September 23, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Women Will Get 81 Seats In The Next Parliament, Somali President Affirms
23 September – Source : Goobjoog News – 292 Words
Somali President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said that 81 or more members in the next parliament will be women ahead of Somalia’s parliamentary elections. On Thursday, the President presided over the launch of the campaign which will see a database for female candidates set up. The campaign will mobilise women to register for elective positions and use lobbyists to sensitize clan elders on the critical role women play in decision making.
“You cannot escape the 30 percent quota for women by saying we are from so and so clan and we have only one or two seats. If you have two seats in your sub-clan, the threshold will be raised to the upper clan level,” said Mohamud. “ Amongst that representation, the 30 per cent reserved seats for women will be realized. If that does not solve the problem, a resolution mechanism has been put in place. All those eventualities have been contemplated and prepared for.”
Earlier, the Federal Minister of Women Ms. Zahra Mohamed Ali Samatar said women were unsure of the exact seats allocated to them under the 30 per cent quota. “We have got few women candidates in this conference since most of them have gone to their constituencies. But they are anxiously waiting to hear which seats they will contest for. Mr President, this year we want 30 per cent women’s quota, and God willing, in the coming years, women will be able to vie for the seat of Speaker of Parliament,” Minister Samatar stated.
Key Headlines
- Women Will Get 81 Seats In The Next Parliament Somali President Affirms (Goobjoog News)
- AU Pledges To Support Somali Women To Achieve Gender Equality (GoobJoog News)
- Prime Minister Directs Government Agencies To Safeguard Candidates’ Rights
- African Union Says EU Funds Secured For Its Mission In Somalia (Bloomberg News)
- Kenya Pursues 50 Al-Shabaab Militants After Police Camp Attack (Xinhua)
- I Grew Up In The World’s Biggest Refugee Camp – What Happens When It Closes? ( The Guardian)
NATIONAL MEDIA
AU Pledges To Support Somali Women To Achieve Gender Equality
23 September – Source : Goobjoog News – 218 Words
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has pledged support to Somali women in their quest for gender parity in the Somalia’s upcoming polls. Somali National Leadership Forum has agreed on 30% quota women representation in Somali next parliament which will be elected by over 14000 delegates before the end of this year. In speaking at a one-day national conference held in Mogadishu , African Union Special Envoy For Somalia, Francisco Caetano Madeira, called on Somali women to aim higher and redouble their efforts in advocating for women’s greater participation in decision-making.
“As you continue to push for the 30-percent representation, AMISOM, the African Union will be with you because your victory is certain,” said Madeira. Madeira said Somali women should increase their involvement in political arena and start lobbing the leaders to ensure the 30% quota for women representation in the Federal Parliament is realised.“What you need to do now is to make sure that all regional presidents and all the elders recognize that; and that the 30 per cent representation which you have been fighting for is something you deserve,” SRCC Madeira advised the women.
The one-day National conference for women was attended by a section of women parliamentary aspirants from the regional administrations of Galmudug, South West, Puntland and Jubbaland and representatives of the civil society.
Prime Minister Directs Government Agencies To Safeguard Candidates’ Rights
22 September – Source: Jowhar.com – 111 Words
All political candidates should be given the freedom of association with members of the public as well as the press, Prime Minister Omar Sharmarke has directed. In a letter dated September 22 and copied to concerned ministries, security agencies and the Banadir regional administration, the Premier said all candidates have the right to campaign and sell their vision as granted by the constitution and agreed upon by the National Leaders Forum and the same have to be guaranteed without any prejudice.
The directive comes a day after Mogadishu’s Aden Adde International airport officials issued a directive requiring journalists to seek authority before accessing the facility. Sharmarke is himself a presidential candidate.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
African Union Says EU Funds Secured For Its Mission In Somalia
23 September – Source: Bloomberg News- 165 Words
The African Union said it secured 178 million euros ($199.6 million) of financial support from the European Union for its peacekeeping mission in Somalia, as the war-torn nation prepares for elections next month.The contract signed Wednesday covers the period from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2016, with funds to be used for the allowances of mission troops and police, international and local civilian staff salaries and operational costs, the African Union said in a statement.
