January 13, 2017 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

Somalia Parliament Concludes Lower House Speakers Elections

12 January – Source: Xinhua – 153 Words

Somalia’s Lower House on Thursday concluded its Speakers elections with emergence of new first and second deputies. Labor minister Abdiweli Ibrahim Mudey, once a deputy Speaker in the transitional government, garnered 161 votes to emerge as first deputy, trouncing President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s close ally Farah Abdulkadir who came second with 93 votes.

Meanwhile, Mahad Abdalla Awad was elected second deputy Speaker with 170 votes. The exercise which started with the election of House Speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari on Wednesday happened amid lockdown in Mogadishu for the second day. Both Somali security agencies and African Union forces manned key roads in the city. The conclusion of the Lower House elections of Speakers now sets the pace for election of speakers for the Senate.

Upon the complete composition of both Houses, the joint Speakers will declare a date for election of the president. Some 259 members of the Lower House participated in the exercise.

Key Headlines

Somalia Parliament Concludes Lower House Speakers Elections (Xinhua)
Four Injured As Al-Shabaab Opens Fire On Civilian Bus (Shabelle News)
Puntland President Highlights Government Achievements In Past Three Years (Garowe Online)
Somalia Regional State Urged To Resolve Differences Through Dialogue (Xinhua)
Somaliland Elections Cannot Be Delayed On Any Pretext Diplomats Warn (All East Africa)
UN Set To Launch Humanitarian Response Plan For Somalia (Xinhua)
Ethiopia Somalia Consider Launching Joint Infrastructure Projects: PM (All East Africa)
Somali Refugee Dead In Italy Blaze (EBL News)
The Misrepresentation Of A Migrant Success Story (News Deeply)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Four Injured As Al-Shabaab Opens Fire On Civilian Bus

12 January – Source: Shabelle News – 78 Words

Four people were injured after Al-Shabaab militants opened fire on a civilian minibus near Mahaday district in Middle Shabelle region on Wednesday, residents said. A local resident, who requested to be anonymous, told Radio Shabelle over the phone that the bus came under ambush attack by Al-Shabaab as it was ferrying Khat from Jowhar city.

The exact reason behind the shooting of the civilian bus remains unclear, but the militant group frequently targets vehicles ferrying the stimulant drug.

Puntland President Highlights Government Achievements In Past Three Years

12 January – Source: Garowe Online – 341 Words

Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali has made an address to Puntland citizens, highlighting his administration’s achievement during the past three years in office in an annual year-end news conference on Wednesday evening in Bossaso. In his speech, the president highlighted a range of issues government’s achievements in security, politics, development and economy in the region. Ali said his government has achieved success in fighting militant groups including Al-Shabaab and Islamic States fighters in Puntland.

The security forces carried out anti-terrorism operations in several Puntland towns that enforced security and stability in the region and fought with Al-Shabaab militants in Galgala Mountain a stronghold area for the group, said Ali. In terms of development, he said his administration implemented various development projects that included the reconstruction of runways for both Bossaso and Garowe Airports, and also the construction of many roads in Puntland towns. Amid persistent extreme drought conditions in the region, the President said his administration has encouraged numerous rain prayers in Puntland cities and provided humanitarian aid to thousands affected families in remote areas. However, he urged Puntland people to provide assistance to those in need and support the government in their efforts to avert the worsening humanitarian situation.

Meanwhile, he has congratulated Ahmed Husain, a Somali-Canadian citizen, who was recently appointed by Canada’ Prime Minister as the new Minister for Immigration, Refugee and citizenship, and wished him success to carry out his duties in his new post. He also congratulated Mohamed Osman Jawari, for his victory as the speaker of the newly inaugurated parliament. In his address, he also spoke about his government efforts to support institutions, provide training to teachers and introducing bills that promoted women protection and fight against gender-based violence. However, the address comes at a time where the region is facing huge economic challenges and security deterioration attributed to lack of government salaries to military forces and civil servants for over months. The Public has also staged demonstrations several times last year to protest of soaring commodity prices that affected vulnerable communities in the region.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somalia Regional State Urged To Resolve Differences Through Dialogue

12 January – Source: Xinhua – 314 Words

Foreign envoys in Somalia on Thursday called on leaders in the regional state of Galmudug to resolve differences which erupted early this week through dialogue. In a joint statement issued in Mogadishu, the envoys from the United Nations, African Union, European Union, United Nations expressed concern about the unfolding dispute within the Galmudug regional assembly and between members of the assembly and President Abdikarim Guled.

