January 18, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Election Talks End Without Breakthrough In Kismayo
18 January – Source: Hiiraan Online – 254 Words
The preferred model of election that will apply in Somalia’s polls later this year has been at the center of controversy among Somali government top officials and regional leaders. There was accordingly no breakthrough in the latest talks in Kismayo, a matter that raises concerns about the fate of the electoral process in the country.
The Somali government has proposed a presidential poll in 2016 but dismissed the likelihood of holding popular elections owing to security challenges.Some of the country’s stakeholders, during the Kismayo talks, suggested that selection of individuals to the country’s Parliament should be based on representation from the 18 regions, while others want the nominations to be based on the existing federal states. No date has been set for the next round of talks to settle this stand off.
Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke and their delegates reportedly walked out of the meeting and flew to Mogadishu. However other leaders including Puntland president spent Sunday night in Kismayo. Puntland and Jubbaland leaders have recommended holding the upcoming elections based on constituencies while leaders from Galmudug and South-western states dismissed the idea and instead called for 4.5 formula of election. The latter is about representation on clan basis. According to the Somalia’s Provisional Federal Constitution, adopted in 2012, the life of the current Somali Federal Parliament and Government comes to an end in August and September 2016 respectively.
Key Headlines
- Election Talks End Without Breakthrough In Kismayo (Hiiraan Online)
- Somaliland Executes Three Convicted Of Murders (Hiiraan Online)
- Prime Minister Sharmarke Expresses Optimism Over National Election Forums (Wacaal Media)
- Kenya Jets Target Militants After Group Says 100 Soldiers Killed (Bloomberg News)
- NIOC Seizes Smuggled Gasoil Bound To Somalia (El Akhbar Online)
- Kenya Steps Up Search Recovery Operation After Attack In Somalia (Xinhua Online)
- Finding Minnesota: Karmel Plaza (CBS Minnesota)
- Together We Will Defeat Al-Shabaab ( Daily Nation)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somaliland Executes Three Convicted Of Murders
18 January – Source: Hiiraan Online – 238 Words
The breakaway northern Somalia region of Somaliland on Sunday executed three people including a woman and her son by firing squad after being convicted of murdering a woman. A court in Hargeisa found the boy and his mother guilty of murdering Ruqiya Saeed Ayanle by burying her alive inside their house. The police said Ms Ayanle had been killed due to an argument over a debt she owed.
According to witnesses the three were tied to poles outside a notorious Mandera military prison before masked soldiers randomly shot them to death.It’s the second time the northern Somalia enclave carried out executions since last week. Four soldiers were executed by firing squad including one who was convicted of killing his chief officer in a remote village in the region last week.Somaliland also executed six prisoners last year; an action which immediately drew condemnation from the international community.
Prime Minister Sharmarke Expresses Optimism Over National Election Forums
18 January – Source: Wacaal Media – 154 Words
The Prime Minster of Somalia Omar Sharmarke has expressed optimism over ongoing negotiations on the electoral process. Sharmarke said the Federal government will soon release a schedule of follow up meetings to the one that just concluded conference in Kismayu to come up with the final decision on the best method to use in this year’s elections: “We have recorded tremendous success in our last meeting which brought the leaders closer than before. The Federal government make extra efforts to ensure successful completion of the national forums. We are left with a few technical formalities, which we hope to sort out soon” said the Premier. His announcement comes as a tug of war over which method of election should be applied in the forthcoming polls.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Kenya Jets Target Militants After Group Says 100 Soldiers Killed
18 January – Source: Bloomberg News – 282 Words
Kenya’s military carried out air raids on al-Qaeda-linked militants in southwestern Somalia after an attack on an African Union military base Jan. 15 in which the Islamists said at least 100 Kenyan soldiers died.
The Kenya Defence Forces used both land and air forces in response to the attack on the El Adde base in Somalia’s Gedo region near the Kenyan border, Samson Mwathathe, the head of Kenya’s military, said in a statement published Sunday on the Ministry of Interior’s website. The operation is “delicate” because some Kenyan soldiers have been captured and are being used as human shields, he said.“As we speak right now our troops are engaging the terrorists,” Mwathathe said. “We have information to the effect that some soldiers are being used as human shield and we will not allow any further casualties.”
