January 6, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
Security Operation In Jalalaqsi Nets Several Al-Shabaab Suspects
06 January – Source: Goobjoog News – 150 Words
Security operations by Somali security forces in Jalalaqsi town has led to the arrest of several Al-Shabaab suspects on Thursday. The security officers conducted house to house search in different suburbs of the town following public tip off according to the police. Jalalaqsi District Commissioner, Abukar Mohamed Ali told Goobjoog News that the operation was meant to inspect and hunt down Al-Shabaab suspects and to enhance safety of the town.
“All the individuals arrested will be questioned and whoever is found guilty will be taken to face justice,’’ said the officer. He added that the operations will continue until the security of the district is assured following recent attacks. Security officials believe armed groups have used residential areas as bases to prepare attacks and then mingled with residents in the town to carry out coordinated attacks.
Key Headlines
- Security Operation In Jalalaqsi Nets Several Al-Shabaab Suspects (Goobjoog News)
- Michael Keating Holds Talks With Ugaas Hassan Ugaas Khalif (Garowe Online)
- Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid And Former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed Meet In Nairobi (Jowhar.com)
- Police Escort Travellers Going to Mandera As Security Measure (Daily Nation)
- A Seat At The Table: The Fight For Gender Parity In Kenya And Somalia (World Policy Journal)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Michael Keating Holds Talks With Ugaas Hassan Ugaas Khalif
06 January – Source: Garowe Online – 165 Words
UN special envoy to Somalia Michael Keating held lengthy talks with traditional leader Ugaas Hassan Ugaas Khalif and officials of the Hirshabelle State during his visit to the State’s headquarter city of Beledweyne on Thursday. Sources indicate the closed-door meeting between Keating and Ugaas Hassan discussed the completion of the newly formed State’s governance structures.
Keating asked the traditional leader to join the ongoing efforts initiated by State’s President Ali Abdullahi Osoble seeking to convince clans from Hiiraan region so as to form an all-inclusive cabinet set to be unveiled in February. President of Hirshabelle Ali Abdullahi Osoble arrived in Beledweyne on Wednesday in the company of MPs from Hiiraan region and thereafter held separate meetings with State officials, Ugaas Hassan Ugaas Khalif and members of the civil society.
During his visit, Ambassador Keating visited the local livestock market where he witnessed the effects of the prevailing drought on livestock. He said there was an urgent need for humanitarian intervention for both human and livestock.
Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid And Former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed Meet In Nairobi
06 January – Source: Jowhar.com – 171 Words
Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali and Former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, both presidential hopefuls in the upcoming presidential elections, on Thursday night met in Nairobi where they held a lengthy discussion about the electoral process underway in the country. Sources close to the meeting said both officials discussed on how to unite the opposition political forces in an effort to defeat the incumbent president in the elections. It is not, however clear how the two could show cooperation since both of them are vying for the presidency.
Both men are involved in heightened campaigns with former president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed scaling up his campaign during the past weeks. He recently paid a visit to Mogadishu and Kismayo and met with newly elected MPs, regional presidents and foreign diplomats. Unlike President Hassan Sheikh, who is so far running a smooth campaign in the capital Mogadishu, critics say Sharif Sheikh Ahmed proved unable to sustain his campaign in the country, thus forced to return to his base in Nairobi after visiting the country.
INTERNATIONAL
Police Escort Travellers Going to Mandera As Security Measure
06 January – Source: Daily Nation – 170 Words
Police in Wajir have started escorting buses heading to Mandera to shield travellers from Al-Shabaab terrorist attacks. This is one of the steps security officers are taking to improve the safety of residents following a spate of attacks last year. The latest incident happened in Dagaxkut on December 23 when suspected Al-Shabaab militants attacked a construction camp, damaging a Safaricom mast and riddling a lorry and water tanker with bullets.
