November 10, 2015 | Morning Headlines
Gen Katumba Warns Against Laxity In Somalia
09 November – Source: Daily Monitor – 230 Words
The Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Katumba Wamala, has warned against laxity and corruption by UPDF soldiers on peacekeeping mission in Somalia. Gen Katumba, who wason Friday flagging off Uganda Battle Group 17 to Somalia said soldiers involved in corruption, especially selling of fuel and food meant for military operations, would face “tough consequences.”A number of UPDF soldiers, including senior officers, have been on trial before the UPDF court martial for selling soldiers’ food and fuel. “ All the supplies, including the food rations, fuel and ammunition, cannot be exchanged for anything. The response will be tough once you are implicated. This will be the same case with indiscipline,” Katumba said at Peace Support Training Centre in Singo Nakaseke District.
The army boss also warned against laxity within the force which he said exposes troops to enemy attacks. Last month, al Shabaab attacked a UPDF base in Janele, Southern Mogadishu, and killed 19 soldiers. President Museveni blamed the attack on laxity of UPDF soldiers. “We are telling our soldiers to be on maximum alert. The al Shabaab are terrorists who do not mind about life and strike at a time you least expect,” he said. Ugabag 17, which is the biggest battle group ever to deploy in Somalia with 2,777 soldiers, was in South Sudan until early this year. The battle group is commanded by Col Bob Ogik.
Key Headlines
- Gen Katumba Warns Against Laxity In Somalia (Daily Monitor)
- Aden Ade Airport Official Killed In Mogadishu (Wacaal Meda)
- Galmudug President Appoints New Governor For Mudug(Radio Dalsan)
- Somali Post and EPG Review Measures To Improve Postal Services Between Somalia and UAE(Emirates News Agency)
- Severe Cyclonic Storm Megh struck Somalia At About 00:00 GMT On 9 November (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
- Maine’s Somalis Could Be Its Saviors (Bloomberg News)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Aden Ade Airport Official Killed In Mogadishu
09 November- Source: Wacaal Media – 93 Words
A staff member of Mogadishu’s Aden Ade International was earlier today gunned down in Hawo Tako estate of the city’s Wadajir district. The slain official was identified as Abdullahi Maalim with Al-Shabaab claiming responsibility for his killing through pro militant media. They claimed Maalim was killed because he worked with foreign security agencies based at the airport in Halane. A civilian identified as Ahmed Muhiyadi Abdi was also killed in the same district today. Wadajir is Mogadishu city’s most unsafe area. Many government officials, aid workers and journalists were killed in this area.
Galmudug President Appoints New Governor For Mudug
09 November – Source: Radio Dalsan – 122 Words
The President of Galmudug regional state of Somalia Abdikarim Hussein Guled has appointed new governor and his deputy for Mudug province which is part of the newly established state.Press statement from President Guled office has named Abdirashid Hashi Artan and Abdi Hussein Sheikh Ahmed as governor and his deputy responsible for security and political affairs respectively.Ahmed Mohamed Shire and Mohamed Ali Adan were also appointed as deputies in charge of finance and social services respectively. A ceremony to welcome the new appointments made by President Guled administration was held in Galkaayo.Puntland and newly established Galmudug regional states of Somalia are on dispute over the borders separating the two states which Galkaayo si the centre of interest from both sides.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Post and EPG Review Measures To Improve Postal Services Between Somalia and UAE
09 November – Source: Emirates News Agency – 282 Words
A delegation from the Somali Ministry of Information, Posts and Telecommunications recently visited Emirates Post Group, EPG, and reviewed the progress of a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, signed earlier between the two sides.Guled Kassim, Somali Minister of Information, Posts and Telecommunications, who was accompanied by Omar Abdulaiz, Consul-General of Somalia in Dubai, held discussions with senior EPG officials, including Emirates Post CEO, Abdullah Alashram, and EPG CEO of Postal Operations, Sultan Al Midfa.Kassim expressed confidence that EPG could play a key role in facilitating the delivery of mail to and from Somalia, as the country continues to rebuild its postal network after several years of unrest.
