June 3, 2015 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

Somalia’s Al-Shabaab Enters Kenyan Village

02 June – Source: BBC – 272 Words

Somalia’s militant Islamist group Al-Shabaab has entered a remote village in north-eastern Kenya, despite the fact that it is only about 15km (nine miles) from a military base, residents say. Hundreds of people have now fled Warankara and schools have shut, they said. This is only the second time that Al-Shabaab is known to have occupied territory in Kenya. The al-Qaeda-linked group has its headquarters in neighbouring Somalia. The BBC Somali Service’s Mohammed Mohammed says Al-Shabaab appears to be implementing its threat to “take the war” to Kenya. Last month, it invaded Yumbis town, also in the north-east, before withdrawing without a fight. Residents in Warankara, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, told the BBC that the militants have been patrolling the village. People were scared, but the gunmen have not harmed anyone, they said. The militants had also given sermons in the village, residents added.

Key Headlines

Somalia’s Al-Shabaab Enters Kenyan Village (BBC)
PM Omar Abdirashid Meets Women’s Representatives In Adado Town (Goobjoog News)
Somali Government Offers Nine Million Hectares To Egypt (Somali Current)
UN Envoy Welcomes Start Of Second Phase Of State Formation Process In Adaado (Somali Update)
Clan Clashes Ignite In Hosingow Locality (Goobjoog News)
Commander Of The Somali Armed Forces Survives Attack In Lower Shabelle (Wacaal Media)
UN Expert Urges Somalia To Guarantee Free Expression And To Suspend Death Penalty (UN News Centre)
Kenya Has An Exit Strategy From Somalia: Officials (Capital News)
UAE Mobile Hospital To Open In Somalia Soon (Emirates News Agency)
Measures Upped To Curb Terrorism (Standard Digital)
World Should Help Somalis Get Stability Not Destabilize It Anew (Mareeg Media)

NATIONAL MEDIA

PM Omar Abdirashid Meets Women Representatives In Adado Town

02 June – Source: Goobjoog News – 109 Words

The Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid met with women representatives in Adado where Central State formation conference is in progress. He discussed with them a range of issues including gender equality. “One of the things my government is very much determined is to empower women , and I want women to participate in all political spheres, you would notice the ambassadors I appointed to different countries which included two women, in the cabinet there are three women, therefore I expect you to take up you roles in this conference” said the Prime Minister. The PM is in Adado to encourage state formation.

Somali Government Offers Nine Million Hectares To Egypt

02 June – Source: Somali Current – 114 Words

Somali government has offered nine million hectares of land to the Egyptian government to develop model farming according Elbalad, Egyptian newspaper. Egypt’s Minister of Agriculture, Salah Halal, said his government will help Somalia in developing its agriculture, livestock and fishing sectors. The statement came after Egypt’s minister of agriculture hosted Somali delegates led by the Minister of Livestock, Saed Hussein Eid. Somali government officials said the unexploited nine –million hectares of land will help Egypt to develop a model farm in the country, adding the model farm will benefit the locals. However, the minister did not disclose the exact location of the land. Three quarters of Somalia’s land remain unexploited with many multinational companies eyeing the opportunity.

UN Envoy Welcomes Start Of Second Phase Of State Formation Process In Adaado

02 June – Source: Somali Update – 203 Words

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia (SRSG), Nicholas Kay, has welcomed the opening of the second phase of the process to form a new interim administration in Somalia’s central regions. The delegates’ conference to select an interim regional assembly and ratify its regional charter was launched in Adaado on 31 May by Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke. SRSG Kay, welcomed the constructive manner in which the people of the central regions have engaged in the process and commended their dedication and commitment to peace and stability. “I hope the effort and commitment of all delegates will lead to a successful outcome of the conference in Adaado. I urge the people of the central regions to build their new administration with respect for the principles of reconciliation, consensus, and inclusivity, particularly for women, young people and minority communities.” said SRSG Kay. The agreement on the central regions was signed in Mogadishu on 30 July 2014, with all parties committing themselves to form an inclusive administration. Since then, the communities of the central regions have worked towards reconciliation and the political process of establishing an interim administration.

