November 3, 2015 | Morning Headlines
UK Pledges To Pay Salaries Of 60th Battalion Of SNA
02 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 195 Words
UK government has pledged to support SNA by paying the salaries 60th of battalion of Somali National Army and promised to turn the promises into action as soon as possible:“We are always ready to support Somalia especially SNA, our government ready to pay the salaries of 60th battalion of SNA” said UK ambassador to Somalia, Harriett Mathews.
The move by the UK government comes at a time of relative discontent among members of the national ary following claims of non payment of salaries for over six months. Security analysts have warned that this development could impact negatively on the security operations. Making the commitment of her government when she met with the SNA chief of Defence Forces, Major Mohamed Adan Ahmed, the ambassador hailed the good work of SNA which she said has been critical to the success of operations against the Al-Shabaab terror group. She reiterated the commitment to strengthening the partnership between the SNA and UK government in a bid to annihilate: “We promise that we will cooperate, we are willing to work together as to restore lost peace of Somalia,” she said.
The SNA chief of Defence Forces, commended government of UK for its support and its pledges to the army.: “The government of UK pledges to support SNA and promised to turn the promises into action as soon as possible” he said. The discussions with the ambassador on Monday in Mogadishu, focused on how to strengthen the work of SNA.
Key Headlines
- UK Pledges To Pay Salaries Of 60th Battalion Of SNA (Goobjoog News)
- A Call To End Crimes Against Journalists As Mogadishu Journo Killed In Terror Attack (Goobjoog News)
- Gulleid Calls For Collaboration Between Federal Government And Regional Administration In The Fight Against Al-Shabaab (Wacaal Media)
- New Mogadishu Mayor Assumes Office (Shabelle Media)
- Cyclone Chapala Felt In Puntland (Garowe Online)
- More Somali Refugees Return Home Due To Relative Peace (Xinhua)
- NYS Workers Building Somalia Border Wall Boycott Work Over Pay (Daily Nation)
- Alnur School Of The Blind Brings Hope To Somalia’s Blind (AMISOM)
- Inside Story: Judging The Threat Of Al-Shabaab In Africa (Al Jazeera)
NATIONAL MEDIA
A Call To End Crimes Against Journalists As Mogadishu Journo Killed In Terror Attack
02 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 355 Words
The media fraternity globally today marked the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists in line with Resolution A/RES/68/163 adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2013, against the backdrop of a blast in Mogadishu that claimed the life of a journalist and maimed several others.
The day comes amid rising cases of deaths and intimidation of journalists in Somalia with the latest victim taking a bow yesterday in the Hotel Sahafi attack. The death of Mustaf Shafana adds to four, the number of journalists killed in Somalia this year alone. Daud Ali Omar from Radio Baidoa was murdered in May, followed by Abdihakin Mohamed Omar and Mohamed Abdikarim Moallim Adam both of Somali Broadcasting Corporation and Universal TV respectively in July during an attack on Jazeera Hotel in the capital city. Waagacusub editor, Abdullahi Ali Hussein was also gunned down on his way home in September.
All these deaths and a number of other forms of impunity on the media in Somalia point to a disturbing trend despite their remarkable and enduring effort to tell the Somali story. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) chief Ms Irina Bokova has decried the impunity with which criminals target journalists calling on governments and industry stakeholders to put in measures to ensure these run away offenders are brought to book: “The near complete impunity for the perpetrators of crimes against journalists goes against everything that we stand for, our shared values, our common objectives,” said Bokova.
Noting the efforts by UNESCO to address this issue by spearheading the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, Bokova said the challenge remains steep: “At this time of great change, when all societies are transforming, we must redouble efforts to end impunity for attacks on journalists, in order to advance the right “to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers” enshrined in the Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” added Bokova. The Committee to Protect Journalists notes that 1149 journalists have been killed since 1992 with 2015 alone accounting for 45 journalists.
