September 29, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Explosion Hits Somali Capital Mogadishu, Killing 3
29 September – Source: Garowe Online – 144 Words
At least three people have been killed in a bomb blast in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Thursday. Senior police official, Capt. Mohamed Hussien, has confirmed the reports and said that a landmine exploded in an area close to the livestock market located in Kaaran district. .“The explosive was planted nearby restaurant frequented by Somali government forces and city’s taxmen, the blast killed 3 people and injured civilian bystanders,” added the Police official.
Al-Qaida linked Al-Shabaab militants group have claimed responsibility of the attack, as they carried out similar attacks against Somali government officials, government forces and AMISOM troops. Al-Shabab militants group is attempting to topple the western backed Somalia’s government and in the past few weeks it have intensified its attacks against government officials, security forces and AMISOM troops as well at their camp.
Key Headlines
- Explosion Hits Somali Capital Mogadishu Killing 3(Garowe Online)
- Puntland Government Interferes In The Parliamentary Election Process (Garowe Online)
- Fire Breaks Out At A Market In Mogadishu (Shabelle News)
- Former Somali President Sharif Sheikh Hassan Holds Talks With Egyptian Envoy (Jowhar.com)
- UN Security Council Voices Regret Over Somalia’s Delayed Election Process (Xinhua)
- KDF Soldier Tells Of Ordeal In The Hands Of Al-Shabaab In Lamu Attack (Daily Nation)
- The Mayor of Mogadishu: What You Get When African Cliché Is Dropped (The Conversation)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Puntland Government Interferes In The Parliamentary Election Process
29 September – Source: Garowe Online – 307 Words
Reports have emerged that Puntland President has designated a special committee, which is set to interfere in the outcome of ongoing parliamentary elections in Puntland region. Presidency sources tell Garowe Online that President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas has formed a committee that includes close allies, Minister of Commerce, Minister of Labors and Puntland parliamentarians Saadiq Garad and Nuh Dheere, to closely work with clan elders and jointly select the delegates-Electoral College- who will vote for the Lower House candidates.
The committee is tasked to prevent the selection of delegates who are not supporting candidates backed by Puntland President and Federal leaders. The committee is believed to be formed to support the presidential campaign of Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke. PM Sharmarke who recently held talks with traditional elders in Puntland region, has discussed about his presidential campaign, and urged clan elders to select MPs who will vote for him in the upcoming presidential polls.
“The main reason of establishing the committee is to ensure selecting lawmakers in the Lower and Upper Houses who are allied to Puntland President and Prime Minister Sharmarke, as they backed their nominations process,”
Presidency sources told Garowe Online. National Leadership Forum (NLF) that includes Leaders of the Federal government and regional administrations, have earlier agreed on the roadmap of the parliamentary elections. Reports revealed that the NLF leaders-particularly state leaders- are in consent over the involvement in the selection of new lawmakers for political bargaining with Federal leaders. This comes amid recent address by UN Special Representative for Somalia, Michael Keating to the UN Security Council over the political manipulation and delays of Somali elections, as he stressed on the importance of assuring the new extension will not create a space for manipulation or disruption, but rather maintaining the momentum to ensure the process is as transparent and credible as possible.
Fire Breaks Out At A Market In Mogadishu
29 September – Source: Shabelle News – 71 Words
A huge inferno has engulfed a big market in Bulo-Hubey area in Wadajir district in the Somali capital, Mogadishuon Thursday morning.Eyewitnesses said the inferno caused huge property loss, destroying three shops in the market before firefighters arrived to put out the destructive fire.The fire that swept through Bulo-Hubey’s main market was caused by an electrical fault, according to the witnesses who spoke to Radio Shabelle over the phone.
Former Somali President Sharif Sheikh Hassan Holds Talks With Egyptian Envoy
29 September – Source: Jowhar.com – 150 Words
Former President of Somalia Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed who is one of the notable candidates in the upcoming presidential elections yesterday held lengthy talks at his residence in Mogadishu with Egyptian Envoy to Somalia Safwat El-Mahdy. The two leaders discussed relations between the two countries.Speaking during the visit, El-Mahdy commended Sharif’s development record during his tenure noting his efforts that saw the country through the transition period as well as overseeing peaceful elections and successful handover of power at the end of his term in 2012.
While appreciating the courtesy call by the Envoy, Sheikh Sharif reiterated his commitment to another successful round of elections in the country and assured Egypt of Somalia’s closer collaboration in all spheres of life. The visit comes at a time when Sharif has embarked on series of meetings with local and international stakeholders to strengthen his bid for a second term in office.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
UN Security Council Voices Regret Over Somalia’s Delayed Election Process
29 September – Source: xinhua – 261 Words
The UN Security Council on Wednesday expressed regret over repeated delays of this year’s parliamentary and presidential elections in Somalia, calling on all the Somali parties to follow the revised schedule and reach agreement on the remaining political challenges soon. “The members of the Security Council expressed regret at the announcement by the Federal Indirect Election Implementation Team (FIEIT) on Sept. 26, 2016 that the timetable for the 2016 electoral process required a further extension,” the 15-nation UN body said in a statement.
