January 12, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
Election Of Lower House Deputy Speakers Kicks Off In Mogadishu
12 January – Source: Garowe Online – 169 Words
The ballot to elect the deputy speakers of the newly inaugurated 10th Federal Parliament has kicked off in Mogadishu, a day after the MPs voted for the speaker of the Parliament. Over 256 parliament members are casting their votes among six candidates, including former Justice Minister and President’s ally Farah Abdulkadir in the election of the first and second Deputy Speaker.
Ten others candidates, among them Mahad Abdalla Awad, former Second Deputy Speaker of the 9th Parliament and Abdullahi Godah Barre who served as Interior Minister are vying for the second Deputy Speaker. The election is taking place at the Parliament hall in the capital under a tight security as the main streets of Mogadishu are blocked by government forces for the second consecutive day due to the elections. On Wednesday, former Parliament Speaker Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari has been elected for the second time in office by 256 lawmakers in a secret ballot in Mogadishu.
Key Headlines
- Election Of Lower House Deputy Speakers Kicks Off In Mogadishu (Garowe Online)
- Six Killed In Inter-clan Fighting In Abudwaq Town (Goobjoog News)
- Bari Security Forces Arrest Alleged Killer In Bosaso (Puntlandi.com)
- US Launches ‘Self-defense Strike’ During Raid Against Al-Shabaab (Long War Journal)
- Chinese Energy Firm Begins Drilling In Ethiopian Somali Region (Ezega.com)
- The Dual Citizenship Debate In Somalia (Wardheer News)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Six Killed In Inter-clan Fighting In Abudwaq Town
12 January – Source: Goobjoog News – 282 Words
Six people were reported killed on Wednesday in renewed clashes between two clans in central Somalia. The battle between local clan militias broke out in Abudwaaq town of the central Mudug region. “The situation is tense, the two sides are regrouping for a new conflict.” said Abdi Osman Ali, a resident in the town by phone.
Sources at the town’s hospital reported that at least six wounded victims were brought into the hospital as fears of a conflict mounts. “Local elders are mediating between the warring clans and a cease fire has been called for ,” another resident said in the town. Bosteeyo Jama’a Ali, a member of Galmudug Assembly has called for an end to fighting which has so far claimed the lives of innocent people in central Somalia.
“The elders in the town affected, to resolve their differences for a common good of the region,” said Ali, adding “The people in central Somalia should unite and ensure that their reconciliation meetings become fruitful for the benefit of their town and the entire country.” Such fight for over grazing and water resources is not uncommon in that part of the country which has been without a strong central government since 1991 after the overthrow of the late Somali leader Mohamed Siyad Barre.
Current Somali government, which is fighting off radical group of Al-Shabaab, is trying to spread its authority in areas taken from rebel forces in central and southern parts of the country. Since the collapse of the Central government in 1991, water, pasture and politics have been at the center of sporadic clashes between Somali tribes across the country.
Bari Security Forces Arrest Alleged Killer In Bosaso
12 January – Source: Puntlandi.com – 78 Words
Police in Bossaso arrested a suspect believed to be behind Wednesday’s’ killing of a civilian in the seaport commercial town. The alleged killer also wounded another person in the attack. Bari police chief Colonel Abdihakin Hussein Yusuf confirmed to the media the arrest of the alleged killer. Yusuf, however declined to give further details on the arrest, saying that he didn’t want to divulge much details before an ongoing investigation on the suspect by security agencies is concluded.
INTERNATIONAL
US Launches ‘Self-defense Strike’ During Raid Against Al-Shabaab
12 January – Source: Long War Journal – 1,292 Words
US Africa Command announced that it launched an airstrike against Al-Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia, while US advisors accompanied Somali and African Union forces in a counterterrorism exercise on Jan. 7.
AFRICOM described the offensive under the guise of a “self-defense strike,” as it did on nine other occasions in 2016, a decade-long military operation against Al-Shabaab. According to AFRICOM, US advisors accompanied a combined force of Somali and African Union troops on a raid in Gaduud, a town just north of Kismayo in southern Somalia. The area is a known hotbed for Al-Shabaab, which has taken over nearby towns and villages.
