August 17, 2015 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

Banadir Regional Court Sentences Child Rapists With 10 to 15 Years In Jail

16 August – Source: Somali Update- 183 Words

Somalia Banadir regional court in Mogadishu has sentenced two rapists with 10 to 15 years in prison on Saturday following a court session in which relatives of the rape victims were present.The court’s verdict came after the Deputy National Attorney General Mohamed Hassan Nur charged the pair of committing serious crimes by raping two kids. Mr. Nur asked the regional court to issue a strong and unkind verdict against the two defendants who pleaded guilty of committing rape against children.

The court later announced its verdict against the two men. Qasim Ciley who was convicted of raping a 4-year-old boy was given 10 years in jail and a fine of $1,000. While Abdurahman Nurani who was convicted of raping an underage girl was given 15 years in prison and a fine of $8,000.The court’s verdict was the first against child rapists in Somalia. According to local Non-Governmental Organizations, rape against children has become common in many parts of Somalia.

Key Headlines

Banadir Regional Court Sentences Child Rapists With 10 to 15 Years In Jail (Somali Update)
Somalia’s Former Ambassador To Kenya Denied Entry Into Belet Weyne (Garowe Online)
Madoobe Was Elected By An Illegal Parliament Says Members of Parliament (Wacaal Media)
Football Growth In Somalia Cheers Minister of Sport (Goobjoog News)
First Female Candidate Announces Run For Garowe Mayor (Garowe Online)
Human Rights Training For Officials And Staff Of Ministry Concluded (Goobjoog News)
Suspected Al-Shabaab Fighters Warn Kenyan Villagers To Shun Police (Reuters)
Former Warlord Ahmed Madobe Re-elected To Fight Al-Shabaab In Somalia’s Jubaland (The Star)
Somali Refugees Work Together To Settle Into New Life In The Grand Cities (Grand Forks Herald)
I Fear Al-Shabaab But I Love My pupils So Much I Can’t Leave (Daily Nation)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Somalia’s Former Ambassador To Kenya Denied Entry Into Belet Weyne

16 August – Source: Garowe Online – 140 Words

Security forces reportedly denied former Somali Ambassador to neighboring Kenya, Mohamed Ali (Americo) entry into Hiiraan regional capital of Belet Weyne of central Somalia. Soldiers manning entrance checkpoint in the north turned away his car, forcing him to turn back to a nearby Mataban town that is controlled by moderate Islamists, Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a. Hiiraan Governor, Abdifatah Hassan Afrah is said to have issued the order to bar Americo from entering Belet Weyne. Afrah is in Mogadishu, sources confirmed. Credible sources told Garowe Online that former Somalia Ambassador to Kenya is considering to run for the president of the new federal state that will be formed soon consisting of Hiran and Middle Shabelle regions. He has paid visits to Jubaland, Southwest State and Puntland over the last two weeks.

Madoobe Was Elected By An Illegal Parliament Says Members of Parliament

16 August – Source : Wacaal Media – 159 Words

Some of the Somali Federal Members of Parliament have trashed the re-election of Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Madoobe) as the head of State for Jubbaland. Led by Daahir Amiin Jeesow, the MPs questioned the legality of Madoobe’s election given the fact they have voted to send home the state’s assembly that elected him. He said the whole election process staged by the Jubaland administration was a sham meant to take Jubba and Gedo residents for a ride. “Ahmed was a leader who elected himself in the first place. He did not come to office on the will of the local residents but that of his own. What a happened yesterday is still the same as he has once again endorsed himself for the post. What happened in Kismayo was far from being free and fair elections” said Jeesow. The MP said the public should not be misled into believing in the theatrics of Ahmed Madoobe whom he accused of curtailing their democratic rights.

Football Growth In Somalia, Cheers Minister of Sport

16 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 362 Words

Somalia has put violence behind and there is a clear expectation in the country, where football is fully recovering from decades of conflicts and unrest. The Somali Minister of Youth and Sport, Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan, has commended the growth of football and soccer-related development projects in the country. “In recent years, we have witnessed huge development projects implemented by the Somali Football Federation, and I take this opportunity to thank SFF for knowing their responsibilities and as well as FIFA for its continued assistance to the country” the minister said. The minister made the comment, during an official working visit to the under construction Somali University Stadium at the invitation from Somali Football federation President, Abdiqani Said Arab, over the weekend.

“I believe that Somali Football Federation has played a big role in football promotion in the country. The SFF has done its utmost to make sure that Somalia enjoys international standard facilities” the minister explained during a press conference at the under construction facility. “Football is life; I am saying this, because it brings together some key things which are basic for the human life such as: generating income, public integration, development and health” the minister explained. He said that having such world standard facilities will help Somali Football Federation produce more and more young talented footballers. Somali Football Federation President, Abdiqani Said Arab, accompanied by his Deputy Ali Abdi Mohamed and Secretary General, Hassan Mohamed Mohamud, said that the main purpose for the minister’s invitation to the site was to update him on the ongoing development projects.

