September 29, 2015 | Morning Headlines
City Council Officer Gunned Down In Mogadishu
28 September – Source: Radio Dalsan – 147 Words
Two men armed with pistols have on broad daylight Monday gunned down a city council officer at Sinay market in Wardhigley district in Mogadishu. By the time of the shooting the officer was engaged in his daily routine of collecting revenues from the local business people in the market and the shots got him in the upper part of his body including the head. The officer died on the spot and the doers escaped the scene uncaught. Nearby Somali government soldiers arrived at the scene after a while and conducted a brief search operation in the vicinity and caught no one on suspicion grounds and took the body of the deceased officer. The radical Islamist group Al-Shabaab normally carries out such attacks on government workers. The city council workers are not armed like the other government soldiers and this always makes them easy targets unlike the other soldiers.
Key Headlines
- City Council Officer Gunned Down In Mogadishu (Radio Dalsan)
- Security Guards Of 2 Turkish Companies Fought In Somalia (Radio Dalsan)
- Detained Musician Alleges Torture Robbery In Somaliland Jail (Hiiraan Online)
- Speaker Erred In Ruling Over Impeachment Says Lawyer (Goobjoog News)
- 70 Teachers Who Fled North Eastern Terror Moved To Kilifi Schools (Standard Digital)
- Untamed Borders Takes Tourists To Mogadishu Somalia (Daily Mail)
- Interview With Ambassador David Shinn (Hiiraan Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Security Guards Of 2 Turkish Companies Fought In Somalia
28 September – Source: Radio Dalsan – 114 Words
On Monday the security guards of two Turkish construction companies have fought at Wadajir district in Mogadishu. Reliable sources from Wadajir district say that the security guards of the two companies went into combat after the two most senior officers of the two companies disputed over a construction project in the district. The actual figure of the casualties between the two sides is still unknown, and the district administration of Wadajir has not yet given out information related with the confrontation. It will be the first time for the security guards of the Turkish companies to fight in Mogadishu. The Turkish companies have been engaged in development and humanitarian assistance in Somalia since 2011.
Detained Musician Alleges Torture, Robbery In Somaliland Jail
28 September- Source: Hiiraan Online – 284 Words
One of four Somali musicians arrested by security forces in the breakaway Somaliland region in northern Somalia on Sunday said that soldiers in the jail have beaten him and his colleagues and taken away their cash during an interrogation on Monday.The musicians from the Hargeisa-based Horn Stars band who performed a music show in Mogadishu were arrested upon their arrival at Egal airport in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. Sources close to the police told media that arrests were made after a warrant arrest by the police chief.
Nimcaan Hilaac who has a scant internet mobile access said in one post on his Facebook page that soldiers have informed them that they would be taken to the court for trial, however, charges against them haven’t so far been publicized.“I am a Somali singer, I am musician for every Somali speaking person – They have confiscated $3500 money from me as ransom.” He said in one post, calling his fans to pray for his release. Somaliland government accused the musicians of violating the sovereignty of the region. The arrests has drawn a widespread criticism from Somalis across the world who rallied behind the young popular musicians.
The new music band has hit airwaves across Somalia and beyond for the past two years and has largely drawn the attention of youth. Most of their music art focuses on love and Somalia culture.Somaliland sees Somalia as an obstacle hindering its struggle towards efforts aimed at gaining an international recognition as it seeks an independence from the rest of Somalia.Somaliland has declared a unilateral independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991, however, no country has so far recognized it as an independent state.
Speaker Erred In Ruling Over Impeachment, Says Lawyer
28 September – Source: Goobjoog News – 226 Words
Somali-Canadian lawyer, Ali Halane has castigated the decision by the speaker of parliament to drop the impeachment motion against the president noting that the law provided sufficient procedure for disposing of the matter. Halane also said Speaker Mohamed Osman Jawaari should have consulted widely with the sponsors of the motion before making such a decision which portends far reaching implications on rule of law in Somalia. “Before taking any action the speaker was supposed to seek the consent of the sponsors of the motion,”said Halane. The lawyer also said that the Supreme Court can play the role of the constitutional court for now for the purposes of dealing with the impeachment of the president.
“The Penal code article 218 indicates in its second clause that in the absence of constitutional court- the country Supreme Court can stand to play its role and when you go to Somali constitution article 109 it says the highest court in the country is the supreme court which means that the supreme court can act as constitutional court in its absence,” added Halane. The Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Osman Jawaari this week ruled that the motion to impeach the president lacked legal merit as provided for in Article 184 of the Penal Code. However sponsors of the motion have dismissed Jawaari’s decision as riddled with dishonesty and abuse of law.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
70 Teachers Who Fled North Eastern Terror Moved To Kilifi Schools
28 September – Source: Standard Digital – 409 Words
Seventy primary and secondary school teachers who fled Garissa and North Eastern over insecurity have been transferred to Kilifi County. The teachers had declined to go back to the region following the April 2 terrorist attack at Garissa University College where about 147 students lost their lives. They hail from different parts of Kenya and officials say they were deployed to Kilifi at the start of this term, which has been interrupted by a crippling teachers’ strike over a pay dispute. This group is among about 1,000 others who fled North Eastern after the rise of terrorism. They also claimed they had been subjected to racist xenophobia and religious victimisation by local tribal chauvinists. The State suspended and then declined to pay their salaries but was compelled to do so and reinstate them leading to the ongoing redeployment.
