July 8, 2015 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

Two Die In Mogadishu Blast

07 July – Source: Wacaal Media – 81 Words

Two people died while four other were injured in a blast at bus stage in Mogadishu city’s Kaaran district. Eyewitnesses told local media that a vehicle laden with explosives was blown up as it approached the busy bus stage. Two occupants of the vehicle died on the spot. Four other bystanders sustained injuries. Police reached the scene immediately and launched investigations into the matter. The injured were transferred to Kaaran district hospital and were said to be in stable condition.

Key Headlines

Two Die In Mogadishu Blast (Wacaal Media)
Indian Minister Of State For External Affairs Arrives In Mogadishu (Goobjoog News)
Somali Government Appoints New Spokesperson (Somali Current)
Two Die In Mogadishu Blast (Wacaal Media)
Jubaland President Heading To Puntland (Garowe Online)
Somali President And Muslim Ambassadors Discuss Muslim World Challenges In Iftar (Dalsan Radio)
Women And Power: Gloria Mafigiri On Helping The Women Of Somalia (NTV Uganda)
Al Shabaab Planned To Kill 150 In Mandera Attack – Nkaissery (The Star Kenya)
Why Somalia Is The Burundi President’s Trump Card (Daily Maverick)
Our New BFF: Turkey and Somalia’s Strengthening Relationship (themandeeq.com)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Indian Minister Of State For External Affairs Arrives In Mogadishu

07 July – Source: Goobjoog News – 166 Words

The Indian delegation led by state minister for foreign affairs, Vijay Kumar Singh met with Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud and foreign minister Mr Abdislam Hadliye. The two sides discussed a number of issues including the security situation of the country as well as the relations between the two nations. The minister expressed his admiration of the how the country is recovering from the conflict. Somali president for his side welcomed the visit of Indian delegation to Somalia pointing out the historic relationship between the two nations. Singh handed over an invitation letter on behalf of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud to attend Indian-African co-operation summit in coming October that will take place in New Delhi. India has appointed Yogeshwar Varma its High Commissioner to Kenya to be the concurrent ambassador to Somalia on last July. This is a sign of growing Indian interest to Africa in a bed of competing China and Turkey in the commerce and investment sectors.

Somali Government Appoints New Spokesperson

07 July – Source: Somali Current – 99 Words

Somali Federal Government has moved swiftly to beef up its communications team to ensure that there is an even better flow of information between government and the public. This follows the appointment of journalist Abdi Salaam Aato as the new spokesperson for the government. Prior to his appointment , Abdi Salaam was working as senior communication strategic adviser to the office of the Prime Minister. Abdislam was a prominent member of Somali Diaspora who worked as filmmaker, producer, writer and journalist. He is also worked Universal TV. The post was left vacant after Ridhwaan Haji resigned.

Jubaland President Heading To Puntland

07 July – Source: Garowe Online – 118 Words

A delegation led by Jubaland President Sheikh Ahmed Mohamud Islam Madobe is poised to arrive in Puntland for key talks in the coming days, Garowe Online reports. During his stay in Puntland, Jubaland leader will hold talks with Puntland leadership, traditional leaders and civil society about Galmudug administration, federalism implementation, and the relations among Puntland, Jubaland and Mogadishu-based Federal Government. Unconfirmed reports say, President Madobe may mediate between President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali and former Security commander Gen. Mohiyadin Ahmed Musse. On June 6, Jubaland broke off all relations with Somalia Federal Government over the passing of controversial vote of no-confidence against Jubba regional assembly. The visit by Jubaland leader to Puntland marks the second in the year, 2015.

Somali President And Muslim Ambassadors Discuss Muslim World Challenges In Iftar

07 July – Source: Radio Dalsan – 154 Words

Somali President invited Muslim ambassadors serving in the country to Iftar program in his residence in the capital Mogadishu.The leaders discussed issues affecting Muslim world in an Iftar program organized by Somali government in the presidential palace, Villa Somalia.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Muslim envoys deliberated challenges and the way forward in the security and economic tests facing Muslim population across the globe.The ambassadors on the other side welcomed progress in Somalia and reiterated their continuous support for the people and federal government of Somalia.
According to survey, Somalia is one of the Muslim countries that has registered tremendous progress in security as far as fight against terror groups compared to Iraq, Syria and Yemen.Muslim countries have be tremendous in helping Somalia in terms of reconstruction, humanitarian and security agencies training in an effort to rebuild key collapse government institutions in thec return of peace and stability in the country.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Women And Power: Gloria Mafigiri On Helping The Women Of Somalia

07 July – Source: NTV Uganda – Video – 4:51 Minutes

At a time many people were afraid to travel to war-ravaged Somalia, one young female Ugandan and her husband defied the odds and moved to the Horn of Africa. Gloria Mafigiri and her husband were driven by the deep desire to change lives in the war-weary country after seeing many images of suffering in Somalia. Gloria Mafigiri, who is now back home, shares stories and experinces of her 3 year ministry in Somalia.