Gulleid Calls For Collaboration Between Federal Government And Regional Administration In The Fight Against Al-Shabaab
02 November- Source: Wacaal Media – 115 Words
President of the newly formed State of Galmudug Abdikarim Hussein Guuled has condemned Al-Shabaab’s deadly attack on Sahafi Hotel. Speaking in Adaado when he sent his condolences to the families of those who were killed, Guuled termed the incident an act of cowardice aimed at derailing the development realized in the country so far. “We call on the Federal Government to work closely with the regional administration in order to stamp out the Al-shabaab menace. Galmudug will play its part in the country’s reconstruction efforts and we join the rest of the country in mourning the fallen heroes who died in the hands of the blood thirsty terrorists,” he said.
New Mogadishu Mayor Assumes Office
02 November- Source: Shabelle News- 134 Words
The newly appointed Mogadishu mayor Yusuf Hussein Jimale, has officially taken oath of office during a colorful ceremony in the capital, replacing Hassan Hussein Mungab who was fired by President Hassan Sheikh last week .In the presence of Somali Interior Minister Abdirahman Mohamed Hussein Odawa and other top government officials, Yusuf Hassan Jimale, a close ally of the President, promised to restore peace and stability in Mogadishu.Mr Jimale stressed that he will urgently address pressing issues including security.During his speech at the hand-over ceremony, the former mayor Mr Mungab pledged to work with his successor’s administration.The Interior minister acknowledged the valuable contribution of the the former mayor, during his tenure in office.
Cyclone Chapala Felt In Puntland
02 November – Source: Garowe Online – 139 Words
Chapala, a cyclonic storm that developed in the Arabian sea has impacted negatively on communities in coastal areas along the Indian ocean in Somalia’s northeastern state of Puntland on Monday, Garowe Online reports. Residents of Bareda, Gumbah and Tohin told Garowe Online that heavy rains and strong winds affected fishermen as Chapala hit steadily towards Yemeni coastline. Homes have been destroyed, fishing boats sunk and hundreds are reported to have been displaced by the rare storm surge. In Alula and Bargal, the impact of Chapala has been felt and people are on high alert for possible tides and flooding. No casualties have been disclosed, but coastal communities, fishers mainly dependent on marine resources for their livelihood could be at risk for deadly Chapala. Puntland Government has yet to announce the level of preparedness in the event of heavy rains and possible landfalls.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
More Somali Refugees Return Home Due To Relative Peace
02 November – Source: Xinhua News – 605 Words
More Somali refugee families at the Dadaab refugee camps in northeast Kenya are trickling back to their motherland because of relative peace in the war torn Somalia.The latest group to board a UN-chartered plane to Mogadishu was 41 individuals from seven families who have lived at the Ifo refugee camp for the past two and half decades.
Among them was Yussuf Ahmed Osman, 35, who hails from Banader region in Mogadishu. Osman could not hide his joy. He told journalists at the world’s largest refugee settlement that he was delighted to be going back home. Senior government officials who toured the camps on Monday held talks with the families to wish the well. Osman, who arrived in the camp when he was barely 10 years old, sat for his secondary education in 2011 and has been a voluntary teacher in the camp since then. He said it was time for them to join kinsmen in re-building their motherland.
“We are happy that there is relative peace in Somalia. And as the saying goes, East or West home is best. I want to join the rest of Somali citizens in re-building our mother land,” Osman told journalists. He said one of the things that prompted him to return back home was the lack of job opportunities for refugees and the dwindling support by UN agencies operating the refugee camps: “We used to receive at least three rations in a month and life was then bearable, but as we speak, this ration has been reduced to once a month, which can barely sustain a family,” Osman said.
He, however, thanked the UN refugee agency UNHCR and the Kenyan government for the support they have extended to desperate refugees during their stay at the camps: “In as much we have been treated well, living in a country as a refugee without other opportunities to empower yourself economically is a bit tricky,” said Osman, who only speaks English and his native Somalia language. According to UNHCR, security and socio-economic conditions in many parts of Somalia are not right for large-scale returns. Over 2 million Somalis remain displaced in the region, including some 1.1 million in their own country and 967,000 as refugees in the neighbouring countries.
