November 4, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
HirShabelle Upper House Elections Will Happen November 6, President Osoble Says
04 November – Source: Radio Muqdisho – 87 Words
Ali Abdullahi Osoble, President of the Interim Administration of HirShabelle announced Upper House elections for the newly formed state will be conducted on Sunday November 6. President Osoble also said the regional state is also undertaking activities concerning electoral preparations for the Lower House elections, which is scheduled to follow after the Upper House elections on November 6. The announcement from the president comes after Osman Barre Mohamed, the Speaker of Parliament for HirShabelle said they prepared the list of Upper House candidates two days ago.
Key Headlines
- HirShabelle Upper House Elections Will Happen November 6 President Osoble Says (Radio Muqdisho)
- Siilaanyo Galaydh Meet In Addis Ababa (Hiiraan Online)
- Somali Immigration Department Opens New Office In Adado City (Shabelle News)
- Burundi MPs Call For Bringing Troops Back From Somalia (Anadolu Agency)
- Kenya Warned Against Closing World’s Largest Refugee Camp (Associated Press)
- Somalia Launches First Ever-cleft Lip And Palate Surgery Clinic (AMISOM)
- Economic Solutions Are Crucial To Help Solve Somalia’s Political Woes (London School of Economics blog)
- Pastoralists Feed Animals With Cardboard As Drought Worsens In Northeastern Somalia (Radio Ergo)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Siilaanyo, Galaydh Meet In Addis Ababa
04 November 2016 – Source: Hiiraan Online – 226 Words
On Thursday afternoon the President of the Somaliland administration confirmed he is holding talks with the head of Khaatumo State, Dr. Ali Khalif Galaydh, in Addis Ababa. The discussions took place in the Ethiopian capital where he had been holding talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. Siilaanyo said he met the Khatumo leader Dr. Galaydh on the sidelines of his visit adding they discussed how to foster relations between their respective administrations.
“We held talks and agreed to revisit and hasten previously started talks. We have scheduled a meeting to be held at Addis Ababa on November 17, 2016,” said Siilaanyo adding that further details of the meeting will be revealed at a press conference to be held on November 5, 2016.
During his visit, Siilaanyo also held lengthy talks with his host Hailemariam Desalegn. “We discussed relations between our countries on October 29. The high level meeting included discussing issues on security in and along the border, social, business and political relations, scholarships for Somaliland students, Ethiopia’s use of the Berbera port, electricity provision to our country at cheaper rates, illegal immigration and extremism among other areas of concern.” said Siilaanyo on his meeting with the Ethiopian premier. The two leaders also signed trade agreements to facilitate easy movement of people and goods between the two regions.
Somali Immigration Department Opens New Office In Adado City
04 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 170 Words
The head of the Somali Immigration Department of the Federal Government of Somalia Col. Mohamed Aden Jim’ale (Koofi) has opened a new office in Adado, the interim capital of Galmudug state.
The new office will provide passports and other immigration services to the local people. The new office will ease the process of obtaining a passport, instead of traveling to Mogadishu. Local residents have warmly welcomed the move, and thanked the head of the Somali Immigration Department Somalia Col Mohamed Aden Jim’ale (Koofi) for opening an office in Adado.
The newly appointed head of Somalia’s immigration department has done valuable work to expand the passport services to the country for the first time in more than two-decades. Somalia’s Immigration Department has also taken steps forward in providing high-quality services since Col Mohamed Aden Jim’ale (Koofi) took office on July, 2016.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Burundi MPs Call For Bringing Troops Back From Somalia
04 November – Source: Anadolu Agency – 279 Words
Burundian lawmakers have asked the government to recall its troops performing duties in the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). The parliament on Thursday summoned Defense Minister Emmanuel Ntahomvukiye and Police Commissioner Alain Guillaume Bunyoni to answer questions about the Burundian peacekeeping force.
“It’s been 10 months our troops in Somalia have not been paid, the EU now refuses to send their salaries via the Burundian government … we think it’s time to bring them back,” Victor Burikukiye, president of a parliamentary committee on security and defense, said. In March, the EU suspended direct aid to Burundi, including funds for its peacekeeping contingent in AMISOM.