AFRICOM said the combined military force was conducting offensive operations to “disrupt” al Qaeda’s branch in Somalia. “During a counterterrorism operation to disrupt al-Al-Shabaab, the combined partner forces observed al-Al-Shabaab fighters threatening their safety and security,” AFRICOM said. “The US conducted a self-defense strike to neutralize the threat, no enemy fighters were killed.”
Chinese Energy Firm Begins Drilling In Ethiopian Somali Region
12 January – Source: Ezega.com – 195 Words
A Chinese firm, Poly-GCL, yesterday began drilling the 6th petroleum and natural gas well at Hilal- 7 gas field in Ethiopian Somali regional state, according to FBC report. Poly-GCL, one of the companies engaged in natural gas exploration in Ethiopia, has so far drilled five deep gas wells around Calub and Hilala areas at the Ogaden basin.
The company had officially started yesterday the drilling of the 6th gas well-called Hilal-7, in the presence of Motuma Mekassa, Minister of Mines, Petroleum and Natural Gas and La Yifan, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia.
In an interview with EBC, Motuma Mekassa said the country will begin extracting natural gas after three years. “Unlike the other drillings, the digging at Hilal-7 is special as it took into consideration exploration of both petroleum and natural gas,” the minister added.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“In 2015 when Somali Federal Government representatives were touring Europe and North America to consult the Somali Diaspora on the Citizenship Bill, Diaspora members came out against granting of Somali citizenship to a non-Somali person.”
The Dual Citizenship Debate In Somalia
11 January – Source: Wardheer News – 685 Words
A friend of mine who went to the former College of Political Science and Journalism in Somalia had told me in 1990, that Somalia did not allow its citizens to have dual citizenship. The Somali government of the day would not permit someone with citizenship from another country to retain his/her Somali citizenship. An argument based on credulity can be made: leaders of the military regime (1969-1991) were more patriotic than the present-day Somali leaders.
The rhetoric of the government was a product of the 1970s sloganeering campaigns based on socialism. What one can say with confidence about the twenty-plus years of dictatorship is that military leaders and their civilian co-leaders were honest when it comes to sharing data about national development strategies.
When the government introduced economic liberalisation in the 1980s followed by an IMF-guided Structural Adjustment Program, plantations in Lower Shebelle were handed over to companies. “75 percent of the earnings leave the country, such investment does not enhance Somalia’s capital accumulation fund”, wrote Professor Abdi Samatar. Empirical evidence undermines the patriotism narrative many people unquestioningly attach to the former military dictatorship.
In 2015 when Somali Federal Government representatives were touring Europe and North America to consult the Somali Diaspora on the Citizenship Bill, Diaspora members came out against granting of Somali citizenship to a non-Somali person. In a seminal essay, Professor Afyare Elmi of Qatar University argues: “citizenship is an offshoot of a state, and the essence of the state of Somalia is contested.”
Which brings me to a question asked by another friend in Mogadishu: how can a minister or a director general with dual citizenship protect the national interest of Somalia? Implicit in the question is the unspoken assumption that a fundamental criterion for not being manipulated or pressured by a foreign country is to have only Somali citizenship. This issue is not about loyalty; it is about citizenship.
TOP TWEETS
@Xaqiiqa_Times : Voting underway for the election of Somalia Lower House Deputy Speakers.#Mogadishu #Somalia#Doorashada2017
@UKinSomalia : New #UK ambassador @DConcar arrives in#Mogadishu to take up his new role as #British Ambassador to#Somalia
@Mohamedkeynan : #Somalia, the elections of deputy speakers (1st &2nd) just started.This completes elections of the house of the people leadership #progress
@APO_source : Press Conference Invitation – Launch of the 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan for #Somalia @UNOCHA@UNReliefChief
@AhmadAlhaadi : Poor Saftey and regulatory Framework is the main concern of Somali Real Estate sector. presentation continues @Sabaaward #Somalia
@EasyWorldNews : US launches a fresh ‘self-defense strike’ against Al-Shabab #Somalia http://janj.eu/n/41705 @Easy_Branches
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Prof.Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari wins re-election as speaker of Federal Parliament of Somalia.
@Crsctsstarafrica