Clan Clashes Ignite In Hosingow Locality

02 June – Source: Goobjoog News – 122 Words

According to reports from lower Shabelle region, fighting has broken between two clan militias earlier on Tuesday in Hosingow locality. Several people died after the heavy clashes between the two clans spread throughout the area. The cause of the skirmishes is not clear but reports say that the two sides disagreed on land tenure prompting new clashes. Reports coming to Goobjoog News state that the fighting is escalating while the two sides are preparing for more confrontations. Reinforcements are reaching both clans in the battlefields. So far, lower Shabelle administration has not yet commented on these renewed clashes. Elders are making efforts to ease the tension and hostilities between the two clans in the region.

Commander Of The Somali Armed Forces Survives Attack In Lower Shabelle

02 June – Source: Wacaal Media – 103 Words

Somalia’s top military commander Gen. Abdirizack Khalif Elmi came under heavy gunfire in Lower Shabelle region on Tuesday afternoon as his convoy made its way to Mogadishu. Source told Wacaal Media that aggrieved military personnel were behind the attack. The officers were reportedly not paid their salaries for months. The General was from Tooratorow division which was taken over by Somali national forces and AMISOM yesterday from Al-Shabaab. His body guards managed to ward off the attackers and the General arrived safely in Mogadishu. The rebel forces were said to have resorted to banditry between the Mogadishu and the Lower Shabelle regions.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

UN Expert Urges Somalia To Guarantee Free Expression And To Suspend Death Penalty

02 June – Source: UN News Centre – 441 Words

Somalia must put in place a legal framework that guarantees freedom of expression in the country, as well as a moratorium on capital punishment, a United Nations independent expert recommended today, while commending progress accomplished so far. “Somali journalists are often harassed, arrested, censored, even imprisoned, and media organizations are closed down,” underlined Bahame Tom Mukirya Nyanduga, who is the United Nations Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the troubled Horn of Africa country, where he just completed his second mission on 29 May. “Such incidents risk having a chilling effect on this basic right, particularly essential at a time when Somalia moves towards finalising its State-building process,” the expert noted, calling on the Federal Government to put in place a legal framework that guarantees the freedom of the media, to practise their profession free of intimidation, harassment and imprisonment.

Mr. Bahame Nyanduga also expressed concern at the continued application of the death penalty throughout Somalia, despite the commitment to adopt a moratorium on capital punishment made by the Government to the UN Human Rights Council during its 2011 Universal Periodic Review of the situation in the country. “I encourage the Somali authorities to put in place that moratorium,” he stressed. During his eight-day mission, which began on 22 May, the expert equally drew attention to the apparent weakness in security and justice institutions, particularly the failure by the police to provide adequate security for the civilian population, including in camps for internally displaced people. In response, the Government explained its efforts to increase police recruitment, particularly of female police officers and to enhance their technical capacities. Officials also outlined the efforts undertaken to provide protection to victims of rape and gender-based violence and to encourage victims to use the formal justice system rather than the traditional justice system.

Kenya Has An Exit Strategy From Somalia – Officials

02 June – Source: Capital News – 394 Word

The government has a strategy for withdrawing Kenyan troops from Somalia, Senate National Security and Foreign Relations committee Chairman Yusuf Hajji has said. Following a consultative meeting with Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery, Defence CS Rachelle Omamo, Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet and Intelligence boss Philip Kameru, Hajji said the government had a plan that was ‘under wraps’ adding that the Senate was working on its proposal to be presented to the Cabinet. The Garissa Senator said the Security Committee had since planned a retreat set for June 18 to collect more views and opinions to build up on their proposed exit strategy.

“The aim is to come up with a ‘white paper’ that will detail a strategy on how to fight insecurity in Kenya,” he said. The meeting called for by the Senate Security committee also discussed the de-radicalization of youth with the government informing the Senate of the process it is initiating in the hard-hit areas. The withdrawal according to Hajji is however pegged on African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) which dictates how countries signed to the peace mission can be allowed to withdraw. This means for Kenya to withdraw, there must be another capable Country to take its place because a vacuum may weaken the force and give the ‘enemy’ an upper hand. It is close to four years since the Kenya Defence Forces were deployed to Somalia to contain the terror menace after the kidnapping of tourists from the Kenyan Coast. The deployment was to secure Kenya and containing the terror threat by creating a buffer zone on the Somali side, but it did not.

