

12 Oct – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 763 Words

As someone who witnessed the worst part of the beginning of the civil war and who has never seen government in any form in Somalia, my expectations of my visit to Mogadishu were quite low.

I had also read the global headlines and although I lead one of the most innovative and trusted Diaspora organisations and ought to know better than the headlines, I still worried about security and what awaited me in Somalia.