January 27, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
Keating: Presidential Elections Must Be Free And Fair
27 January – Source: VOA Somali – 104 Words
United Nations Special Representative for Somalia Michael Keating said it is crucial that the upcoming presidential election is free and fair. In an interview with VOA Somali Service while in New York, Keating warned against any electoral malpractices during the upcoming presidential election.
Keating welcomed the newly formed committee that oversees the presidential election process, and the decision by the parliament to allocate 50 percent of the fees paid by presidential candidates for the ongoing support efforts to aid drought victims.He called on the electoral committee to hold the elections on the set date. The full interview will be aired on Saturday’s Martida Makrofoonka (Guest of the microphone) program.
Key Headlines
- Keating: Presidential Elections Must Be Free And Fair (VOA Somali)
- Presidential Candidates Meet In The Capital Mogadishu (Garowe Online)
- One Dies As Al-Shabaab Fighters Attack SNA Military Base In Bardhere (Goobjoog News)
- Deadly Attacks On Hotels And Restaurants In Somalia Are Robbing The Country Of Its Last Safe Spaces (Quartz)
- Doctors Without Borders Says It Plans To Return To Somalia (The New York Times)
- Somalia: No Country For Honest Men (Hiiraan Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Presidential Candidates Meet In The Capital Mogadishu
27 January- Source: Garowe Online – 233 Words
Presidential hopefuls held meeting on Thursday in Mogadishu, and released a joint statement highlighting the issues needed to be addressed by the Federal Parliament ahead of the upcoming election in February, Garowe Online reports.The meeting attended by majority of opposition candidates except for caretaker President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and caretaker Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke. However, the opposition candidates called to tighten security measures in the capital by establishing security committee and joint forces that will secure the election venue during the presidential polling.They also stressed on the need to ensure credible election, and issue guidelines and rules that will thwart cases of malpractices in the election.
The candidates called to safeguard the unity and sovereignty of the country, and limit external influence but maintain relations with countries in a manner that conform to the international standards.They urged all candidates to respect the slated election date and called to protect the confidentiality of the votes casting by members of Federal Parliament during the ballot. They encouraged allowing national and independent media to freely cover the election process and debate sessions among presidential candidates.
The joint statement comes amid ongoing political campaign of candidates in the capital, whereas majority of opposition candidates have expressed concern towards potential resource abuse and vote rigging by office holders who are vying to win the top office in the forthcoming election in February 8.
One Dies As Al-Shabaab Fighters Attack SNA Military Base In Bardhere
27 January – Source : Goobjoog News – Words- Source: Goobjoog News- 141 Words
At least one died and scores injured after Al-Shabaab fighters attacked SNA military base located outskirt of Bardhere town in the wee hours of Friday.Al-Shabaab fighters are said to have attacked the base from different direction prompting hours of fighting. Heavy gunfire was reported as resident near the incident area started fleeing.
SNA commanders in Bardhere town told Goobjoog News that their soldiers resisted fiercely and managed to push out the fighters.“Al-Shabaab attacked our base but we repulsed and defeated the group, casualties on our side so far is only one soldier who died during the fighting,” said the commanders who sought anonymity. Local resident in the town confirmed the attack and said SNA soldiers are still at their base.“The group engaged gun battle with government soldiers for hours before they retreated” a resident in Bardhere town says.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Deadly Attacks On Hotels And Restaurants In Somalia Are Robbing The Country Of Its Last Safe Spaces
27 January – Source: Quartz Africa – 576 Words
On Wednesday (Jan. 26) morning, twin explosions rocked the Somali capital Mogadishu, reportedly killing at least 28 people and injuring 51 others. The gun-and-bomb attack hit Dayah Hotel, an establishment popular with politicians and located near the Somali parliament in central Mogadishu. The attack wasn’t one of the deadliest in the city or the country’s history. But with hotel guests and workers dead, journalists and bystanders injured, it revealed something about the grievous reality in Mogadishu. The attack was a testament to the continued erosion of safe spaces from the bloody and targeted violence that has taken hold of Somalia in the last few years.
Since 2011, when the terrorist group al-Shabaab fled the capital, a modicum of peace enveloped Mogadishu and its environs. New banks were established, apartment complexes were built, hospitals were renovated and roads paved. Regional conferences took place in Mogadishu, and the city even hosted its first ever TEDx Talk event and Social Good Summit. The International Monetary Fund welcomed Somalia back into its fold, and the World Bank offered to fund projects for the first time since 1991. A fragile democracy took hold in the country, a process which has seen the election of lawmakers and senators.
But in a city reeling from the effects of over two decades of war, it was the hotels, the seaside restaurants, the pizzerias and the newly-refurbished parks that gave Somalis and visitors hope for the future. The new establishments, with their tiled floors and vibrant colors, showed newcomers a welcoming new face of the war-torn city. Here, amidst friends and family, you could share a meal, a drink, and a laugh and entertain for a moment the idea that life was good in Mogadishu.