The EU is the main financier of the African Union Mission in Somalia, or Amisom, previously providing about 1.2 billion euros since 2007, half of which is spent on allowances. EU contributions to Amisom were cut by 20 percent since January because of budgetary constraints.“This renewed financial support to Amisom comes at a critical moment when Amisom is engaged in major offensive operations and the preparation of the elections in Somalia,” the African Union said. Lawmakers are scheduled to choose the country’s president on Oct. 30.
Kenya Pursues 50 Al-Shabaab Militants After Police Camp Attack
22 September – Source: Xinhua – 282 Words
Kenyan police said they have launched a manhunt for some 50 Al-Shabaab militants who raided a police camp along the Somali border early Thursday.
Inspector General Joseph Boinnet said two police officers are missing after a suspected Al-Shabaab attack at the Hamey patrol base in Garissa County.”Over 50 terrorists attacked the police patrol base in two land cruisers but the officers in the camp managed to repulse them amid fierce exchange of fire,” Boinett said in a statement issued in Nairobi.
He said the retreated militants later returned in bigger numbers on board a lorry and fired three bombs into the camp, destroying some tents and forcing police officers to withdraw for cover.”Following subsequent reinforcement, all officers have been accounted for except two. One has been airlifted to Nairobi for specialized treatment after suffering gunshots,” Boinett said.The authority did not say whether the insurgents kidnapped the two missing police officers but said three injured officers were taken to a hospital with minor injuries.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Wait, be patient,” is what I was told when I contacted the resettlement support centre, but 12 years is a long time to hold out. My father has given up; he says we should return to Somalia. But I was born here, in Kenya – a country that doesn’t accept me.”
I Grew Up In The World’s Biggest Refugee Camp – What Happens When It Closes?
23 September – Source: The Guardian – 888 Words
In a dusty expanse of desert in eastern Kenya sits the world’s largest refugee settlement, the place I call home. The camp was set up in 1991 to house Somalis fleeing the civil war. At first, there were three settlements: Ifo, Dagahaley and Hagadera. Ifo II and Kambioos were later added. They are all generally called Dadaab, named after the nearby town 50 miles (80km) from the Somali border.
Half a million people are estimated to live here. My family are among them. They arrived in Ifo in the early 1990s; I was born in 1996. I grew up and completed high school here in 2014, and I hope to start university soon. I’ve been writing since I was a child and I am hoping to become a journalist. My two younger siblings, also born in Ifo, are at primary school.
Dadaab is our home, but in May, the Kenyan government said it would dismantle the camp by November, claiming that it had been infiltrated by militant groups.
It was not the first such threat. In 2012, closing the camp was mooted due to “economic concerns”, and last year, the Kenyan deputy president, William Ruto, said Dadaab would be shut within three months, although this never happened.
From the attack on the Westgate shopping mall to the slaughter at Garissa University College, the Kenyan government has long blamed Somali refugees for insecurity, but for people in the camp, the most recent announcement feels like the most serious yet. The government disbanded the department for refugee affairs and politicians are keen to appear in control of national security, with a presidential election coming up next year.
TOP TWEETS
@Kadarnouh:EU response to UN report on freedom of expression in #Somalia
@BarudGSD:#Hague; the final day of the Court Hearing re the Maritime dispute case between #Somalia and #Kenya just about to start #QadiyaddaBadda
@TerrorEvents:#Somalia – In Jilib town, #AlShabaab displays alleged POWs and bodies said to be Kenya police officers captured during attack on Hamey.
@SharmakeF:Somali diaspora in Melbourne r preparing 2 welcome HE Abdiweli Sh Ahmed + HE Dr Abdirahman Baadiyow for 4 days consultative meeting #Somalia
@lasoco :Abdishakur launches manifesto as campaigns for Somalia President gears up -… http://j.mp/2d5dYiO #Somalia
@JaninaOchojska:In #Somalia with support from @eu_echo we train community members to fix and maintain water and sanitation infrastructure! #WASH #Mogadishu
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Somalia’s Minister for Interior and Federal Affairs, Abdirahman Hussein is welcomed in Adaado.
Photo: Radio Muqdisho.