The EU said conditions proposed by Burundi were not sufficient to meet the bloc’s concerns. “No country in the world can accept that its soldiers should be paid directly by another organization, Burundi will be no exception,” Ntahomvukiye said in a statement. Some MPs, however, recommended caution and consultation. “Before making any decision, consult all partners, even the EU,” Gabriel Ntisezerana, a ruling party MP, said.
Kenya Warned Against Closing World’s Largest Refugee Camp
04 November – Source: Associated Press – 282 Words
Another major aid group is warning Kenya not to close the world’s largest refugee camp, saying the move is pressuring tens of thousands of Somali refugees to return to their deeply unstable country. A new Refugees International report says Somali refugees in the Dadaab camp in Kenya say they feel under pressure to leave for Somalia, where attacks by Islamic extremist group al-Shabaab continue and hunger is widespread.
The U.N. refugee agency “claims that it only supports voluntary returns, but none of the refugees whom we spoke with in Dadaab said they felt like they have much choice,” said Mark Yarnell, who wrote the report after visiting Dadaab and Somalia. “It is a failure of the international refugee response system that other options are not available.”
The report says Kenya should lift its Nov. 30 deadline to close the camp, which has existed for a quarter-century and holds more than 250,000 people. It sprawls in a dry, thorny region near the border with Somalia, where many born in the camp have never been.
Groups including Doctors Without Borders, Human Rights Watch and the Norwegian Refugee Council also have expressed alarm in recent weeks over Kenya’s reported pressure on Somali refugees to leave. They say large parts of Somalia remain insecure and aid for returnees is limited.
Somalia Launches First Ever-cleft Lip And Palate Surgery Clinic
03 November – Source: AMISOM – 545 Words
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), is offering free corrective surgery to children and adults with cleft lip and palate deformities. The surgical mission is taking place at the AMISOM Level ll Hospital in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu. A team of doctors from AMISOM with partners from the international cleft lip charity ‘Smile Train’ and ‘Bancroft Global Development’ launched the surgical camp expected to benefit at least 300 people.
“Cleft lip and palate entails two or three operations. It includes also a speech therapist, psychologist and dentists and odontologist to correct the deformed teeth. So you find that it adds up to something like US$1,000. That’s unaffordable. But apart from the unaffordability, the availability of plastic surgeons in Mogadishu is not something easy to come by at the moment. The availability of the technology, technical personnel to carry out such surgeries and the facilities is unthinkable because the hospitals and resources are few,” Dr. Col. James Kiyengo, the head surgeon explains.
Cleft lip and palate is a condition that occurs when a baby’s lip or mouth does not form fully during pregnancy. A cleft lip can either be a small or large opening that goes through the lip to the nose. A cleft palate occurs when the tissue that forms the roof of the mouth does not join together during pregnancy.
Sheikh Aweys Mohamed, 29, a resident of Mogadishu was born with the malformation, which has also affected his speech. “I heard from a friend that AMISOM hospital was conducting the operations. He told me that opportunity knocks only once and that I had to take it seriously, and so I shared the news with my parents. They agreed and asked my uncle to escort me to the AMISOM hospital. He signed the consent forms for the surgery; and here I am waiting to be operated on,” Aweys said.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“The development of a diversified and liquid financial industry is the best bet for the emergence of a functioning society and, therefore, a credible democracy.”
Economic Solutions Are Crucial To Help Solve Somalia’s Political Woes
04 November -Source: London School of Economics, blog – 1,088 Words
With the 2016 presidential contest looming, political stakes are high in Somalia. Yet, it is no secret that this race falls way short of a democratic election. This is precisely why the economy should have every development partner’s complete attention.
Since the state was dismantled in 1991 with the overthrow of long-time ruler Mohammed Siad Barre, the private sector stepped in to fill the void. Somalia’s entrepreneurial spirit has safeguarded many, but it is now seriously hampered by limited access to liquidity and lack of opportunities to finance the country’s growth locally.
