October 3, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somali Forces Kill Several Al-Shabaab Fighters In Southern Somalia, Recover Weapons
03 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 249 Words
Somali National Army (SNA) have killed several Al-Shabaab fighters and recovered weapons during a raid on the group’s training camp in the outskirt of Diinsoor in southern Somalia. Eight AK 47 rifles with 550 rounds (7.62mm), 1 PKM gun with 60 rounds of ammunition, 1 Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG) with 10 grenades as well as one handheld radios were recovered, according to Dinsor district commissioner, Ibrahim Mohamed Aden.The firefight that ensued resulted in the killing of several terrorists with no casualties on SNA side.
Adan said the troops also killed a junior-level Al-Shabaab commander who is believed to have been in-charge of the group. He said the soldiers started patrolling the area to flush out Al-Shabaab terrorists following tips off from the public.Despite losing the control of many in the hand Somali forces back by African Union troop, the group is capable of carrying attacks on military barracks, government and hotels.
Key Headlines
- Somali Forces Kill Several Al-Shabaab Fighters In Southern Somalia Recover Weapons (Goobjoog News)
- Parliamentary Poll Might Not Take Place Due To Dispute Over Delegate Selection Lawmaker (Goobjoog News)
- Police Recruits Graduate In Kismaayo (Goobjoog News)
- Deputy PM Convinces Hiiraan Clan Elders To Join Jowhar Conference (Jowhar.com)
- Kenyans Posing As Refugees In Dadaab – Agency (Daily Nation)
- Somalia: Suggestions For Credible Electoral Process For The Upper House (Hiiraan Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Parliamentary Poll Might Not Take Place Due To Dispute Over Delegate Selection, Lawmaker
03 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 219 Words
Somalia’s elections cannot take place on the date scheduled due to disputes over the 51 delegates within sub-clan, a lawmaker said. Abdi Barre Yusuf, a Somali lawmaker has express concern over the upcoming elections saying that elections may lead conflict within the clans. “The parliamentary election might not take place because, there is inter-clan dispute over selection of clan delegates and parliamentary candidates,” said Yussuf. Somalia delayed elections for a second time due to disputes over the selection process and pushing its parliamentary elections between Oct 23 and Nov 10. According to Somali electoral commission, the challenges that led to the delay were political, security and management of the election budget.
Though Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud assured that presidential and parliamentary elections will be organized next November, last week, the U.N. Security Council expressed regret at the delay in presidential and parliamentary elections in Somalia. Al-Shabaab rebels were ousted from Mogadishu in 2011 and have been pushed out of other key cities but they are not yet defeated, and the government remains weak. In recent months, Al-Shabaab, which maintains a military presence largely in rural areas, has stepped up attacks on military bases across large parts of south and central Somalia. The group vowed to disrupt Somalia’s upcoming elections which scheduled to take place later this year.
Police Recruits Graduate In Kismaayo
03 October : Source: Goobjoog News – 120 Words
Two hundred and two Jubaland State of Somalia Police recruits have graduated on Monday after a three-month intensive course, organized by the police component of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). They are the second batch of 600 officers from Jubbaland, who will be trained with funding from UK’s Department For International Development (DFID). The first batch graduated in May this year.
After their graduation, the training that these officers have received will be consolidated through a one-year continuous on-job mentoring by AMISOM Police. AMISOM police component is mandated to build individual and institutional capacity of the Somali Police Forces (Federal and State) with the aim of transforming them into credible and effective institutions that adhere to international standards.
Deputy PM Convinces Hiiraan Clan Elders To Join Jowhar Conference
03 October – Source: Jowhar.com – 118 Words
Somalia’s Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed Omar Arte has convinced Hiiraan clan elders to join the ongoing Jowhar conference aimed at forming a regional state for the two regions of Hiiraan and Middle Shabelle. A delegation led by Mr Arte recently visited Beledweyne where he held talks with Hiiraan clan elders and intellectuals to persuade them take part in the Jowhar conference that has entered its final phases. The deputy prime minister expressed optimism towards ending the political impasse in the region. The elders also assured their support for Arte’s effort in seeking a solution for the political challenges facing the state formation process.The deputy prime minister’s delegation on Sunday afternoon returned to Mogadishu where they had earlier left.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Kenyans Posing As Refugees In Dadaab – Agency
03 October- Source: Daily Nation – 562 Words
A United Nations headcount of asylum seekers has confirmed that thousands of Kenyans with proper identification documents live in Dadaab camp as refugees.
