February 9, 2016 | Morning Headlines
Somalia Arrested 20 Over Plane Bombing
08 February – Source: Hiiraan Online – 303 Words
Somalia’s security forces arrested 20 people including civil aviation officials on suspicions of helping a suspected suicide bomber who sucked out of a passenger plane last week after a bomb gaped a hole on the aircraft’s side, officials said Monday.Somali government’s spokesman Abdisalam Atto confirmed the arrests, accusing two of the arrested persons of handing over a laptop to a suspected suicide bomber which he ‘used’ to bomb the plane.The Daallo Airlines flight D3159 has made an emergency landing at the Mogadishu airport just five minutes after take off. Mr. Atto said that the government would issue a ‘comprehensive’ report about the arrested suspects ‘within’ the next 36 hours, with security officials accused‘extremist groups of being behind the plot.
According to security sources, among those arrested included a man who was under police radar over suspicions that he had close relations with Al Shabab.The development comes after CCTV images released by the Somali intelligence agency on Sunday showed the suspected bomber Abdullahi Abdisalam Borleh receiving a laptop from an alleged airport’s staffer inside the airport before he proceeded to the awaiting plane.
On Saturday, Somalia’s air and land transport minister Ali Jama Jangali confirmed that a bomb was the cause of the blast in Daallo Airlines plane which was heading to Djibouti before a blast rocked inside the aircraft.However, the minister warned that the result was a preliminary one from an ongoing investigation.
Meanwhile, the investigation into the bomb blast in the plane entered its seventh day Monday, with foreign technical experts including FBI technical experts joined the probe which officials said would be concluded this week.Most of the flights bound for Mogadishu have been cancelled following the incident, as Somali government vowed it would beef up security of the Mogadishu international airport to prevent further security threats.
Key Headlines
- Somalia Arrested 20 Over Plane Bombing (Hiiraan Online)
- Puntland Cabinet Meeting Amid Election Controversy (Garowe Online)
- Somali MPs Lodge Motion Against President (Shabelle News)
- AU Lauds Progress On Peace Efforts In Somalia (Xinhua)
- UN Warns Of Alarming Food Security Situation In Somalia (Xinhua)
- How Micro Loans For Solar Pumps Are A Macro Step Forward (The East African)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Puntland Cabinet Meeting Amid Election Controversy
08 February – Source: Garowe Online – 160 Words
Puntland Cabinet ministers gathered for critical meeting in the state capital of Garowe on Sunday, Garowe Online reports.Presidential spokesman Abdullahi Mohamed Jama told Puntland-based independent station, Radio Garowe that weekly discussions focused on Somalia election proposal, state of emergency regarding ravaging drought, employment and overall security situation.
He said, cabinet clearly rejected new electoral model in which Lower House representation will be based on traditional 4.5 quota and even distribution of Upper House members to Federal Member States and interim regional administrations.Jama added that cabinet meeting has not put emphasis on any arrival by Somalia government officials and international community representatives in Puntland, telling foreign diplomats to with all due respect shun using the term ‘inclusive’ for recent election proposal.
Puntland is engaged in grassroots consultations after objecting to any model ushering in 4.5 power sharing formula.President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali previously rebuffed to sign election blueprint drawn up under the auspices of international community representatives.
Somali MPs Lodge Motion Against President
08 February – Source: Shabelle News – 143 Words
Fifty four members of Somali federal parliament have tabled a motion against president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, according to the speaker of the assembly.Parliament speaker Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari said during Monday’s parliamentary session that he received a motion signed by 54 MPs, who are blaming the president of violating the constitution. The speaker said the motion will be on top agenda in the next session, whereby the country’s federal lawmakers will have a debate on the anti-president motion.According to the motion, the MPs accuse the president of breaking the law and a denial of legislative body’s privilege after the president said security of the country depends on to investigate MPs and other Gov’t officials. Somali president said in his address at the parliament on Sunday that everyone in the government even the parliament members should go through investigation for security measures.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
AU Lauds Progress On Peace Efforts In Somalia
08 February – Source:Xinhua – 326 Words
The African Union (AU) on Monday lauded progress achieved in bringing peace in Somalia despite increased terror attacks from Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab.
AU Special Representative for Somalia and Head of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) Francisco Madeira emphasized progress made in Somalia since the first AU troops arrived in Mogadishu in 2007.”AMISOM, through joint military operations and other interventions, has created an environment where political process, particularly reconciliation and state formation, is an evolving and tangible reality,” he said during AMISOM’s Military Operations Coordination Committee (MOCC) meeting in Nairobi.