Democratising access to finance in Somalia, for instance by betting on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) already prevalent in this highly-penetrated mobile money market, could seriously improve governance. Financial resources are not redistributed; they are used to ascertain political power instead of growing the people’s purchasing power.
Access to capital is scarce for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in sub-Saharan Africa, according to McKinsey. In Somalia, this reality is felt even more as investors are wary and the absence of market mechanisms means MSMEs are essentially self-financed. Crippled by the absence of a formal financial system, a limited number of manufacturing plants and an undiversified industry, the Somali economy is frail and lopsided.
The industrial and manufacturing vacuum left by war has resulted in inflated prices because the majority of goods must be imported. The cost of living is high despite poverty and “people pay 2016 prices for 1990s services and infrastructure,” laments Hassan Yusuf, CEO of the International Bank of Somalia (IBS) and one of six registered banks in Somalia. The remittance companies (money transfer operators) provide what is essentially a US$1.3billion lifeline of cash to half of the population. Though banks have been re-opening after being wiped out by two decades of conflict, “people still don’t know how to bank with the bank,” says Yusuf.
“Every day 10 new families arrive in Rako Raho town and other villages. When we see a vehicle coming, we obviously know it is carrying people fleeing from the drought. We feel sad about it.”
Pastoralists Feed Animals With Cardboard As Drought Worsens In Northeastern Somalia
04 November – Source: Radio Ergo – 442 Words
Abdi Aden, a herder in Halwa village in north-eastern Somalia’s Bari region, is feeding his 20 remaining sheep, 35 goats and nine camels on cardboard soaked with water. There is no pasture in the area, after two virtually dry years. The anticipated ‘deyr’ rains have yet to arrive here this season. Abdi used to have a herd of 482 animals. There is nothing now for his family to survive on so he has sent his wife and seven children to stay with relatives in Rako Raho, a town seven kilometres away. Most people in Halwa have already left.
Large numbers of pastoralists, stricken by the drought in this part of Puntland, have been arriving in and around Rako Raho in recent weeks. Hawa Saed, 50, and five of her children came to Rako Raho two weeks ago. Her husband and one son stayed behind in Adduro village, 60 km away, with the 40 goats they have left. The family has lost 220 goats and 34 camels since January.
Hawa and the children pitched their ‘aqal’ [traditional nomadic collapsible hut made from poles covered by hides and mats] on open ground outside town. They are dependent on whatever food their relatives in the area can afford to share with them. “This drought is the worst we’ve know, the ‘deyr’ rain seems to have failed so there was no reason for us to stay any longer in the remote rural areas,” Hawa said. She added that they get occasional cooked meals from their relatives.
TOP TWEETS
@amisomsomalia : AMISOM is offering free corrective surgery to children & adults in #Somalia’s first cleft lip &palate surgery clinic http://bit.ly/2fK5yio
@MorningAfrika: United Arab Emirates Meeting: A Quest to Steal #Somalia’s Election and Maritime Territoryhttp://www.geeskaafrika.com/
@AfricaAtLSE: MSME’s w/ access to credit & markets best positioned to harness growth, opportunity & peace in #Somalia –@milienberg
@Absharmarke : #Somalia Election. Delegates from #Puntlandline up to get the registration card, and cast ballots tomorrow
@Dahirkulane : .#Refugee Returns from #Dadaab Kenya to#Somalia: “This is About Fear… Not About Choice”@yarnellmark @RefugeesIntl
@QulshTM : If #Burundi pulls its troops out of #Somalia and#Kenya follows suit after #Ethiopia, it will hugely impact peace and security in the #Horn.
@UNSomalia : Find out what standards candidates pledged to obey for #Somalia‘s electoral process. Check what the@doorashada2016 Code of Conduct says:
@abdirashidmd: Critical moments for #Somalia‘s future: 612 delegates composing 12 electoral colleges train on voting procedures in Garowe this morning PH:M
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Efforts by AMISOM to perform corrective surgery to children and adults with cleft lip and palate defects.
Photo: AMISOM