August 14, 2015 | Daily Monitoring Report
Ethiopian Soldiers Have Got No Rights To Interfere Somalia’s Affairs, Says Member of Parliament
14 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 217 Words
Parliamentary committee of Internal Affairs, Regional Administration and Security has condemned the arrests of traditional elders in Gedo region. Prominent traditional elders in Doolow and the governor of Gedo were put behind bars in the last few days by Ethiopian soldiers in Doolow town for allegedly opposing President Ahmed Mohamed Islan administration. The Deputy Chairman of the committee, Dahir Amin Jeesow said that Ethiopian soldiers in Somalia have bypassed the role of AMISOM which was peace-keeping mission in Somalia. “Ethiopian soldiers have got no permission to interfere the internal affairs of Somalia, they have no authority to detain our citizens.”
We will never believe that Mohamed Kaliil, former Gedo Governor was Al-Shabaab sympathiser, we call upon Somali interior ministry to intervene the situation” said the MP. He underlined that certain countries who are part of the troop contributing countries are here for their own personal interest, rather than peace-keeping. “We never allowed frontline countries to be among the peacekeepers in Somalia, I personally was among the MPs who voted against their coming” he pointed out. Meanwhile the order to arrest the politicians and elders was reportedly issued by the Interim Juba Administration after the elders raised their voice against the recently constituted district and provincial administration in Doolow and Gedo region respectively.
Key Headlines
- Ethiopian Soldiers Have Got No Rights To Interfere Somalia’s Affairs Says Member of Parliament (Goobjoog News)
- Four Cleared To Run For The Position Of Jubbaland Head Of State (Wacaal Media)
- Former Minister Says Motion Against The President Will Be A Setback To The Upcoming State Formation (Goobjoog News)
- Somalia Signs Education Agreement with Egypt (Radio Danan)
- Puntland President Meets The Public In Galkayo (Horseed Media)
- Appeals Court Orders Life Sentences For 5 Somali Pirates (Yahoo News/Associated Press)
- Somali Militia Treated Them Cruelly Malaysian Shows Them Kindness (Star 2 Malaysia)
- Burnsville Man Charged After Accidentally Shooting Friend (Star Tribune)
- An Instagram Inside Somalia: I moved From Canada To Mogadishu To Meet My Mother – And Stayed(The Independent)
- ‘Au Revoir Mogadishu’: A 1970s-80s Somali Disco Mixtape (Okayafrica.com)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Four Cleared To Run For The Position Of Jubaland Head Of State
14 August – Source: Wacaal Media – 88 Words
The clearance of candidates for the elections of Jubaland head of state has been concluded in Kismayo yesterday with four candidates given the green light. The local electoral commission announced that the elections will be held on August 15, 2015 as scheduled. The names of the four candidates are as follows; Ahmed Mohamed Islaam, Hilowle Adan Mohamed, Mohamed Osman Yusuf and Osman Hussein Haji Feirus. The 75 member Jubbaland assembly will cast their vote for the candidates in an election that is set to be a contested one.
Former Minister Says Motion Against The President Will Be A Setback To The Upcoming State Formation
14 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 460 Words
Former Somali Minister of Education, Ali Abdullahi Osable has said that the impeachment motion to remove President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud from power will be a major setback to the country’s progress and government plans including state regional formations. Osable who gave an interview to Goobjoog News has said that the motion will cause political crisis in the country as somalia is approaching 2016 which the nation is scheduled to get a new leader. He pointed out that the motion will also hinder the upcoming state formation conference for Hiiraan and Middle Shabelle regions. “I think the submitted motion against the President will be challenge to the nation’s development and the formation of the upcoming the regional states because the government will get no chance to proceed as the political crisis get higher” he said.
On 12th, this month about 90 somali MPs submitted an Impeachment Motion against the President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, to the Somali Federal Parliament. But the President has rubbished the claims saying that the country was not ready for any political maneuvers as there was more for the country’s leaders to engage in towards state building. “This is not the right time to create political spat because of the ongoing important tasks for the country,” added President Mohamud. Last year, Somali MPs called for the President to step down after failing to address growing insecurity. It is understood that the President managed to divide the lawmakers who had moved to table a no-confidence motion against him. Meanwhile, Article 92 of the Provisional Constitution 2012 accords the House of the People of the Federal Parliament, for this case, Federal Parliament as now constituted to propose the dismissal of the president if he is accused of treason, or gross violation of the Constitution or the laws of the Federal Government of Somalia.
Article 92 (2) in particular reads: The motion for dismissing the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia may be introduced by no less than one-third (1/3) of the total membership of the House of the People of the Federal Parliament, and may be presented to the Constitutional Court, which shall preside over the case to see whether it has legal grounds. If the Constitutional Court determines that the case has legal grounds, the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia may be dismissed by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of the total membership of the two Houses of the Federal Parliament. In the event of a dismissal, the speaker of Parliament will assume the presidency for a period of 30 days within which elections for a new president must be held as contemplated in Article 95 (1).