A senior officer of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) in Kilifi County confirmed the relocation of the 70 public school teachers to this area. David Ogutu said out of the 70 teachers, 30 were secondary schools teaching personnel while the rest were from primary schools. The officer said the teachers officially received transfer letters from TSC Nairobi before they were deployed to the county public schools. “It’s true that 70 of the teachers who fled from North Eastern region where they were teaching, for fear of being attacked and killed by members of the Al-Shabaab terror group, were deployed to our Kilifi County schools,” said Mr Ogutu.Speaking at Makuti Villa during a forum to launch a learning and education assessment report for Kilifi conducted by Uwezo Kenya at the weekend said the deployed teachers will address the acute shortage of teachers in the county.
Untamed Borders Takes Tourists To Mogadishu, Somalia
28 September – Source: Daily Mail – 1,194 Words
Despite the constant threat of terror attacks, kidnapping and murder, the most daring tourists are queuing to explore bustling markets and idyllic beaches in one of the most volatile cities in the world. US tourist Mike Ogden, 22, is one of a handful who have paid £900 to spend 48 hours in Mogadishu, Somalia (excluding airfare), where he was outnumbered by heavily-armed security guards who were assigned to protect him at all times. He frequently encountered people who were openly carrying firearms on the streets, experienced a few nerve-wracking moments after his car broke down, and flew out of the capital’s airport while authorities raced to thwart a bomb plot. Mr Ogden, a custom woodworker from Nashua, New Hampshire, booked the trip with Untamed Borders, an adventure travel firm which specialises in individual or small group trips to some of the most dangerous or unusual places on Earth.
Even though the US and other Western countries advise against travel to Somalia, in the horn of Africa, Mr Ogden decided to visit last March after finding the itinerary on the internet, and he was confident he would be safe while being accompanied by a four-man, two-vehicle armed escort. He told MailOnline Travel: ‘I knew I would be going to a more dangerous place for foreigners, however the precautions taken pre-trip and on-trip were good enough that I felt all realistic safety precautions were in place.‘Dangerous is a relative term in Somalia. Ordinary mishaps can be dangerous in Somalia, and by the same token what we consider dangerous is routine, such as hearing AK47s at night.’ Despite the high threat of terrorism or violence, he didn’t encounter any major problems during the two-day trip, although there were some tense moments when the guide’s car broke down.
Mr Ogden said: ‘Our car stalled at one point in the middle of a marketplace intersection, which is a major security concern because we are sitting ducks. ‘Our guards surrounded the car and ordered everyone else to keep moving, and they pushed the car out of the intersection and got it started again.’The night before he flew out of Somalia the country’s government was tipped off about an imminent terror attack, with the airport being the most likely target, he said. Set on the Indian Ocean, Mogadishu went into lockdown and the military presence doubled as authorities worked to stop the attack. Mr Ogden said: ‘All the intersections had security checkpoints, there were tanks patrolling the main roads. We got into the airport after a lot of security and took off fine, but during my layover I checked the Somali news and learned that they had caught a car bomb trying to get into the airport, and the thwarted the attack, luckily.’
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Over the short-term, federalism in Somalia seems to be a fact of life. I doubt there is a viable alternative. Once confidence is established in a national government, however, it might be possible to shift more responsibility to the national level. Federalism can play a useful role. Ultimately, it is up to the Somali people to determine how much federalism it wants and how and when to transfer more authority to the national government.”
Interview With Ambassador David Shinn
27 September – Source: Hiiraan Online – 826 Words
Ahmed Hirsi: Mr Ambassador is it technically possible that free and fair elections could be implemented in Somalia given that Somalia is a fragmented and feudal society, with no voter’s register in existence, there are no institutions to both plan, manage and the constitution that does exist today is both ambiguous and provisional and to make things worse there is no official or credible census that could be used during elections?
David Shinn: It is possible for Somalia to experience free and fair elections. Somalia had a history of reasonably good elections in the 1960s before the takeover of the government by Siad Barre. As you suggest, it will take a long time to create the institutions, census, and registration of voters that permit free and fair elections. But it is possible.
AH: If the International Community is serious and committed about the Al-Shabaab menace how come, the Somali armed forces are not trained and equipped in large numbers apart from the few thousands from one or two regions in Somalia, that have been trained in neighbouring countries ?
DSH: The problem in creating a Somali national army has less to do with the international community and more to do with clan and regional loyalties of Somalis. Too many Somalis still give their loyalty to a clan or region and not to the national government. Until this situation changes, it will be difficult to create a large and effective national army.
AH : There have been so many scandals involving various small or new companies that have signed various oil explorations deals with either regional or the central government. Do you think any deals entered with a weak government are legally binding?
DSH: I don’t know the details of the agreements reached between foreign energy companies and Somali authorities. My impression is that some of these deals have been signed with regional authorities. This raises serious questions about their validity. Even those signed with the federal government are highly suspect because of the manner in which they were negotiated. Once there is a functional national government, all of these agreements will need to be reviewed.