December 27, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somalia To Swear In New Parliament
27 December – Source: Goobjoog news – Words
Somalia is expected to swear in Members of both the Lower and Upper House, bringing the country a step closer to completing its journey to the presidential elections. 256 members of Lower House who have been so far elected by some 14,000 delegates selected by their clans will be among the members to be sworn today . A cleric appointed by general secretary of the outgoing parliament will administer the oath of office to more than 299 members of both houses, according to an event procedure seen by Goobjoog media.
The parliament also includes 73 women lawmakers, following a strong push from the international community and the passing of a provisional constitution that guarantees more political rights for women. The new parliament will elect a speaker and his deputies within this week. Over twenty candidates are vying for the presidential office who will then choose a prime minister. The Horn of Africa nation lacked a stable central government since 1991 following the overthrow of the Siad Barre government, and more than two decades of civil war. Somalia has been trying to rebuild after establishing its first functioning Federal Government four years ago.
Key Headlines
- Somalia To Swear In New Parliament (Goobjoog News)
- Allied Forces Raid Al-Shabaab Base Near Kismayo Town (Shabelle News)
- Banadir Wins Womens Inter-regional Basketball Tournament (Hiiraan Online)
- Four Of The 11 Nullified Parliamentary Seats To Be Re-Contested (Goobjoog News)
- Al-Shabaab Seizes Somali Herders’ Livestock (VOA)
- ‘It Was A Deception’: Ex Somali Refugees Regret Coming Home (Associated Press)
PRESS STATEMENT
AU Special Representative Congratulates The People Of Somalia On The Inauguration Of The Tenth Federal Parliament
27 December – Source: AMISOM – 373 Words
The Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia, Ambassador Francisco Caetano Madeira, congratulates the Federal Government of Somalia, the regional states and the people of Somalia, upon a key milestone reached today, on the inauguration of the 10th Somalia Federal Parliament. This is a critical step in the country’s journey to political stability and democratisation, as Somalia re-establishes long lasting state institutions critical for good governance. “The inauguration of the new Parliament today is not only symbolic of the progress that Somalia is making but also attests to what is achievable when people choose unity in diversity, agree to compromise for the common good and with determination agree to pull together to fight the enemies of peace and stability in Somalia,” said Ambassador Madeira.
The AU Special Representative commends the Somali National Security Forces as well as AMISOM troops and police, whose commitment and sacrifice have enabled an environment for successful completion of the electoral process cycle. Ambassador Madeira further noted that the progress made in 2016 the increase of the number of electoral delegates comprising the Electoral College, in comparison to 2012 election, allowing for wider participation of the Somali public including the women, youth and minorities is critical in preparation for 2020-planned universal suffrage.
NATIONAL MEDIA
Allied Forces Raid Al-Shabaab Base Near Kismayo Town
27 December – Source: Shabelle News – 109 Words
Jubbaland state forces backed by Kenya Defense Forces have launched a joint offensive on Al-Shabaab base near Kismayo city, about 500km south of the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Sources in Kismayo city told Radio Shabelle that Jubbaland troops, along with KDF attacked a camp that belonged to Al-Shabaab militants in Abdalla Birole area. The coalition forces allegedly suffered casualties in the attack, however there no confirmed reports. The area has been the scene of battle between Jubbaland forces, backed by armed pastoralists and Al-Shabaab after the militants seized hundreds of camels from nomads.
Banadir Wins Womens Inter-regional Basketball Tournament
27 December – Source: Hiiraan Online – 332 Words
The inter-regional all girls basketball tournament came to an end on Monday with Banadir regional team being crowned the champions. They defeated HirShablle with the final score of 66-46. The tournament, the first of its kind in Somalia, was held in Garowe to much fanfare as thousands of fans packed the stadium to watch Banadir take on HirShabelle. It fielded teams from all over Somalia including Galmudug, Jubbaland, HirShablle, Puntland and the capital. The tournament came under intense scrutiny by the Somali Religious Council who issued a statement against women playing in the tournament. “We warn that the women basketball violates the Islamic law, culture and its values, and it is a place where women can be easily corrupted,” SRC chairman Sheikh Bashir Ahmed Salat told VOA Somali. “Women should know that they are susceptible to the enemy of Islam, and that youth in particular is the target for those who want to change your Islamic values,” he said.
Those claims were discredited by The Governor of Nugal, Omar Abdullahi Osman (Faraweyne), who said the games was an excellent way for Somali athletes to showcase their talents. He also pointed out that many Islamic countries encourage their female citizens to participate in athletics; noting Egypt, Qatar and ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia’s participation in sporting games. The tournament highlighted the rise of women’s basketball in Somalia; already a popular sport for Somali women in the diaspora. The idea for holding grassroots tournaments like the inter-regional games in Garowe is to encourage health and fitness for young Somali girls and also hope to inspire a new generation of Somali girls to reach the heights of Farhiya Abdi, a Swedish-born Somali professional WNBA player with the Los Angeles Sparks. At home, Somalia is already seeing early success in women’s basketball with a big showing in the 2011 Arab Games. The Somali National team came in as the underdogs in the tournament and mounted surprising win against the host country Qatar and also defeated Kuwait .
