September 16, 2016 | Morning Headlines
State To Provide Security For Presidential Candidates
15 September – Source: Goobjoog News – 310 Words
The Federal Government will provide security for all presidential candidates in the upcoming poll throughout the campaign period, the Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation Team (FIEIT) said Thursday. The electoral body also assured opposition candidates the electoral process will be free and fair and that all candidates will be accorded equal and fair chance during the elections which are slated for October 30. The electoral team made the commitment following a one day meeting in Nairobi with opposition presidential candidates who have raised concerns regarding President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s extended stay.
President Mohamud’s constitutionally mandated term ended September 10 this year, however the National Leadership Forum extended his stay until a new president comes to office after the October 30 elections. Speaking to Goobjoog News after the meeting, former Somali Ambassador to Kenya Mohamed Ali Americo said the FIEIT chair Omar Abudlle had assured them the process will be fair and transparent.
“He assured us the process will be free and fair to all candidates. We also agreed that the Federal Government will provide security to all the presidential candidates,” said Americo. The nature and scope of security is however not clear. Americo said the electoral body also gave them a green light to deploy their observers in all the electoral station countrywide during the polls which will start September 24 with the election of Lower House members.
The meeting follows a similar one two days ago between opposition party leaders and members of the international community in Mogadishu. The leaders did not however disclose any information concerning the talks. Leaders present during today’s meeting include former Prime Ministers Farmajo Mohamed Abdullahi, Abdiweli Ahmed, Ali Mohamed Geedi among others.
Key Headlines
- State To Provide Security For Presidential Candidates (Goobjoog News)
- President Opens State Formation Conference In Jowhar (Shabelle News)
- SNA Forces Raid Al-Shabaab Base Near Hudur Town (Shabelle News)
- Somaliland Clans Threaten To Withdraw From Electoral Process (Garowe Online)
- Kenya Seeking To Close Somali Camp Denies Abuse Of Refugees (Voice of America)
- 25 Khat Cargo Planes Head To Somalia After Flights Ban Lifted (Daily Nation)
- Mother Seeks To Inspire With Film Of Photojournalist Son (Reuters)
NATIONAL MEDIA
President Opens State Formation Conference In Jowhar
15 September – Source: Shabelle News – 82 Words
Somalia’s outgoing President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has officially opened the second phase of the state formation conference in Jowhar on Thursday. The president and a delegation he was heading arrived at the conference hall, where traditional elders are expected to shape an inter-regional federal state for Hiiraan and middle Shabelle regions. The Somali security forces have beefed up security measures in Jowhar as the town is hosting the state formation conference. Somali government is preparing to hold presidential elections on October 30, 2016.
SNA Forces Raid Al-Shabaab Base Near Hudur Town
15 September- Source: Shabelle News – 130 Words
Somali government troops, with the support of AU soldiers have launched an offensive on a small village near Hudur town which is under the control of the Al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab militants. Confirming the attack, a senior Somali military officer said the allied troops have managed to dislodge the militants from Busley area, around 50Km away from Hudur city, the regional capital of Bakool .
Col Dini Kahiye, the officer who is one of the leading army officials in the area, told Radio Shabelle by phone that they discovered SNA uniforms at the captured Al-Shabaab base. There have been several clashes between Al-Shabaab and Somali government troops in the region over the past few weeks, as the Interim Southwest Administration promised to drive the militants out of its territory.
Somaliland Clans Threaten To Withdraw From Electoral Process
15 September – Source: Garowe Online – 248 Words
Somaliland politicians and traditional leaders Thursday threatened to pull out from ongoing electoral process if complaints are not addressed in yet another twist raising stakes for the country’s dispute-marred vote, Garowe Online reports. The move might add to a host of hurdles ahead of the 2016 Presidential election scheduled for30th of October.
In a position paper dated September 14, 2016 but disclosed to the media by Thursday, 20 elders, five ministers serving in outgoing administration and the Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed Omar Arte objected to the last National Leadership Forum (NLF) communique in which both Puntland and Somaliland retained equal number of seats (11 each) in the Upper House of Federal Parliament.