In the population verification programme conducted this year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees found these Kenyans live in the complex, registered as refugees.“A total of 24,655 individuals confessed to be Kenyans registered as refugees,” says a report by the commissioner published last week.It adds: “In another 3,355 households (15,799 individuals), at least one member has applied for or holds a Kenyan ID card. The number of individuals identified as “double registered” or impacted by “double registration” therefore totals 40,454”.
The findings confirm an estimate earlier published by the agency in July when it said up to 42,000 Kenyans were living at Dadaab under false pretences.At the time, the agency said this group will either be relocated or reintegrated with local communities as part of its effort to decongest the camp. The UN findings mean that up to 40,000 ‘refugees’ at Dadaab cannot be repatriated under the ongoing project to voluntarily return all Somali refugees at the camp to their homeland and shut it down altogether.They should instead be taken up by the government and relocated once the camp is closed.Most of these Kenyans are in the camp for free and get certain food rations, water and education for their children, according to an earlier bulletin by the agency.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Had it not been the disastrous failure of the leaders of the federal government in the preparation of a fair electoral system, the indirect electoral process (IEP) would have been a stepping stone for democratic experiment undertaken by a clan-divided society,”
Somalia: Suggestions For Credible Electoral Process For The Upper House
02 October – Source: Hiiraan Online – 1290 Words
Besides the worsening humanitarian situation in which about 4.7 million people including more than 300,000 malnourished children below age 5 are in urgent need of food assistance, the international community is extremely uneasy about the 2016 electoral process for the Upper House and House of the People of the federal parliament invested with the responsibility of electing the President of Somalia. The talk over the electoral process has intensely dominated the political agenda of Somalia in the last 2 years with unsatisfactory progress. Indeed, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General (SRSG) Michael Keating started his briefing to the UN Security Council (UNSC) on 27 September 2016 by stating, “Let me begin immediately what is no doubt for all of us the immediate concern – the electoral process – before I turn to other rated developments in Somalia.” He admitted the sad realities that “the scope for political manipulation of the electoral process remains high,” and that “Somalia continue to face multiple human rights deficits.” Prevention of electoral corruption and manipulations, and respect of human rights, freedoms of expression and association, are keystones for credible electoral process. Unfortunately, the incumbent leaders are blamed for the widespread violations of the human rights committed by the security and judicial institutions of the federal government under their watch.
Unbelievably, Somalia is in a political quagmire due to the aggressive take no prisons policy of the incumbent leaders of the federal government in order to steal the electoral process in broad daylight. The exploitation of 2016 election will discredit the 2020 “one person and one vote election” in Somalia. The National Leadership Forum (NLF) – an ad hoc national decision making body – ignored the dictates of the provisions of articles 72 and 138 (2) of the provisional constitution dealing with the Upper House of the federal Parliament and decided the establishment of the 1st Upper House in 2016 before the election of the 2nd House of the people. It also decided that 30% of the 54 seats of the Upper House, which means 16 seats, should be reserved to women. Unfortunately, the federal government did not dedicate time and resources to the study of the intricacies and necessary guidelines for the establishment of the 1st Upper House in the context of federal state building and for the empowerment of women and other social groups.
TOP TWEETS
@UNSomalia:Media accreditation forms for #Somalia electoral process now available for journalists @FIEIT website here –http://bit.ly/2dSOB4m
@daudedosman:Why government risks losing maritime dispute with Somalia http://www.standardmedia.co.
@doorashada2016:Happy to announce candidate fees deposit bank account for the #Doorashada2016 #Somalia2016#Somalia
@FursadFund:Visiting a farm owned by group of disabled people in #Baydhabo. We r here 2 support, invest & add value 2 this group #FursadoAbuur #Somalia
@hunodjibouti:#Somalia: Religious council warns against corruption, and 30% quota for women in the upcoming elections.http://ow.ly/GXRV304MvEu
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Police recruits graduate in Kismaayo, Somalia
Photo: AMISOM