Five Of The 11 Nullified Parliamentary Seats To Be Re-Contested
27 December – Source: Goobjoog News – 214 Words
Five of the eleven parliamentary seats nullified by Somalia’s conflict resolution body will be re-contested, Somali leaders said on Monday. In a press statement released by National Leadership Forum (NLF), the leaders included the brother of the chief of Somalia’s intelligence Agency, Abdulkadir Gaafow Mohamud who was accused of being involved with irregularities. The leaders agreed to dismiss part of the recent decision made by Somalia’s Independent Electoral Dispute Resolution Mechanism (IEDRM), which nullified voting results for 11 seats won in the parliamentary elections in the regional states. The Somali leaders decided to accept the results of six seats of the eleven and the other five will be re-contested.
Among the seats the leaders asked re-contesting is Mr. Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan, the outgoing Federal Minister of Youth and Sports. Hassan and another contender for the seat, Ahmed Sheikh Nur were disqualified for their role in the violence that occurred inside and outside the polling center in Jowhar last month in which a number of people, including electoral college delegates, were injured. In the recently released NLF communique, both Hassan and Nur were allowed to participate the election which will attack place in Jowar, the capital administrative of Hirshabelle. The five seats re-contested seats hail from Jubbaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle, Puntland and South West states
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Al-Shabaab Seizes Somali Herders’ Livestock
26 December- Source: VOA – 383 Words
Somali farmers say Al-Shabaab is targeting them and stealing their livestock.Farmers in the Jubbaland and Galmudug regions said Al-Shabaab militants are systematically confiscating livestock from certain clans. The group is accused of driving clans they view as hostile to their administration into poverty.
For a second week, fighting is taking place in the rural areas west of Kismayo where shepherds are trying to keep ownership of their animals. More than 20 people were killed since last week, according to regional officials and locals.Clan elder Mohamud Shureyn, who is in Yaqbisharo, told VOA that Monday’s clashes claimed the lives of six herders. He accused Al-Shabaab of executing the victims, all of them men, at a water reservoir.”The locals are no match for Al-Shabaab,” he said.
Mohaned Abdi Omar was an Al-Shabaab member until last week when he defected and handed himself over to Jubbaland regional authorities. He said he decided to abandon the group because they are targeting his clansmen.Al-Shabaab has said some of the livestock is being taken as zakat, an annual payment made on certain types of property under Islamic law.But Omar said some of the people whose livestock was seized had already paid their zakat.
He said the group is attacking his clansmen for political reasons because A-Shabaab believes that they are collaborating with the Jubbaland regional administration.Last week, Jubbaland regional forces supporting the herders clashed with A-Shabaab in an area between Berhani and Abdi Birole, west of Kismayo. At least 10 deaths were reported on both sides, according to sources in the region. In subsequent raids, herders said Al-Shabaab stole about 1,800 camels in a region where livestock is the primary economic pillar.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Some 35,000 Somali refugees have been supported in returning voluntarily to Somalia since 2014, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.But some Somali refugees report harassment and intimidation by Kenyan security agents to leave Dadaab quickly and speed up the repatriation process,”
‘It Was A Deception’: Ex Somali Refugees Regret Coming Home
27 December – Source: Associated Press – 809 Words
“I was betrayed,” lamented Madino Dhurow of her return to Somalia from the world’s largest refugee camp, Dadaab, where she lived for 12 years. She said she was assured safety and support back home but she found those promises to be empty. She is among thousands of Somalis who left the sprawling camp of some 260,000 in neighboring Kenya, sometimes under pressure, after the Nairobi government announced it would close Dadaab, calling it a recruiting ground for Somalia’s al-Shabab Islamic extremists and a base for launching attacks.Al-Shabaab has carried out several assaults in Kenya in retaliation for sending Kenyan troops to Somalia in 2011 to fight the extremists, who are waging an insurgency against Somalia’s weak Western-backed government. The insurgents’ deadly attacks in Somalia also threaten the lives of those returning from Dadaab.”All the security improvement and welfare information we were told we would find here turned out to be false,” Dhurow said, watching her six children wade through dirty, stagnant water in the Mogadishu displaced persons’ camp that is their current home. “We got many promises, but it was a deception meant to make us leave.”
Conditions are dire at the Somali camp, called Daryeel. Families live in makeshift homes of sticks and plastic sheets that are unfit to protect them from the upcoming monsoon rains, not to mention the armed gangs that often prey on the camp at night.Refugees said each family received $400 support cash from the United Nations once they agreed to return home to Somalia, but the money has not gone far.It is not what those living in Dadaab expected when they were pressured to leave, sometimes after spending their entire lives in the refugee camp. Some Somali refugees have been living in Dadaab in eastern Kenya for more than 20 years, since Somalia descended into chaos following the 1991 ouster of longtime dictator Siad Barre by warlords who then turned on each other. Somalia is trying to rebuild and faces a presidential election that has been delayed several times amid security and other concerns.
TOP TWEETS
@amisomsomalia: Somali youths to work with the government in fighting gender-based violence. #Somalia http://bit.ly/2i9VbTC
@Suheyfa:Mogadishu is on lockdown today as the Oath-taking ceremony 4 the elected members of federal parliament is underway.#Doorashada2016 #Somalia
@ayaandiiriye: Giving Youth a Future is Key to Rebuilding Somalia http://www.heegan24.net/
@HarunMaruf: Heavy clashes between Al-Shabaab and pastoralists continue for the 2nd wk in the rural areas west of Kismayo in dispute over livestock zakat.
@cctvnewsafrica: Somalia edges closer to 30% women representation http://ow.ly/8l68307sUiz
@HarunMaruf:#Somalia: Drought-hit rurals facing new challenges as Al-Shabaab raids livelihoods, man-made catastrophe possible according to observers.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Newly Elected Somali Members of Parliament take oath of office today in Mogadishu
Photo: @Atulinda_Allan