February 1, 2017 | Morning Headlines
Candidates Walk Out Of A Presidential Debate Over Coverage Failure
31 January – Source : Garowe Online – 194 Words
12 presidential candidates have boycotted the presidential debate after failure to air the debate on national and independent media. Initial information obtained by Garowe online indicates that the first batch of presidential hopefuls, including former Somali President, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and former Puntland President Abdirahman Farole have walked out of the debate arena, citing failure to air the debate.
Lack of Independent media in the venue and internet disconnection in Mogadishu were the main grounds behind the failure to hold the presidential debate for the first batch comprising of 12 candidates vying for the presidency. The televised debate was expected to take place at the Parliament Hall in Mogadishu on Tuesday evening.
They said the modalities for the presidential debate event are unfair and will not serve their wishes. on the other hand, the second batch included President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud who is aiming to retain his seat in the upcoming election amid stiff competition from rivals who are vying to unseat him. Following the scheduled debate, the candidates are set to address the new Parliament about their campaign’s agenda ahead of the presidential election which will take place in February 8 in Mogadishu.
Key Headlines
- Candidates Walk Out Of A Presidential Debate Over Coverage Failure (Garowe Online)
- More Than 80% Of Presidential Candidates Hold Foreign Passports (Goobjoog News)
- The Re-Election Of Nullified Seats Start In Puntland Region (Garowe Online)
- Qatar Charity Opens Model Health Centre In Jazeera Region Of Somalia (The Peninsula)
- Trump’s Immigrant Ban Adds To The Horrifying Ordeals Somali Refugees Face (The Quartz)
- Somalia: The Beginning Or The End? ? (New York Times)
NATIONAL MEDIA
More Than 80% Of Presidential Candidates Hold Foreign Passports
31 January – Source : Goobjoog News – 325 Words
This week, Somalia presidential electoral committee cleared 24 candidates to vie for the top seat barely a week to poll. Twenty of Somalia’s presidential candidates have double citizenship a matter which could raise questions of loyalty though the Presidential Election Committee (PEC) had earlier said it was a question of eligibility. The PEC announced this past week it had cleared 24 candidates for the February 8 ending several false starts since September last year when President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s term ended.
Out of the 24 candidates, 83% hold foreign passports including the current two presidential candidates who led the country for the last eight years. The outgoing president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud who is educationist has Kenyan passport making him to have same nationally with his predecessor, Sheikh Shariif Sheikh Ahmed. Though the Provisional Constitution of Somalia upholds the double citizenship, the Citizenship law which is still in force is unequivocal on citizenship of candidates running for the top office. The Citizenship Law 1960 articulates that Presidential candidate should be a Muslim whose father and mother are both original citizens. Thirty percent of the candidates are nationals of United State followed by United Kingdom and Canada with each four presidential candidates. Kenyan and Djibouti are represented by two candidates each, with Australia having one.
The candidates with foreign passports include incumbent President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (Kenya), Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke (Canada), former transitional federal government president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (Kenya) and former transitional federal government PM Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo (USA), Mohamud Mohamed Ulusow (USA) and Abdikadir Osoble Ali (USA) Others include former Puntland president Abdurahman Mohamed Farole (Australia), former Mogadishu mayor Mohamed Ahmed Nur (UK), Abdinasir Abdulle Mohamed (USA) Jibril Ibrahim Abdulle (Canada), Mohamed Abdirizak (USA), Abdullahi Ali Ahmed (USA), Mohamed Yasin Ismail ( Djibouti), Abdirahman Abdishakur ( UK), Ali Haji Warsame ( UK), Abdullahi Ali Hassan (Djibouti), Saeed Ise Warsame (USA) and former ambassador to Kenya Mohamed Ali Nur (USA).
Only four of the twenty four candidates running to win the country’s top seat have Somali citizenship. Bashiir Raghe Shiiraar, Said Abdullahi Deni, Ahmed Mohamed Abdi and Mohamed Ahmed Jabar have one citizenship (Somali).
The Re-Election Of Nullified Seats Start In Puntland Region
31 January – Source : Garowe Online – 231 Words
State-level electoral commission (SIEIT) has commenced the election of a parliamentary seat that was nullified previously by Somalia’s independent dispute committee over malpractices and vote rigging. Earlier, Independent dispute body has rejected the election results of 11 seats from the Lower House chamber carried out in the regional states, and decide to re-contest for the parliamentary seats again. Regional clans have raised concerns to the electoral committee over the vote rigging, intimidation and delegate harassment during the parliamentary elections.