NYS Workers Building Somalia Border Wall Boycott Work Over Pay
02 November – Source: Daily Nation – 418 Words
National Youth Service (NYS) personnel deployed to construct the Kenya-Somalia border wall have downed their tools over delays in paying their allowances. Speaking to the Nation in Mandera Town, the more than 20 personnel, including machine operators, drivers and technicians, accused the government of neglecting them.
“We are 45 in number but some of our colleagues have left since the working conditions are difficult, especially without payment, as we have families depending on us,” said Mr Ismael Abdi. Mr Abdi, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, said efforts to reach the NYS headquarters for intervention had been fruitless. He accused the project coordinator of misinforming the NYS director-general on their work: “The project coordinator has been threatening to fire anybody asking for his pay and so far one of us has been dismissed. However, as a team we have decided not to work until we are paid.”
According to the protesting personnel, they each get a basic salary of Sh13,000 but they were also supposed to be paid Sh12,600 each immediately after they arrived from Nairobi and a daily allowance of Sh4,200 since March: “The head office back in Nairobi has engaged us in a hide-and-seek game over our allowances,’ said Mr Abdi. They vowed to only return to work after being paid all their allowances. They also want a comprehensive medical cover and to be given protective gear, including bullet-proof jackets.
They called on the anti-corruption agency to launch investigations into the wall project, claiming a few senior individuals were benefiting at the expense of the junior officers. The Kenya-Somalia security wall project was launched in March 2015 but has faced several challenges. These include protests from the Somalia administration claiming the Kenya government is targeting to lock out Somalis from doing business with their Kenyan counterparts. The project is aimed at blocking Al-Shabaab militants by providing specific entry and exit points with police checks to reduce entry of illegal arms into the country.
Alnur School Of The Blind Brings Hope To Somalia’s Blind
02 November – Source: AMISOM – 821 Words
In Arabic, the word Alnur means light. It is therefore not a coincidence that scores of blind children come to the Alnur School for the Blind in Mogadishu, Somalia, to illuminate their lives in a quest for a brighter future. Located in Hordan district, the school provides free lifeline education that would otherwise not be possible to children with special needs in the horn of Africa country, thanks to Hormuud Telecommunications Company.
There are no readily available statistics about the number of disabled persons in Somalia. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 10 percent of the world’s population is composed of disabled people.A 2011 report titled ‘Disability Rights in Somalia’ released by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) notes that the number of disabilities in Somalia increases by 20 people daily, and, about 12 to 15 percent of the population is disabled. Somalia has an estimated population of about 12.5m.
Started in 2005 by Somalis in the diaspora, touched by the plight of blind children back at home, the 10 year institution has had a roller- coaster existence due to the wars that have bedeviled the country for more than two decades: “When we first started this school we started with seven students. The reason for that small number of students was that the parents of the blind children did not know that blind people can learn and be educated. We therefore did a lot of awareness to encourage blind people to be educated, after the war intensified in Mogadishu. From 2012 Hormuud Telecommunication Foundation took the responsibility of funding all the expenses of the school. In the last three years the school has grown steadily,” Ibrahim Abdullahi Mohamud, the principle of the Alnur blind school says.
The mixed school, which boasts a boarding section, presently has 84 students – 27 girls and 57 boys – with the boarding section only open to 30 boys which means the other 54 students are day scholars. They are picked from home and dropped back by the school bus, donated by Hormuud. The school is neat, serene and homely, boasting a fresh coat of paint. Here, students spruced in their bright uniforms of white and orange tops find their way around effortlessly and are visibly at ease with one another. They walk around without help, a sign that they have mastered their way around, in line with the school’s philosophy of self-reliance.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
Inside Story: Judging The Threat Of Al-Shabaab In Africa
“Al-Shabab fighters in Somalia have struck again – managing to evade security measures to stage an attack in downtown Mogadishu. Their target, yet again, a hotel popular with government leaders and members of parliament. The latest attack in Somalia raises new questions about the government’s ability to maintain stability.”
01 November – Source: Al Jazeera – Video: 24:55 Minutes