Doctors Without Borders Says It Plans To Return To Somalia
27 January – Source : The New York Times – 230 Words
Doctors Without Borders said Friday it plans to return to Somalia, more than three years after closing its operations in the turbulent country amid “extreme attacks” on its staff. The medical aid charity known by the French acronym MSF said its return to the Horn of Africa country will be a cautious one. The charity pulled out of Somalia in August 2013 after 22 years of operations there. It cited an environment where armed groups and civilian leaders increasingly allowed or condoned killings, assaults and abductions of humanitarian workers.
MSF last year started exploring a possible return, sending a delegation to Somalia in May to meet with the prime minister and others. Between decades of conflict and natural disasters such as drought, Somalia has an estimated 1.1 million displaced people and a weak health system. In recent months, the country has faced the added burden of thousands returning home from the world’s largest refugee camp, Dadaab in neighboring Kenya, which is expected to close in May.
The Britain-based International NGO Safety Organization calls Somalia “one of the most dangerous countries in the world for aid workers.” The country is trying to rebuild after decades of chaos that began in 1991 when warlords overthrew a longtime dictator. Extremist group al-Shabab continues to launch deadly attacks in the capital, Mogadishu, and elsewhere, threatening the country’s first functioning central government in years.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Another urgent task that the new houses of parliament should tackle is passing a legislation to establish an Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate against all those politicians who live beyond their means and graft on all public sectors. No one should be above the law and policymakers should lead by example to the people.”
Somalia: No Country For Honest Men
26 January – Source : Hiiraan Online – 1526 Words
In more than three trips to Somalia over the past five years, I’ve come to rewrite my own perception of where the country is headed and it doesn’t look promising because the future of Somalia looks gloomier than at any time in post-civil war era. Despite the positive tone of my past comments of the country and much of what I often write about Somalia, especially my belief that Somalia is on the mend to recover from its horrific collapse. Regrettably on my most recent trip, I did find myself tormenting more and more about the dismal record of current cadre of leadership who are in power, not to mention those others who are vying to run the country. Just when things seem as though they can’t get any worse in Somalia, the country finds itself much worse predicament that puts everyone else on the edge.
The picture is not only disturbing but rather disheartening because the country’s economy remains fragile at best, as recovery continues to be hampered by the challenging security environment posed by Al-Shabab and widespread corruption that pervades every sector of the country from the highest government officials to local security forces to non-government institutions (NGOs), not to mention avaricious money-lords who privatized most of the basic services, including telecommunication, healthcare, schools, power plants, banking and even created their own private security forces. As a result, I came to the kernel truth of how Somalia has become a den for corrupt politicians backed by merciless businessmen who would not hesitate to run the country to the ground in order to enrich themselves and there’s no place for honest men or women. Corruption is the single biggest threat to Somalia’s path towards a lasting peace and prosperity.
I flew into Mogadishu in the week leading to the elections for the Speaker of the parliament and his deputies and I saw it with my own eyes the vicious political wheeling and dealing among the country’s political elites who eventually elected two out of the three officials from the last parliament to their old seats. Ironically, in a country where no significant wages were paid in the last seven months to both the security forces and the civil service employees, including the MPs, a great deal of money is floating around in the capital. On daily basis, expensive parties are thrown throughout Mogadishu’s hotels, where presidential candidates backed by foreign elements are readily spending a huge amount of cash in order to court MPs’ vote in their favor. If it’s any indication of the recent parliamentary elections that has revealed how financial factor is the sole driver of winning their seats by a great majority of members of the parliament (MPs), there’s a little chance that they will abide the constitution and elect the best candidate for the job. This will have the catastrophic consequence of throwing back the country in the back burner and risking both the territorial and maritime of Somalia to get annexed by neighboring countries, who have been eyeing for a long time Somalia’s exceptional strategic location and abundant natural resources.
TOP TWEETS
@ahmedvision1: If we keep talking about yesterday’s pains & not preparing 4 tommorow changes, expect worse #Somalia#Peace4Somalia
@sarahkimani: Kenya Defence Forces says an attack on its troops in Somalia was repulsed denies shabab claims that 57 KE soldiers dead. #SABCNEWS
@kdfinfo: #OpsUpdate. 1. Our soldiers under @amisomsomaliafiercely engaged Al Shabaab who had attempted to attack our camp at Kolbiyow. #KDFKulbiyow
@SomaliFaces: “If you want to progress and succeed in life, it depends on …” #somalifaces #somalia #somaliland #maydh#wisdom #africa #culture
@WFPGovts: Support from #EU ensures that food and cash can be delivered to vulnerable families in #Somalia! Read more:http://www.wfp.org/stories/
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Former Somali President Sheikh Sharif becomes the first aspirant to register for the upcoming presidential election on 08 February
Photo: Radio Muqdisho