“It is unfortunate that the leadership forum agreed a unilateral decision, which is not a solution to the standing differences and problems; therefore we hereby clarify to the National Leadership Forum (NLF), Electoral Teams, and International Community representatives that there is a travesty in the allocation of seats in the Upper House whose distribution lacks baseline, second since five-region Somaliland and Puntland which is composed of two regions and a half hold equal proportion, the NLF failed to justify what kind of a baseline they used and where Somaliland’s five constitutional seats have gone,” read the statement.
The undersigned politicians and elders threatened that they will withdraw from the electoral process if demands are not met. Following watershed moments in Mogadishu, Somali political leaders endorsed a modality for the 54-member Upper House on September 13.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Kenya, Seeking To Close Somali Camp, Denies Abuse Of Refugees
15 September – Source: Voice of America – 577 Words
Kenya reaffirmed on Thursday its plan to close the world’s largest refugee camp by November, rejecting allegations by Human Rights Watch that it is harassing and intimidating Somali refugees to return home when it is not safe to do so. The rights group said Kenya is not giving the refugees a real choice between being repatriated or staying, and that the United Nations’ refugee agency, UNHCR, is not giving refugees accurate information about the risks they face in Somalia.
“Our timeline is November 30th for closure of the camp,” Karanja Kibicho, principal secretary for Kenya’s Interior Ministry, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “We are trying to restore sanity in matters of refugee affairs. We are a sovereign country that is trying to address a security concern, and we are as humane as possible.”
A spokesman for UNHCR in Kenya said the agency would have to study HRW’s report before responding. Kenya announced in May that it would close Dadaab, home to more than 300,000 mostly Somali refugees, by November, following deadly attacks on Kenyan soil by Somali Islamist group Al-Shabaab. The government says Al-Shabaab has used the camp as a recruiting ground for its attacks.
Kenya softened its stance in June, following an outcry from rights groups who said much of Somalia was not yet safe for return, and agreed a goal of halving Dadaab’s population by the end of 2016. Somalia continues to face an Islamist insurgency and is struggling to rebuild after decades of conflict. Kibicho’s comments suggest the government is sticking to its original November deadline.
25 Khat Cargo Planes Head To Somalia After Flights Ban Lifted
15 September – Source: Daily Nation – 193 Words
Twenty five cargo planes carrying miraa have left for Somalia after flights to Aden Adde International Airport resumed on Wednesday. The spokesman of Nyambene Miraa Traders Association (Nyamita) Kimathi Munjuri said that business was back to normal after a one-week suspension. On Wednesday, only two cargo planes went to Mogadishu due to lack of sufficient supplies.
“The 25 planes, all full to capacity left for Somalia today (Thursday). The demand was very high following the suspension,” Mr Munjuri said. He, however, said miraa traders were waiting for answers on concerns emerging from the recent suspension of flights by the Somali government. Mr Munjuri had earlier said that miraa traders lost about Sh500 million in the seven days that cargo flights to Mogadishu were suspended.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“They have taken this story of their son and transformed it into a movement for global positive change.”
Mother Seeks To Inspire With Film Of Photojournalist Son
15 September – Source: Reuters – 439 Words
The mother of a Reuters photojournalist killed in Somalia in 1993 wants a film about her son’s life to empower others to strive to change the world. “My great desire is that this film will be a spark to ignite a movement of young people and the young-at-heart to believe they have a role to play in changing the world around them,” said Kathy Eldon, mother of Dan Eldon and the film’s producer.
“The Journey Is The Destination,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on Wednesday, chronicles the final three years of Dan Eldon’s life during which he fell in love, raised money for refugees, drove across Africa to deliver it and became a photojournalist.
“The Eldon family are miraculous to me,” said director Bronwen Hughes. “They have taken this story of their son and transformed it into a movement for global positive change.” The British-American photographer joined journalists on an assignment to cover a civil war and famine in Somalia and the UN-mandated and U.S-led mission to secure humanitarian relief.
After scores of civilians were killed and wounded in a U.S. bombing that was targeting Somali warlords, journalists documenting the aftermath were attacked by a mob. Eldon and three other journalists were killed. He was 22. Kathy and Dan’s sister Amy founded the Creative Visions Foundation after Eldon’s death to build on the efforts of activists using media and art to cause social change.
The film drew heavily on journals Eldon kept, a collection of which his family published after his death. “Dan had left us a visual map to the way to tell his story and I determined that had to be the visual language for the film,” Hughes said.