UAE Mobile Hospital To Open In Somalia Soon

02 June – Source: Emirates News Agency – 124 Words

Mohammed Ahmed Osman Al Hammadi, UAE Ambassador to Somalia, has announced that the UAE will soon open a mobile hospital in the Abdul-Aziz district of the Somali capital Mogadishu in response to the requests of the Somalis for more health services. In his statement during the opening of the training camp for Somali troops in last month, Al Hammadi said that the hospital will receive about 300 patients daily, who will receive free medical treatment, along with a provision for treatment to those affected by any epidemic. The UAE projects, particularly in the field of health in Somalia, are welcomed by the locals there since they save lives. The UAE also implements multiple developmental and humanitarian projects in Mogadishu and other cities in Somalia.

Measures Upped To Curb Terrorism

02 June – Source: Standard Digital – 185 Words

Lodge management and landlords in the county have been urged to maintain copies of identification documents and photos of their guests to curb possible threats of terror attacks. And communities neighbouring Wajir, Garissa and Mandera counties have been cautioned to be alert and report any suspicious persons to police without delay. Speaking at a baraza held at Hola town with chiefs and residents on Sunday, the assistant county commissioner Wilson Tangus also asked residents to report to authorities any suspicious persons taking video footage and photographs of installations.

“Let all people be responsible for their security and make sure you report strangers with awkward conduct to us,” he said. A counter-terrorism memo from the The Ministry of Interior and Coordination which was availed to the press indicated areas such as Garissa, Tana River, Wajir and Mandera must be vigilant to prevent frequent terror attacks. Meanwhile, Tana River OCPD Sylvester Githungo yesterday said security forces are alert and peace has been restored. Speaking to The Standard, Mr Githungo said police officers are patrolling all worshiping venues and estates within Hola town.

OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE

“Almost a year of bitter dialogue have finally culminated the desperate convention of Addis conference which Ahmed Madobe and Federal government signed a binding agreement that stipulates the clear shift of power from Ahmed Madobe to the federal government authority in the region.”

World Should Help Somalis Get Stability Not Destabilize It Anew

02 June – Source: Mareeg Media – 1, 369 Words

Jubba Valley Regions (JVR) or so-called Jubba-land is one of largest and most affluent regions of Somalia. Kismayo, the provincial capital of the region is a beautiful coastal town falling on southern part of the country. The city renowned for its tropical sunny temperature, glamorous beaches and mild climate that ranges, all the year, from 25 to 35 degree Celsius. From the seaward, the city is surrounded by arable land in the north and beautiful rainforest in the west where wildlife species and livestock population were thriving. Such tempting natural resource with amazing environmental distinctions have made the city a magnet that every Somali craves to settle in. It was the dreamland for all Somali people.

That’s the reason the first Somali boat migrants from north eastern region of the country settled the city to get a better life. Thanks to the wholehearted generosity, passionate culture and congenial behavior of indigenous communities (Reer Waamo) who opened their doors to the influx of fellow Somalis who were fleeing their barren lands. It’s the city where I was born, as well as, my parents and grandparents. In the early beautiful days, the city was famed as a bustling metropolitan city where multiple cultures and mixed ethnic groups melt into one tradition of modernity, cohesion and tolerance.

Since my childhood to the date I graduated high school and moved out to attend tertiary education, I’ve never seen anyone claiming tribal egoism, I never heard anyone murdered for tribal revenge or even felt hatred on the basis of ethnicity. Today, however, things have changed a great deal. We are staring at a dramatic political scenario in the region where uninvited neighboring countries are meddling and wreaking havoc on the future of the region. From 2011 when Kenya Government conspired together with several Somali Trojan horses to help it occupy the region and cut it from the rest of Somalia to this current political and power sharing challenges, the people of the region, especially helpless majority were getting deeply frustrated to how things were being handled there.