Al-Shabaab, an Islamist militant group that has been fighting Somalia’s government for a decade, said it killed more than 100 Kenyan soldiers and captured 12 others in the Jan. 15 attack. If the death toll is confirmed, it would be the highest number of casualties Kenya’s military has suffered in a single incident since its troops invaded southern Somalia in October 2011.The African Union is still verifying the number of casualties and Kenyan authorities haven’t specified how many of its soldiers died.The El Adde attack was carried out by suicide bombers using improvised explosive devices on vehicles and “the soldiers affected by the attack are a company size force,” Defence Secretary Raychelle Omamo said in a separate statement on the Ministry of Interior’s website. In the U.S. military, a company has 100 to 200 soldiers, according to the U.S. Army’s website.
NIOC Seizes Smuggled Gasoil Bound To Somalia
18 January – Source: El Akhbar Online – 92 Words
Coastguards of the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company (NIOPDC) seized an fishing dhow under Indian flag which was smuggling 400,000 liters of gasoil bound to Somalia and confiscated the makeshift vessel’s cargo, said director of NIOPDC office in southeastern Chahbahar Port: “An Indiaد dhow which had loaded about 400,000 liters of gasoil from a terminal in Hormozgan and was bound to Somalia was seized by the Coastguard Unit and confiscated,” Abdollah Giti-Manesh told Shana on Monday. The confiscated fuel was transferred to a local oil storage facility, he added.
Kenya Steps Up Search, Recovery Operation After Attack In Somalia
18 January – Source: Xinhua – 671 Words
Kenya’s military said Sunday its soldiers serving at the Africa Union mandate in Somalia have embarked on search, rescue and recovery operation which he termed as a delicate exercise after Friday’s bloody attack.The Chief of Defence Forces Samson Mwathethe who received four injured Kenya Defence Force (KDF) soldiers of the dawn attack at military base in El-Adde in Gedo region also declared relentless war against terrorism, adding that KDF is currently engaging Al-Shabaab in southern Somalia.”However, it should be noted that this is a delicate operation as we have information to the effect that some soldiers are being used as human shield, as we will not allow any further casualties,” Mwathethe told journalists in Nairobi.”As we speak now, our troops are engaging the terrorists and it’s therefore imperative that we desist from divulging details that might compromise the operational security. However, we will keep Kenyans updated as events unfold,” he added.Three of the four wounded soldiers who arrived in the country could walk unaided while the fourth had to be carried on a wheel chair to a waiting ambulance as he had severe injuries from the waist downwards.Mwathethe said the Islamist militants were now evolving and competing for space, a move he said will not undermine KDF’s operational and combat capability.
Defence Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo asked Kenyans to be calm and let the government inform families of the fallen soldiers first before making the names public.”Allow the families privacy as they mourn. Full details of those injured and killed will be made public after families affected are notified,” Omamo said.She said the soldiers who were airlifted for specialized treatment were critically injured. “Be patient, information will be availed to you. We are determined to bring our soldiers home.”Omamo said the government has established support facilities for the families of the fallen soldiers and those who were injured at the KDF barracks in Eldoret, Gilgil and Nairobi.
The remarks came as Al-Shabaab claimed on Sunday it had killed 100 Kenyan soldiers who were at the military camp in Friday’s dawn attack and also captured some Kenyan soldiers alive.They however did not say the number of the Kenyan troops they are holding hostage. However, the Kenyan government and AMISOM officials have disputed the figure, terming it propaganda. The militants usually inflate the number of casualties.Omamo said more Kenyan soldiers alongside other regional ones serving under AMISOM will be deployed to the camp which is near Kenya-Somalia border.She said the AU troops were combing the area for militants behind the ambush, which has been described as the worst against the KDF since their incursion into Somalia in 2011.
Finding Minnesota: Karmel Plaza
17 January – Source: CBS Minnesota – 757 Words
Minnesota has long been a melting pot of many different cultures.In the last two decades, the Twin Cities has become home to largest Somali population in the country.Many in the Somali community turn to the Karmel Plaza in Minneapolis for traditional clothing, food and other goods. Known as the Somali mall, most of the customers and business owners there are of east African descent, but all are welcome.The unassuming facade of the Karmel Plaza helps it blend into the backdrop of Pillsbury Avenue. Once inside, a bland exterior opens into a world of color and culture.Spread out over four floors and two buildings are nearly 200 vendors, the majority of whom are Somali.“It’s more than a mall, it has everything,” said Asha Ahmed, a business owner in the mall.