President Abdiqani Said Arab, asked the minister to push for the withdrawals of African Union troops from the country’s national facility, Stadium Mogadishu, a request that the minister fully lauded, promising that his ministry will work harder to get the facility back into the hands of the people. During the official tour to the site, the minister and SFF officials have listened to reports by experts from the consultant company, TALOSAN and the construction company EMECO, who told them that the two projects at the site have been completed by 70% and the rest will be completed before the end of the year.

First Female Candidate Announces Run For Garowe Mayor

16 August – Source: Garowe Online – 208 Words

First female youth activist has announced her mayoral bid in upcoming city council elections in Somalia’s northeastern state of Puntland. Suhur Hashi Hambo shored up support for her mayoral candidacy and will compete against four others who are all male contestants. On Saturday, politicians, youth and women groups and civil society activists held a ceremony at Rugsan Square hotel in the state capital of Garowe in support of Hambo’s run for the mayoral post of the capital. Speaking at the event, Suhur indicated that she will make a difference and remains optimistic about city council elections. She further stressed her readiness in embracing transparency, justice and development ideals if councilors elect her as Garowe mayor.

The Chairperson of Association for Puntland Women, Khadro Warsame expressed her delight with the first female candidate seeking to fit into the office of the mayor. Abdulkadir Shebe, Puntland lawmaker welcomed Suhur’s courage which he said would be a test to leadership capabilities of Somali women in positions of authority. Garowe city councilors are expected to vote in crucial municipal election in the coming weeks according to Interior Minister, Ahmed Elmi Osman (Karash). Women in war-torn Somalia have sought larger role in decision-making process, unveiling their interest in key posts within the government.

Human Rights Training For Officials And Staff Of Ministry Concluded

16 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 176 Words

A four-day seminar held for officials and staff of Ministry of Defence was concluded in Mogadishu.The conclusion ceremony was attended by Deputy Minister of Defence, Abdullahi Hussein Ali and other officials.The training, which focused on human rights, gender, women and the recruitment of child soldiers, was aimed at strengthening the trainees’ understanding of international human rights in the application to their profession. IIDA a local NGO operating in Mogadishu has organized the training course. Dunia Mohamed Ali, one of IIDA officials, speaking at the ceremony said that the training was meant to build ability to protect human right.“The purpose of the training is to enhance the trainers’ understanding of human rights and child protection so that they go back and duplicate this training with their counterparts,” Dunia said. Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Defence Abdullahi Hussein Ali acknowledged the need for such training.“This training is important, the officials need all the help they can get and today they are well built physically but they also need to be informed of international law,” he said.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Suspected Al-Shabaab Fighters Warn Kenyan Villagers To Shun Police

16 August – Source: Reuters – 329 Words

Dozens of suspected Somali Al-Shabaab fighters swept into a Kenyan village and lectured locals for at least two hours before disappearing into a nearby forest without attacking anyone, police and residents said on Sunday. The al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab has made a series of deadly raids in Kenya since Kenyan troops first entered Somalia to fight them in 2011. It has said it will continue until Nairobi withdraws the troops, now part of an African Union peacekeeping force.

Residents of Basuba village in the coastal region of Lamu said the militants, numbering over 50, warned them against boarding any police or military vehicles because they targeted them for attacks.”They had their faces masked and wore jungle attire. They told us if we boarded those vehicles we would die with the officers,” one resident told Reuters.The villager said among the militants were two men and two women who appeared to be of Caucasian origin. They arrived at 5 a.m. on Saturday.”They also warned that if we told police about their presence and visit, they would come back and deal with us,” said the witness, adding that a few locals had already left the area out of fear. A second resident said: “They said they didn’t want to hurt us and that their war was with the military and police in Lamu and not us.”

Former Warlord Ahmed Madobe Re-elected To Fight Al-Shabaab In Somalia’s Jubaland

16 August – Source: The Star – 271 Words

A former warlord won re-election on Saturday as president of Somalia’s southern region of Jubaland, a territory partly controlled by Al-Shabaab militants and at odds with the central government of the Horn of Africa country. Ahmed Madobe was elected for four more years by members of the regional parliament, which has defied a government decision in June to disband it on the grounds it was unrepresentative and dominated by hand-picked members of Madobe’s clan. Madobe, leader of the powerful Ras Kamboni militia, has fought against the al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab militants who fully control one of Jubaland’s three regions.