“The dispute, which has led to a vote to remove the president from office, with the president and the speaker of the assembly rejecting the vote as illegal, is potentially destabilizing,” the envoys said in the statement. Guled lost no-confidence vote in parliament on Tuesday after lawmakers criticized him of poor leadership. First Deputy Speaker Ali Hared Ali said 54 parliamentarians voted to impeach Guled. The Speaker was absent.

The parliamentary session carried out in the absence of the president and parliament speaker, whereas all lawmakers agreed to carry out the no-confidence vote, added Ali. However, Galmudug Vice President Mohamed Hashi Araby was set to take over power according to the state constitution, as the parliament is expected to deliberate on sessions to elect new president for the regional State.

But the international partners called on all the stakeholders in Galmudug, in particular members of the regional assembly, the speaker of the assembly and the president, to resolve the underlying issues through dialogue and refrain from resorting to any acts of violence.

Somaliland Elections Cannot Be Delayed On Any Pretext, Diplomats Warn

12 January – Source: All East Africa – 387 Words

The international community warned leaders of the breakaway northern Somalia republic of Somaliland against any further delays in holding presidential elections amid severe droughts in the region which officials said may scrap their initial plans to hold timely presidential elections. According to the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Coordination (OCHA), the acute drought that has affected more than 240,000 people (40,000 Households) due to the shortfall of the Gu (April-June) rains in 2014 and 2015. The most affected regions include Awdal, Maroodijeh, and Gebiley, which are traditionally the main food producing regions.

Delivering their message on behalf of the international community, the two diplomats from UK and Denmark who held talks with leaders from the opposition parties and the ruling party in Hargeisa, Somaliland’s capital said that patience was wearing thin of international partners and that any attempts to get the election delayed beyond March 28 would strain relations between Somaliland and the international community, according to officials who attended the meeting on Thursday.

Somaliland which had declared a unilateral independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991 heavily relies on foreign aid to run its separate government, army and currency. For years, the enclave with broke away from Somalia 25 years ago has been battling for an international recognition. However, no country has so far recognized it as an independent nation. In recent months, Somaliland leaders have been pushing new plans aimed at delaying the presidential for further six months with the intention of reaching drought-hit areas with aid, a proposal dismissed by the two visiting diplomats from the international community who reiterated that elections cannot be delayed on any ‘grounds’.

UN Set To Launch Humanitarian Response Plan For Somalia

12 January – Source: Xinhua – 306 Words

The UN agencies working in Somalia said Thursday they will next week launch the 2017 Humanitarian Response Plan which outlines the humanitarian situation and priorities for response throughout the country. A statement from the UN Office for Coordinating of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the humanitarian situation in Somalia remains among the most complex in the world. “Worsening drought conditions across the country have left hundreds of thousands of Somalis facing severe food and water shortages,” OCHA said. The Plan will be launched in Mogadishu on Tuesday next week.

The newly developed Plan for Somalia for 2017 reflects a commitment by aid agencies to better support Somalis in addressing the extensive humanitarian needs throughout the country. Some 5 million people (40 percent of the population) are in need of humanitarian assistance while more than 1.1 million of these are in “crisis” and “emergency’. Developed within the framework of the three-year humanitarian strategy for Somalia for 2016-2018, the response plan covering 12 months aim to save lives, ensure the protection of the most vulnerable, strengthen resilience, support the provision of basic services and enable durable solutions through a coordinated, comprehensive and multi-sectoral approach.

Throughout the implementation of this plan, the humanitarian community will embed the principle of the centrality of protection by means of a humanitarian response to protect the most vulnerable groups, OCHA said. According to the UN, nearly 1.1 million Somalis are internally displaced. More than 320,000 children under the age of five years, or one in eight, are currently estimated to be acutely malnourished and are need of urgent nutrition support.

Ethiopia, Somalia Consider Launching Joint Infrastructure Projects: PM

12 January – Source: All East Africa – 335 Words

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said Ethiopia and Somalia are considering launching joint infrastructure projects mainly road that links the two neighboring nations. Addressing the national parliament in Addis Ababa on Thursday, the premier said the political and military relations between the two nations is getting momentum as Ethiopia is doing “what it can” to establish a strong government in Somalia.

He said authorities of the two nations have already outlined the infrastructure projects which will be launched after the upcoming Somalia’s election and a permanent government start to govern the east African country. He said Ethiopian troops who are part and non part of AMISOM are fighting Al-Shabab militants in Somalia and Ethiopia is discharging responsibility of helping the neighboring Somalia to conduct free and democratic election along with IGAD, AU and United Nations.