At every turn, vibrant hues of traditional clothing and jewelry fill the hallways.“We have traditional clothing where we can’t find in other malls,” said Sabrina Seyf, a business owner in the mall.Every imaginable business that relates to Somali culture can be found inside: everything from spices, to travel, to henna. Every day visitors of all cultures come for the custom ink to cover their hands and arms.“The American people do hair, nails, we do that,” said Fardosa Gedi, who owns a henna shop.
Many of the vendors are first-time business owners and had help opening their shops.Basim Sabri owns the mall and often takes on some of the start-up costs for the vendors, but he also guides them through the licensing process.“It gets paid eventually,” Sabri said. “It supports other businesses in the mall. It creates traffic and creates another generation of income for businesses nearby them. It all works together.”
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“The surest way to deliver the killer blow to Al-Shabaab and terrorism in the Horn of Africa is for all nations to share information, enhancing border management and by making financial transactions more transparent.We have a common enemy in terrorism and we must defeat this evil collectively for a safer, progressive and prosperous region and world,”
Together, We Will Defeat Al-Shabaab
16 January – Source: Daily Nation – 563 Words
Terrorism is one of the greatest evils the world faces today.There is no greater challenge than defeating it because so much of our collective progress depends on stability, security and partnership.These are the very enablers of development that terrorist groups like Al-Shabaab do not want to see happen in the Horn of Africa.The Government of Somalia shares the pain of the loss of our Kenyan brothers and sisters in arms who came to restore and advance hope and peace in Somalia as part of Amisom.Indeed their loss, which resulted from a terrorist attack on their base in El-Ade on Friday, is heart-breaking.However, as we mourn the passing of these heroes and stand in solidarity with the survivors and the families of all the victims, we must direct our collective anger at defeating the enemy: terrorism.
From the tragedies the world witnessed in Paris, Istanbul, Jakarta and Ougadougou, we know terrorism is one of the greatest challenges the world faces.We should be under no illusions and understand that the terrorists we are fighting are tough and determined enemies.Tough because they have no regard for human life and determined because they are driven either by an extreme, twisted and arrogant belief in their own moral superiority or pursuit of material gain.
Somalia and Kenya are brotherly nations whose future prospects are intertwined.What affects one will certainly have an impact on the other and as such our governments are working together to defeat terrorism in many ways already.We are sharing intelligence and working alongside one another on the ground both in Somalia and Kenya.
More crucially, our two governments have proved time and again that they will not allow Al-Shabaab to achieve their goal of dividing us.Despite our collaborative efforts, more needs to be done, and quickly, to enhance knowledge sharing, border management and monitoring and economic development to close the vital security gaps that Al-Shabaab exploits.We also need to reach out to our youth who are being radicalised and misled by baseless ideological nonsense which rests on the twin pillars of hate and societal destruction.The Somali National Army is working closely with their partners on the ground, Amisom, of which Kenya is an important contributing State, to rid the evil of terror from Somali soil.
TOP TWEETS
@Daudoo:BREAKING: #AlShabaab withdrew its militants from El-Adde overnight, the town almost empty, #KDF & #Somaliatroops around 30km away – Reports
@UNSomalia:SRSG #Keating is honored by the @UN Guard Unit as he arrived in #Mogadishu #Somalia cc@UNPeacekeeping
@UNFPA_SOMALIA:Ensuring reproductive health services get to the underserved in #Somalia @GKyeyune @MahhaMasumi@Pilirani
@UNSomalia :Minister of Foreign Affairs (@MinisterMOFA) Abdusalam H. Omer welcomes SRSG #Keating upon his arrival in #Somalia
@UNFPA_SOMALIA: “We’re determined to broaden our presence in #Somalia,” our new Representative Nikolai Botev@GKyeyune @Pilirani
IMAGE OF THE DAY
SRSG Keating is honored by the UN Guard Unit as he arrived in Mogadishu.
Photo: UNSOM