Somalia Signs Education Agreement with Egypt
14 August – Source: Radio Danaan – 132 Words
The Minister for Education Dr Khadro Bashir Ali who has been on work tour in Cairo has met with the Minister for Education of Egypt,Mahab Al Rufaaci . The two ministers discussed the relationship of the two countries and the need for Egyptian teachers to start work in the various regions of Somalia. A statement from the Egyptian Ministry of Education said the two ministers signed an agreement that aims at improving the education sector in Somalia. In the statement , Egypt has promised to aid Somalia in the education sector. The relationship between Somalia and Egypt has been improving recently especially since the President of Egypt, Abdi Fatah Ali Sisi said that they will stand by their brother in Somalia who are recovering from decades of civil war in their home country.
Puntland President Meets The Public In Galkayo
14 August – Source : Horseed Media – 189 Words
The President of Puntland, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali (Gaas) has taken part in a question and answer session in Galkayo. The meeting was attended by ministers, scholars, university students and other leaders.The president who gave out a speech touching on different subjects said “The government and its people have to work together, and in that way we can change many things, now we want the changes that has brought us here to be achieved and we want the people to take part,”
The President talked about ongoing development projects in Galkayo especially in the area of infrastructure so that the Mudug region can have the same development happening as the other region of Puntland. He also announced that that Galkayo will host a unity conference that will bring together various stakeholders from the different regions of Puntland.“I also want tell you that in the end of this months there will be unity conference that will take place in Galkayo, so many people from Puntland will come, and it will continue for five days, therefore it important that you welcome the delegates and host them.” Abdiweli said in his speech to the public in Galkayo.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Appeals Court Orders Life Sentences For 5 Somali Pirates
14 August – Source: Yahoo News/ Associated Press – 377 Words
Five Somali pirates must spend life in prison for waging a mistaken and dramatically unsuccessful attack on a U.S. Navy ship, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that a judge erred when he sentenced the defendants to terms ranging from 30 to 42½ years. The court returned the case to U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson in Norfolk and ordered him to impose the life sentences, which are mandatory for piracy under federal law.
Jackson had ruled that because nobody aboard the Navy ship was hurt, life terms were disproportionate to the crime and amounted to unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment. “It is of no moment that no one aboard the USS Ashland was harmed before the defendants’ attack was thwarted,” Judge Robert King wrote for the appeals court. The mandatory life sentence reflects a rational legislative judgment that piracy in international waters “is a crime deserving of one of the harshest of penalties,” he wrote.
The appeals court noted that piracy carried a mandatory death sentence from 1819 until 1909, when Congress reduced the penalty to a mandatory life term. The defendants could appeal either to the full appeals court or the U.S. Supreme Court. Their attorney, Geremy C. Kamens, said he was reviewing the opinion and had no further comment. U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente said in a written statement that he was pleased with the court’s decision.
Somali Militia Treated Them Cruelly, Malaysian Shows Them Kindness
14 August – Source : Star 2, Malaysia – 1,688 Words
When she arrived in Somalia for her tour of duty four years ago, Sheema Sen Gupta had had more than a decade’s experience as a child protection specialist with Unicef. She’d worked in various countries like Myanmar, India and Sri Lanka where she had seen and dealt with the tragic consequences of natural calamities and conflicts. But nothing prepared her for the brutalities that confronted her in Somalia. “I arrived in Somalia in November 2011. On the day I arrived, (the jihadist group) Al-Shabaab, which had full control of South and South-Central Somalia, called an emergency meeting and banned 16 agencies from areas under their rule.
These were, of course, the worst-affected areas. Unicef was among the 16. “Somalia was going through a bad famine. It was so bad, populations were moving from drought-stricken areas to other parts of the country which were more accessible to aid. So we focused on the areas we could access like Mogadishu, which saw a large influx of Somalis.“Many families became headed by women because the men went out to look for work and for food. As they moved towards Mogadishu, the women had to pass through various checkpoints manned by Al-Shabaab or clan militia. At every point, they had to ‘pay’ to get through. Payment wasn’t in the form of money – they had to leave their daughters behind or be raped by the militia before they could proceed.
Burnsville Man Charged After Accidentally Shooting Friend
13 August – Source: Star Tribune – 338 Words
A 21-year-old Somali Outlaws gang member already at the center of a federal straw-buyer probe has been charged in connection with a June incident in which he accidentally shot a friend outside a Burnsville gas station. On Thursday, the Dakota County attorney’s office charged Fausi Ibrahim Mohamed, of Burnsville, with a felony dangerous-weapon violation involving the reckless discharge of a firearm. Mohamed is ordered to appear in court on Sept. 21. Burnsville police responded to a shooting June 27 outside a SuperAmerica. The victim said he drove a group of friends, including Mohamed, to play basketball that night, smoked marijuana and drove to the gas station. As he sat in the back seat behind the victim, Mohamed was showing off a handgun to another passenger when the weapon discharged.