Hailemariam said the security situation in Somalia is getting better and hoped that the nation reach normalcy in the near future. Last October Ethiopian troops who have been fighting Al-Shabab militants in Somalia vacated a series of military bases, sparking fears of a militant resurgence and a possible setback for African Union efforts to stabilize the country. On Wednesday, Ethiopian troops vacated their posts in Tiyeglow which was seized from Al-Shabab in August 2014. It was the third town the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) vacated this month after El-Ali on October 11 and Halgan on October 23.

Somali Refugee Dead In Italy Blaze

12 January – Source: EBL News – 139 Words

A Somali national died and two more suffered from smoke inhalation when a blaze broke in the Florence-area town of Sesto Fiorentino, Italian media reported Thursday. The alarm was raised at 9 pm (2000 GMT) on Wednesday in an abandoned furniture factory where 80 men and women, all of them asylum seekers from Somalia, had been camping out for several months, the Florence police commissioner’s office told dpa.

The victim was born in 1972 and was living in Italy on subsidiary protection status, meaning that he had been granted temporary political asylum. He had no relatives in Italy and his name has not been released to the press, police said. The survivors are now staying in two tents that were set up in a nearby square, according to police. The cause of the blaze are still unclear, they said.

OPINION, CULTURE & ANALYSIS

“Eastleigh is a remarkable place: home to one of the most vibrant economies in East Africa where goods from all over the world are sold in over 40 shopping malls. It is also somewhere often portrayed negatively, whose population – many of them refugees and many Muslim – have been subject to much suspicion and ill-treatment.”

The Misrepresentation Of A Migrant Success Story

12 January – Source: News Deeply – 1,647 Words

There are many stories told about Nairobi’s Eastleigh. For the Kenyan Asian nostalgics, it was a quiet residential estate where you could hear birdsong. For Western journalists and, more recently Hollywood filmmakers, it has been an exotic and fearful place to locate stories of pirates and Islamic terrorists. For most people who live in the Kenyan capital, the Somali-dominated district is a shopping center – a place to work, trade and bargain hunt. Its transformation over the last two decades into a commercial hub with links to the Somali diaspora and global trade networks has been documented by Neil Carrier in his new book, “Little Mogadishu.”

A lecturer at the University of Oxford, Carrier’s interest in Eastleigh was stirred while he was researching the khat trade — a plant whose leaves are a mild but popular stimulant and a Somali staple. The anthropologist became determined to write a biography of this mythologized but misunderstood place that has been shaped by its role as a place of urban refuge for the relentlessly commercial Somalis. Eastleigh’s story has much to add to our understanding of the economic benefits of migrant hubs and their ambivalent relationship with host countries in a world increasingly dominated by security concerns.

Refugees Deeply: Why is Eastleigh, a neighborhood in Nairobi known as “Little Mogadishu” for its Somali population, relevant to the rest of the world right now?

Neil Carrier: Eastleigh is a remarkable place: home to one of the most vibrant economies in East Africa where goods from all over the world are sold in over 40 shopping malls. It is also somewhere often portrayed negatively, whose population – many of them refugees and many Muslim – have been subject to much suspicion and ill-treatment.

This combination makes it highly relevant in our contemporary era where new forms of trade and commerce are gaining importance, and where migrants and refugees are ever more misrepresented. This misrepresentation comes to apply also to those places that are most associated with such communities, and Eastleigh has suffered much in this regard. Indeed, the recent Hollywood film “Eye in the Sky” – which struck a chord with some in its treatment of the ethics of drone strikes – was partially set in a fictionalized Eastleigh, and portrayed the place as a no-go area for Kenyans, teeming with Islamist militia, a portrayal that bore no relation to reality. By demystifying Eastleigh and its economy, and countering negative portrayals of the place and its people, I hope it can encourage more informed portrayals of similar places throughout the world.

Refugees Deeply: What does Eastleigh have to tell us about the economic life of refugees and migrants?

Carrier: I think it can tell us much about how migrants and refugees can bring new ideas, innovations and networks that often breathe new life into places like Eastleigh. While it should be emphasized that the story of Eastleigh is not exclusively the story of refugees, as Kenyan Somalis and other Kenyans have played a huge part in its development, it was certainly the arrival of thousands of refugees in the early 1990s that catalyzed its transformation from a place of residence to a place of commerce.