Madeira enumerated the political achievements enabled by the relative peace currently being enjoyed in the Horn of Africa nation despite attacks from insurgents.The AU official added that the most significant indication that AMISOM efforts have borne tangible results is the decision made by the Somali government on the electoral model to be used in the coming elections later this year.He also acknowledged the enormity of tasks that lay ahead before the elections, especially in maintaining a secure environment for such political progression.”This laudable milestone in the Somali reconciliation process represents an additional challenge to AMISOM as it will be required to move with speed in the stabilization of the country so that the electoral administration and the casting of the votes can take place in a peaceful environment,” Madeira noted.”Robust military action must go hand in hand with an equally robust, inclusive and effective political reconciliation process to win the hearts and minds of the population and ensure that the Somali people fully assume their political and security responsibilities at local, regional and national level,” the AU official added.
AMISOM, deployed to the Horn of the African nation in 2007, has been trying to bring peace to a country that has had no functioning central government for the past 20 years, during which it has been torn apart by factional fighting and has faced a series of humanitarian crises.
UN Warns Of Alarming Food Security Situation In Somalia
08 February – Source: Xinhua – 449 Words
Food security and malnutrition situation in Somalia is alarming, especially in parts of Puntland and Somaliland which have been hard hit by poor rainfall and drought exacerbated by El Nino, a UN-backed report reveals on Monday.
The latest food security and nutrition assessment for Somalia which was released in Mogadishu by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)-managed Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) in collaboration with Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) says the situation is critical and could get worse.”Somalia will continue to face large-scale food insecurity between now and June as a result of poor rainfall and drought conditions in several areas, trade disruption, a combination of protracted and new population displacement, all of which is exacerbated by chronic poverty,” says the report.
It notes that acute malnutrition remains high in many parts of the country. The latest findings indicate that 931,000 people will be in crisis and 22,000 more people in emergency across Somalia through June.”We are deeply concerned that the proportion of severely food insecure people remains alarmingly high, especially people who are unable to meet their daily food needs,” said Peter de Clercq, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia.
The 2016 Humanitarian Response Plan for Somalia calls for 885 million U.S. dollars to address the most urgent needs of 3.5 million people.It seeks to reduce preventable deaths, provide basic services and strengthen the protection of vulnerable people, including the internally displaced.Clercq said some 3.7 million people will be acutely food insecure through mid-2016, adding that with severe drought conditions intensifying in Puntland and Somaliland, many more people risk relapsing into crisis.
The internally displaced persons (IDPs) represent 68 percent of the total number of people in Crisis and Emergency.About 3.7 million additional people across the country are classified as Stressed through mid-2016. In total, the assessment reports that nearly 4.7 million people or 38 percent of the total population of Somalia are acutely food insecure and will be in need of humanitarian assistance between now and June 2016.”We must do more to address recurrent hunger. Humanitarian assistance is vital and has achieved enormously positive food security results in recent years,” de Clercq stressed.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“The Somali territories have an abundance of solar energy that can be harnessed to both decrease cost-inefficiencies for businesses and provide a safer and more sustainable clean energy solution for hundreds of communities across the region,”– Abdirashid Duale, CEO, Dahabshiil Group.
How Micro Loans For Solar Pumps Are A Macro Step Forward
06 February – Source: The East African – 625 Words
MicroDahab MFI, a microfinance subsidiary of Dahabshiil Group, has announced a collaboration with SolarGen Technologies to create the first ijarah thumma Iqtina (“lease to purchase”) sustainable energy product in Somalia.The initiative will enable clients to own a solar-powered water pump that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive for farmers and other small business owners to buy.
MicroDahab’s potential for success is due, in large part, to making greener financing decisions informed by real knowledge of what is happening in climate-affected places.Somalia is often cited as one of the most expensive countries in the world for electricity. For example, the average Somali farming village spends $80,000 in fuel costs to power generators for water every year. Now, solar powered water pumps will achieve a cost saving of an estimated $60,000 per village per year. MicroDahab will bear both the capital cost and risk of asset ownership.
Dahabshiil Group is keen to advocate the mainstream application and consumption of solar technology. The Somali territories have an abundance of solar energy that can be harnessed to both decrease cost-inefficiencies for businesses and provide a safer and more sustainable clean energy solution for hundreds of communities across the region.
Micro-loans are a vital tool for farmers and rural entrepreneurs to upgrade their businesses or invest in the next growing season.MicroDahab now has the potential to help the most vulnerable adapt to climate change by providing individuals and households with a means of accumulating and managing the assets and capabilities needed to become less susceptible to shocks and stresses or cope with their impact. Agribusiness remains the most prominent trade in the Somali territories given the favourable conditions for agricultural development.