Al Shabaab Planned To Kill 150 In Mandera Attack – Nkaissery

07 July – Source: The Star, Kenya – 167 Words

Al Shabaab terrorists intended to kill 150 people in an attack at a quarry in Mandera county on Monday night, Interior CS Joseph Nkaissery has said.Barwaqo settlement, where the attack occurred, has 150 residents, Nkaissery said, adding that security forces saved 136 lives.
Fourteen people died in a night of fierce shooting and explosions at the quarry.Addressing a press conferenceon Tuesday, Nkaissery said 11 victims died at the scene and three while being rushed to hospital.Kieni MP Kanini Kega confirmed that six of the victims were from his constituency.The heavily armed men who carried out the attack are said to have crossed in from Somalia at about midnight.”They attacked the two houses the quarry workers were residing in, killed 13 and a mother, and later placed (IEDs) improvised explosive devices presumably for the soldiers who would come to the scene,” county commissioner Alex Nkoyo, said on Tuesdaymorning.Nkoyo said an intelligence report indicates that the attackers were 17 in number.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

“The dangers inherent in this are clear. Nobody has forgotten the genocide in neighbouring Rwanda, and nobody wants to see it happen again. But given Nkurunziza’s intransigence, and the potentially devastating knock-on effects elsewhere on the continent, it’s increasingly likely that the international community will gamble that Burundi’s opposition is not strong enough to force a civil war, and give the president his third term – provided it is his last.”

Why Somalia Is The Burundi President’s Trump Card

06 July – Source: Daily Maverick – 880 Words

Monday morning brought with it yet another show of defiance from Burundi’s ruling party, which is realising that despite all the international condemnation, the deck is still stacked in President Pierre Nkurunziza’s favour. Daniel Gelase Ndabirabe, spokesman for the National Council for the Defence of Democracy-Forces for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD-FDD), demanded the resignation of newly-appointed United Nations mediator Abdoulaye Bathily, claiming that Bathily is biased. “When he came to Burundi for the first time, he did not visit the authorities or the country’s president,” Ndabirabe said. “He rather met with different foreign ambassadors as if he came to a country that is not independent.”

The previous UN mediator, Said Djinnit, was forced out of the role after just a few weeks when Burundi’s opposition accused him of being biased against them. The criticism of Bathily comes shortly after Burundi went ahead with controversial parliamentary elections, with the presidential vote to follow shortly. It seems that no amount of international pressure (or dubious legality) is going to prevent Nkurunziza from running for a third term. Nor was he deterred by the violence witnessed in the parliamentary polls, or the low turnout which indicates just how little enthusiasm his fellow citizens can muster for this particular democratic process.

Regardless of what could or should have been done to prevent the situation from getting this far, the question confronting policymakers now is how to make sure that it doesn’t spiral even further out of control. There are no easy solutions, and all involve making uncomfortable trade-offs.The temptation, of course, is to make an example of Burundi, and there are several compelling reasons why this is important – particularly for the African Union (AU), which has invested significant political capital in Burundi’s transition from civil war to stable democracy. For one thing, the AU needs to prove that it can back its tough talk on Burundi with some kind of action. It can’t refuse to monitor the elections because the conditions for a free and fair vote do not exist, and then give Nkurunziza the floor at the next AU summit in January (as is tradition for newly-elected and re-elected leaders). For another, the AU needs to prove that it is an effective guarantor of the peace deals that it negotiates. The Arusha agreement that ended Burundi’s civil war was the new continental body’s first major success story.

“As hard as I’ve been trying, I have yet to find strong enough reasons to be distrustful of the increasingly active role Turkey has been playing in Somalia. So what is it that’s bothering me?”

Our New BFF: Turkey and Somalia’s Strengthening Relationship

06 July – Source: themandeeq.com – 534 Words

For a few years now, I’ve been trying to figure out what to make of Turkey’s interest in Somalia. Since 2011, Turkey has been playing a leading role in Somalia’s rebuilding process; along with providing hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian relief, they have invested heavily in major infrastructure projects such as the renovation of the Aden Adde airport. The undertaking of such grand initiatives makes it impossible not to notice Turkey’s impact in the country and these efforts have been extremely well received. Turkey, and it’s President Tayyip Erdogan, seem to be immune from our usual skepticism towards outsiders and their activities inside Somalia. Why is this so? There are a few reasons why Turkey seems to be resistant to criticism. For obvious historical reasons, our colonialism-imperialism radar is better at detecting Western suspects; any attempts at intervening in domestic affairs by the old players will always be met with heavy scrutiny. Due to historical grievances and currently tense relations, there is also skepticism towards the activities and motives of neighbouring African countries in Somalia. Turkey, being neither a Western country nor a fellow African country, is met with considerably less suspicion. The Turkish presence is also more welcome due to the shared religion between the two countries. Furthermore,

Turkey’s approach to development and rebuilding has been very different from traditional development organisations and institutions. For example, whereas most development organisations working in Somalia are based in neighbouring countries like Kenya, Turkey has been operating from the capital city of Mogadishu. Erdogan’s visits to Mogadishu alone were notable; he visited the so called “most dangerous city in the world” with his wife without heavy security. The optics of his visits, I must admit, were pretty powerful. But why is Turkey, and Erdogan specifically, so interested in supporting Somalia? It’s not necessary to delve into IR theories to figure out that Turkey’s aid and investment is probably not for purely altruistic reasons. Turkey, just like every other state, is self-interested and sees the current potential in investing in Somalia as well as in expanding its sphere of influence. That being said, it doesn’t (yet) seem to be an exploitative relationship; whatever profit and influence Turkey is gaining from this relationship is helping facilitate the revitalization of the country at the same time.