Mohamed fled the scene after the gun went off, but later admitted to police that he had accidentally fired the weapon. He claimed that he hadn’t brought the gun into the vehicle and that he hadn’t known that a round had been chambered. Mohamed also told officers that he wasn’t familiar with the type of gun and that he had never fired it.According to the complaint, all witnesses were reluctant to speak. Despite Mohamed’s confession, the victim and another person present during the shooting did not pick him out of a lineup. Relying on video surveillance, an investigation revealed that Mohamed was with the gun’s purchaser when it was acquired.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“It’s about time we talk about the Somalia where a certain hotelier imported a $40,000 oven from Italy so their hotel’s restaurant could serve world class meals; the Somalia that’s moved from humanitarian needs to developmental needs in terms of aid and is working towards sustaining itself through innovative ideas; the Somalia that has the longest coastline in Africa, punctuated with staggeringly magnificent beaches. It’s time we diversified the narrative – and, in some small way, I’m proud to be a part of that effort.”
An Instagram Inside Somalia: I moved From Canada To Mogadishu To Meet My Mother – And Stayed
13 August – Source: The Independant – 831 Words
I’m a Canadian national currently living and working in Mogadishu, Somalia. Though an eyebrow-raising choice of residence, I decided to move to Mogadishu last year to settle accounts with matters of the heart. When a gruesome Civil War toppled the then Somali government in 1991, my grandmother and I moved to Toronto, Canada, to reunite with my father, leaving my mother behind. Then, in August 2014, I went to Somalia to properly meet my mother for the first time. How did a functionally Canadian girl suddenly up sticks and move to a country so mired in controversy? It began with a conversation in late 2013 with an uncle who had just returned from the region. He told me the country as a whole looked promising and was making a praiseworthy turnabout. If there was ever a window of opportunity for me to see my mother, he added, the time was now. A few months later, I was boarding the plane.
I had a jovial, carefree upbringing in Toronto. I was a bighearted nerd, an honour roll student and the first in my immigrant family to be accepted to and attend university in Canada. I grew up believing in Canadian values: hard work, equality and freedom. And though life in Somalia differs from that in Canada drastically – I miss the convenience of a laundry machine! – life is somehow recognisably the same as well. Humans are very adaptable, so the adjustments I’ve had to make have felt minor. Even so, they’re noticeable: I now wear long-sleeved, robe-like dresses over my Canadian T-shirts and jeans, cover my head daily and sit segregated from men on public transport, in concert halls, stadiums and other public events.
These traditions may seem alien to many westerners, but there is also a lot of familiarity. Fathers in the country now proudly send their young daughters to school, while husbands are happy for their wives to work alongside men. Women are respected, with some very powerful in the business and political scenes; I work as a civil servant. My Canadian values feel perfectly in step with the Somali ones that I experience in my new home.
‘Au Revoir, Mogadishu’: A 1970s-80s Somali Disco Mixtape
12 August – Source: Okayafrica.com – Audio: 45:00 Minutes
Berlin-based cassette label Caykh Recordings and Jakarta Records recently put together the striking Au Revoir, Mogadishu mixtape, a collection of pre-war songs from “the golden days of Somali music.” The 45-minute Somali disco mix runs through a number of selections from the likes of Dur Dur Band, Waaberi, Qadiijo Qalanjo and several other acts.
“This Tape of 70s and 80s Somali sound is a rich blend of traditional Somali folk music infused with Western funk, rock and reggae and a touch of Indian, Arabic and African flavors,” explains Caykh. “There are hardly any proper releases of this soulful sound of guitar, synthesizer and drums. I spent some months finding, compiling and editing rips of TV and live recordings on old VHS tapes and radio broadcasts to cassette tapes and here is what I got. Enjoy! With love from Mogadishu.”
TOP TWEETS
@Oxfam: Women critical to building peace through #Somalia‘s long civil war http://oxf.am/ZPXs #SomaliSolutions
@HarunMaruf: #Somalia: Fears of political turmoil as MPs submit a motion to unseat the Pres. Some doubt it’ll garner enough votes
@SomaliaNewsroom: #Somalia‘s president says impeachment motions will not help solve the country’s problemshttp://www.somalicurrent.com/
@HarrietLMathews: This week my focus was how to help make#Mogadishu safer, with intro meetings with heads of police and immigration.
@IlwadElman: BashirPeace pledges his commitment to cultivating new #StartUp ideas in #Mogadishu by offering his facilities4free 2Youth #startupGrindMOG
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Somalis harvest new vegetables thanks to the Agriculture School Project in Somalia.
Photo: @TROfficeofPD