The Somali minister’s visit was a follow-up to the signing of an MoU between the Somali Ministry of Information, Posts and Telecommunications, and Emirates Post Group in April 2013. According to the MoU, the two sides agreed to work in partnership to assist in the delivery of mail in and out of Somalia, by making Dubai the main mail sorting hub.Speaking to EPG officials, Kassim briefed them on the improving socio-economic situation in Somalia after several years of unrest, and said that a lot remains to be done to restore the country’s unused postal infrastructure. He said that reviving the parcel service was a priority, and revealed that the new mandate of the ministry was to treat post as a business. Kassim also expressed hope that EPG would play a more active role in helping bring normality to postal operations in Somalia.
Severe Cyclonic Storm Megh struck Somalia At About 00:00 GMT On 9 November
09 November – Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation- 214 Words
Severe cyclonic storm Megh struck Somalia at about 00:00 GMT on 9 November. Data supplied by the US Navy and Air Force Joint Typhoon Warning Center suggest that the point of landfall was near 12.3 N, 51.2 E. Megh brought 1-minute maximum sustained winds to the region of around 166 km/h (103 mph). Wind gusts in the area may have been considerably higher.
According to the Saffir-Simpson damage scale the potential property damage and flooding from a storm of Megh’s strength (category 2) at landfall includes: Storm surge generally 1.8-2.4 metres (6-8 feet) above normal. Some roofing material, door, and window damage of buildings. Considerable damage to shrubbery and trees with some trees blown down. Considerable damage to mobile homes, poorly constructed signs, and piers. Coastal and low-lying escape routes flood 2-4 hours before arrival of the storm center. Small craft in unprotected anchorages break moorings. There is also the potential for flooding further inland due to heavy rain.
The information above is provided for guidance only and should not be used to make life or death decisions or decisions relating to property. Anyone in the region who is concerned for their personal safety or property should contact their official national weather agency or warning centre for advice.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“In a city with two of Maine’s poorest census tracts, a swelling contingent of welfare-dependent non-English-speaking immigrants traumatized by war and violence didn’t exactly promise an economic miracle. Nonetheless, they brought new life to downtown — new restaurants and shops, businesses, even a mosque. Many found jobs in and around Lewiston, and for those who didn’t, their welfare payments still helped the local economy,”
Maine’s Somalis Could Be Its Saviors
09 November – Source: Bloomberg News – 1158 Words
As goes Lewiston, so goes the country?A tightly fought mayoral contest in Maine’s second-largest city (pop. 36,299) tapped into anxieties shared by many Americans in communities hosting refugees and asylum seekers: the threat of rising poverty and welfare dependence, more crime and ugly culture clashes. But if the once-declining mill town’s upward trajectory is any indication, perhaps the biggest thing they have to fear is fear itself. For the state with the country’s oldest, whitest and slowest-growing population, attracting new residents of various stripes isn’t just a godsend but an economic imperative.
Last week, Democratic candidate Ben Chin beat Robert Macdonald, the Republican incumbent two-term mayor, but not by enough to avert a runoff. Although issues such as a proposed pay-per-bag trash fee reared up in the campaign, one of the biggest sources of contention was public assistance for asylum seekers from Africa, who continue to join a 4,000-plus community of Somalis and other Africans who have made Lewiston their home for more than a decade.
Macdonald has backed efforts to cut off public assistance to immigrants seeking asylum, and to publicly identify its recipients in order to make “people think twice about applying for welfare.” Earlier, he made headlines by urging immigrants to “accept our culture and leave your culture at the door.”In a column for a local paper, he huffed that “submissive Somali women turn into obnoxious customers at the grocery store cash register.” Complaints about the treatment of Somalis, he said, came mostly from “boo-hoo white do-gooders and their carpetbagger friends.”