Tarbaj Deputy County Commissioner Andrew Mwiti said: “Our intelligence reports suggest that the attackers might have been locals and we are hunting them [down] to ensure that they face the law”. Speaking to the Nation by phone, Mr Mwiti said security at border points had been beefed up. “Before, buses from Tarbaj to Mandera used to move without being escorted but after a series of attacks in the area, the latest being the December 23 incident, we decided to begin escorting the buses for the safety of our travellers,” he said.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Unlike their neighbors, Kenya and Somalia have failed to bring in large numbers of women into parliament. And both are at palpable risk of not only continuing to fall short but in undoing existing meager provisions that encourage women to participate in public life.”
A Seat At The Table: The Fight For Gender Parity In Kenya And Somalia
06 January – Source: The World Policy Journal – 2,843 Words
When Bina Maseno was 23, she decided to run for Council Assembly in Nairobi City County and reached out to a few experienced female politicians for advice. She expected to hear suggestions for navigating party power dynamics or articulating campaign messages for a broader audience. But what she got was a primer in protecting herself from sexual assault by male politicians and putative voters.
“I was shocked,” she recalled. “One woman told me that I had to dress in a matronly way, because voters always think that youthful looking women are sleeping their way through the party. Another woman advised that I should never go to a rally without wearing biker shorts underneath my clothes, because inevitably the men in the audience would try to strip me.” During Maseno’s 2012 campaign, this latter piece of advice was repeatedly tested and found to be accurate.
For women across the world, electoral politics can be a hostile and violent place. Women who stand for office can expect casual sexism and discrimination, ranging from snide remarks about their appearance to being propositioned by their male colleagues. In some countries, this psychological violence escalates to physical violence in which men seek to make the public sphere so inhospitable for women that they disengage from electoral politics.
Percentages of women in parliament reveal two interesting facts on global underrepresentation. First, although women make up roughly 49.6 percent of the world’s population, only two countries in the world had parliaments that exceeded that ratio as of August 2016. Rwanda leads—57.5 percent of its parliament is made up of women—and Bolivia follows with 51.8 percent. Second, there is almost no correlation between a country’s level of development and the proportion of women in parliament. Hence, the United States (19.5 percent) finds itself sandwiched between Saudi Arabia (19.9 percent) and Kyrgyzstan (19.2 percent).
The countries that were able to achieve some measure of gender parity all have one thing in common: They initially or continue to rely on quotas to increase representation of women in parliament. Rwanda’s post-genocide constitution requires that 30 percent of all decision-making bodies be made up of women, while Bolivia passed a raft of measures in the run up to its 2014 parliamentary elections to increase women’s participation in the electoral process.
In contemporary conversations on achieving gender parity in parliament, there is little debate about whether quotas are the easiest way to create a space in which women can be heard. In a March 2013 press release, the secretary general of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Anders B. Johnsson, said, “Although quotas remain contentious in some parts of the world, they remain key to progress on . . . gender parity in political representation. There can be no claim to democracy without delivering on this.” The same press release noted that nine out of the top 10 countries with the highest growth in the number of women MPs between 2011 and 2012 had used quotas.
TOP TWEETS
@Vatescorp : #Somalia: Security operation in Jalalaqsi nets several #AlShabaab suspects, ops to continue following recent attacks
@city_mogadishu : Municipality of Mogadishu hosted dinner 4 Mogadishu female basketball team in celebration of their victory on #Somalia basketball tournament
@Owdiini : Can the credibility of #Somalia’s indirect #electionsbe salvaged? By @AbdihakimAinte http://africanarguments.org/
@zubby34 : Never stop dreaming big in #somalia. You can achieve your #dreams there. #dream #believe #work…https://www.instagram.com/p/
@strategicnomad : Credibility and Somali election shouldnt be mention in the same sentence. #Somalia
@MoulidHujale : Stafford man to become UK ambassador in#Somalia | Staff Newsletter http://po.st/kOjgLa via @StaffsNews
@TerrorFreeSomal : How Many Bombs Did the United States Drop in 2016? Politics, Power, and Preventive Action #Libya#Syria #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
AMISOM Force Commander Lt. Gen. Noor Soubagleh & Col. Shadrack Othieno Mutacho, AMISOM Chief of Operations accompanied Gen. Katumba.
Photo: AMISOM