“God willing, I will eliminate Al-Shabaab from the remaining towns of the region,” he said. Jubaland includes the strategic port of Kismayu. Madobe and Barre Hirale, a clan elder, fought for years to control the city, which generates valuable revenues from taxes, charcoal exports and levies on arms and other illegal imports. Hirale ruled Kismayu in the 1990s and into the 2000s until he was unseated by Madobe, who was at the time aligned to the Islamic Courts Union that ruled Somalia until 2006. Al-Shabaab then ruled the southern part of the country until 2011, when it was thrown out of the capital Mogadishu by African Union peacekeeping troops. The fate of Kismayu and Jubaland is seen as a test of the central government’s skill in building a federal system and pacifying a nation fought over for more than two decades by warlords and Islamist rebels. “We shall sit and discuss with the federal government and the clans and solve the issues through peaceful dialogue and reconciliation,” Madobe said.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

“In Somalia, she would have her mother, sisters and aunts to help look after the kids, but here, she is without that support system.The problem also stems from a wariness on the part of Somali mothers to entrust their children to non-Islamic caregivers. Awad instructs them to communicate with the babysitters to let them know, for example, not to feed the kids pork, as is forbidden in Islam,”

Somali Refugees Work Together To Settle Into New Life In The Grand Cities

16 August – Source: Grand Forks Herald – 891 Word

Fathia Garad has a full plate as it is with four young children, one of whom is deaf.On top of it all, she is still adjusting to life in the United States, after having immigrated from Ethiopia—where she and family fled after civil war broke out in her native Somalia—to East Grand Forks with her husband in 2012.She takes English lessons at Northland Community and Technical College—lessons that have a six-month to year-long waiting list for residents across the Red River in North Dakota—but speaking is still a challenge. She hopes the lessons will open up doors in the workplace.Then there’s sign language, which she is learning with their 18-month-old daughter.The toddler already knows how to make several signs, like the sign for “milk,” says Garad, squeezing one hand open and closed. “I have a lot of work to do,” Garad laughs.

Somalis come from a country ravaged by two decades of civil war. In 1991, a coup d’etat overthrew the country’s 22-year autocratic ruler and left a power vacuum, plunging the country into civil war. Until 2012, Somalia had no central government. In the interim, millions of Somalis fled, crossing the country’s borders as refugees into the neighboring countries of Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya.The U.S. has invited Somali refugees to its shores since the late ’80s, and Somalis make up one of the principal refugee populations in North Dakota. Some, like Garad, have come straight from east Africa—more than 8,000 miles away—while other refugees migrated from elsewhere in the United States to job-rich North Dakota in pursuit of greener pastures.

“The sight of these innocent faces that are thirsty for education is what holds me back whenever I pack my bag and think of running away like my colleagues,” she says while pointing to the pupils in her overcrowded classroom.”

I Fear Al-Shabaab, But I Love My pupils So Much I Can’t Leave

16 August – Source: Daily Nation – 636 Words

Ms Monica Muhoro has a simple yet powerful explanation why she has defied Al-Shabaab attacks to continue teaching her pupils in Garissa. Some people, she says, get into teaching by accident. To others, it is a calling and there is no doubt in which category she falls. The determined teacher has stayed put in the Mansabubu Primary School in far-flung Fafi sub-county, about 120 kilometres from Garissa. “The sight of these innocent faces that are thirsty for education is what holds me back whenever I pack my bag and think of running away like my colleagues,” she says while pointing to the pupils in her overcrowded classroom. A few months ago, Al-Shabaab militants raided two villages in Bulla Golol and Yumbis not very far from her school and “preached” to locals twice.They announced that they would not spare non-local civil servants in a bid to send a strong message to the Kenya Government that it must withdraw its soldiers from Somalia.The fear of the Shabaab has forced an exodus which has seen some schools being single-handedly run by head teachers.She stayed behind to continue doing what she does best – teaching – in the school which is a few kilometers from the Kenya-Somalia border.What is more remarkable is that she teaches in a school located in an area which does not have communication or roads.

When the Sunday Nation team visited the school recently, Class One pupils were singing the alphabet in unison while finishing off the term’s syllabus before closing school.Ms Muhoro says her teaching is a call from God to mould responsible citizens for the future.“If we abandon these young souls now at their hour of need, we shall make them more vulnerable to embracing bad ideology out of desperation for knowledge,” she said. Ms Muhoro says that her lowest moment as a teacher was when terrorists raided Garissa University College and massacred 142 people, the majority of them students.“When schools were re-opening in May, a month after the April 2 killings at the college, I started packing for my return journey here. My family felt distraught over my decision,” she says.“My family were justifiably concerned over my safety but they couldn’t understand the power of the innocent faces of my little Class One pupils whose future is in my hands and that of other teachers.”

She said she decided to come back and help the pupils. “I’m sure if I didn’t return these innocent children, who hold the key to the future prosperity of this region, would have been out of school now just like thousands of their colleagues in other schools which closed after they were abandoned by their teachers. The local communities are equally hurt by the actions of those killing innocent people,” she said. Ms Muhoro is the only non-local teacher in her school after six of her colleagues joined other teachers who fled from the region. The exodus of teachers has created a major crisis in the education sector in the region. Last week, the Teachers Service Commission transferred more than