The statement was issued late Wednesday after the council was briefed by the special representative of the UN secretary-general for Somalia, Michael Keating, and the special representative of the African Union Chairperson on Somalia, Francisco Madeira, on the situation in Somalia. “The members of the Security Council underlined that holding a peaceful, transparent and inclusive electoral process in 2016 will mark a historic step forward for all Somalis, and will be fundamental for the country’s continued progress towards democracy and stability,” the statement said.
The council members called on all parties to “adhere to the implementation plan put in place by the FIEIT, and to demonstrate the political will to ensure the revised timetable will be met,” the statement said. The latest postponement decision was the second by the Somali electoral body since August, in which both polls were slated for under the original time table. The FIEIT said the parliamentary elections will be held from Oct. 23 to Nov. 10 for both the Lower and Upper houses, while the presidential election will take place on Nov. 30.
KDF Soldier Tells Of Ordeal In The Hands Of Al-Shabaab In Lamu Attack
29 September – Source: Daily Nation – 585 Words
A Kenya Defence Forces soldier has narrated to a Mombasa court how he and his comrades were attacked when a group of about 10 Al-Shabaab militants ambushed them in Kiunga in Lamu County two years ago. Sargent Andrew Nzomo said the attack happened after they left the Manda military base, where they had gone to collect food for the Kenyan troops at the Ras Kamboni military camp in Somalia. “We proceeded along the Hindi-Kiunga road and about 50 kilometres from Hindi, our lorry got stuck in the mud due to heavy rains,” he told Principal Magistrate Francis Kyambia on Wednesday.
Mr Nzomo, who was accompanied by seven other soldiers, said they tried to pull their lorry out of the mud but their efforts were futile. “At about 5pm, we decided to prepare supper. We had, however, informed our colleagues what had transpired,” he said.Robbery With Violence: Mr Nzomo was testifying in a case in which a terror suspect, Mudhar Said Jumaa, is charged with robbery with violence and involvement in terrorism activities. The suspect denied robbing Private Vincent Kibenzi and Corporal George Makhulo, who were killed during the terrorist attack, of two loaded G3 rifles.
He also denied involvement in terrorism activities. He is accused of being member of Al-Shabaab. The suspect is accused of committing the offence, jointly with others not in court, on May 25, 2014 at Mlimani, on the Hindi-Kiunga road. The soldier said that at a round 11pm, he saw the light of a moving vehicle approaching from the Hindi direction, about 50 metres away from where they had stopped. “I tried to stop it by flashing my torch as it neared us but it failed to stop. While trying to pass, it got stuck in the mud beside our lorry,” he said.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“All I knew about Africa were from popular images, I too would think that Africa was a place of beautiful landscapes, beautiful animals, and incomprehensible people, fighting senseless wars, dying of poverty and AIDS, unable to speak for themselves and waiting to be saved by a kind, white foreigner.”
The Mayor of Mogadishu: What You Get When African Cliché Is Dropped
28 September – Source: The Conversation – 981 Words
News reporting is always shaped by a considerable amount of tension. How do you strike the balance between hooking the audience with the sensational while supplying sufficient detail and context for an informed understanding of the events being reported? This tension is most apparent when dealing with complex issues set in environments geographically distant from your audience. Reporting Africa to the world has been shaped by this tension. It has also been shaped by frames that can replicate colonial prejudices, Cold War stereotypes or project images of “otherness”.
This is captured in Africa’s Media Image in the 21st Century: From Heart of Darkness to Africa Rising, a new volume by Mel Bunce, Suzanne Franks and Chris Paterson. In their fascinating and informative new study of Africa’s media image, the trio relate how journalists have to fight to get stories from Nigeria and other key states into the news as areas worthy of reporting in their own right and not just when there was “trouble” there.
They quote the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who says that if …all I knew about Africa were from popular images, I too would think that Africa was a place of beautiful landscapes, beautiful animals, and incomprehensible people, fighting senseless wars, dying of poverty and AIDS, unable to speak for themselves and waiting to be saved by a kind, white foreigner.If there is one country that could sum up this, it is Somalia.
Decades of war, civil dislocation, poverty, hunger and disease have been the stock-in-trade of Western reporting. Given the country’s history this is not altogether surprising. It has been almost constantly at war since the uprisings in the late 1980s that overthrew the dictator Siad Barre. The dictator’s departure led to the fragmentation of a highly centralised system of government, the growth of clan-based militias and the rise of Islamist movements.
TOP TWEETS
@SadaamAbdi The only way that Somalia become better place and prosperity is when women participate political and decision making. #Voteforwomen
@AhmedKosar1:#Somalia: At least 2 people killed in an apparent Landmine explosion at a busy market in #Mogadishu‘s Kaaran district -Officials
@amisomsomalia :Restoring stability in #Somalia needs a multi-pronged approach, says AU Special Representative.http://bit.ly/2dglw0m
@HelenClarkUNDP:#Somalia election has target for 30%#women‘s representation. Hope this can be achieved to give women more say in decisions. @UNDPArabic
@HassanIstiila:#BREAKING An explosion has occurred in the livestock market packed with civilians in Mogadishu’s karaan district, leaving two women #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
SRCC, Ambassador, Francisco Madeira, in a recent event in Mogadishu.
Photo: AMISOM