Among the seats declared for re-contest was for Ugaar Saleban clan in Puntland and today’s election was hosted in Puntland State University compound (PSU) in Garowe, the regional capital of the Puntland state. However, the candidate Abdi Mahmoud Mohamed, has retained the seat following victory in the ballot defeating his opponent Mohamed Ali Madobe with majority 45 votes. Delegates hailing from the same clan have casted votes among the candidates vying for the parliamentary seat.
Yesterday, clan elders have complained over potential malpractices, warned against favoring candidate and accused SIEIT of electoral fraud by registering delegates who don’t hail from the same clan, but SIEIT didn’t release any statement in regard to the clan’s claim. Last month, Somalia has sworn-in new MPs and Senators despite the parliamentary election is ongoing for some regional clans. The country is preparing to conclude the remaining parliamentary election before the presidential election scheduled in February 8.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Qatar Charity Opens Model Health Centre In Jazeera Region Of Somalia
30 January – Source : The Peninsula – 275 Words
Qatar Charity (QC) has opened a model health centre in Jazeera region, 30 kilometers from Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. More than 80,000 people will benefit from the Center. There is a severe shortage of health facilities in most provinces of Somalia. QC built a complete health facility to combat the outbreak of epidemic and infectious diseases. The residents of this region were facing difficulties in getting proper treatment. They were forced to travel to Mogadishu for health needs, and the high treatment costs and other negative factors made them vulnerable groups, said Mohammed Hussein Omar, QC’s director of the regional office in Kenya.
The health center provides therapeutic healthcare services that reduce the outbreak of the epidemic and infectious diseases among the population and reduce mortality by immunizing children. QC built the health centre to accelerate development in Somalia and help people of the region to lead a decent life. Omar thanked the people of Qatar for supporting this important project, as they have usually contributed to the implementation of many development projects, financially sponsored many families in need, and provided assistance to Somali civilians in need, most of whom are orphans, students and persons with special needs.
QC opened a representative office in Mogadishu in 2007 as part of its strategic plan that aims at rebuilding, activating and organizing the fieldwork. In January 2010, Qatar Charity transformed its representative office in Somalia into a field office after the approval of Ministry of social Affairs. Qatar Charity in Somalia carried out programs and activities in several areas including sponsorships, social welfare, education, culture, water and sanitation, income-generating projects, urgent relief and early recovery.
Trump’s Immigrant Ban Adds To The Horrifying Ordeals Somali Refugees Face
31 January – Source : Quartz Africa – 700 Words
Adan Barre, a 20-year-old Somali refugee, was meant to be en route to Kentucky from Nairobi on Sunday (Jan. 29). Eight years after being selected for a resettlement process in the US, he had finally gotten approval to leave Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp, located in northeastern Kenya, for his new American home.
But with a stroke of a pen two days earlier, US president Donald Trump had brought that dream to a halt, with an executive order on immigration that barred citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, including Somalia, from entering the US for the next 90 days, and a ban on the admission of all refugees for 120 days. Initially, the ban appeared to include US permanent residents from those countries—they were later exempted. The decision and its unclear wording sparked protests at American airports, confused airlines and their crews, and left refugees in a state of despair. In the case of Somalia, it also reversed an almost three decades-long tradition of Americans offering its people refuge.
At Dulles airport in Virginia, a Somali mother was reportedly detained with her two American-passport holding children for 20 hours with no food. Questions also loomed over whether dual passport holders could travel freely despite the ban. The Canadian government says it has “no concerns” its Somalia-born, immigration minister could travel to the US. Barre estimates that there are around 150 refugees that, like him, are now stuck at a transit center in Nairobi as a result of Trump’s order. “There’s nothing much we can do,” he says, speaking to Quartz from the center, which is managed by the International Organization for Migration. It’s currently unclear how many Somali refugees have pending applications for resettlement in the US.
OPINION, CULTURE & ANALYSIS
“I don’t know what Somalia will be like a few years from now, but I do know that it will remain true to its cultural heritage, even if it looks very different from the country we see now. I know this because, through all the disorder, the people still haven’t lost sight of their dreams.”
Somalia: The Beginning Or The End?
31 January – Source : The New York Times- 425 Words
What has been going on in Somalia is unbelievable, and it has been on my mind ever since it began. What’s important, however, is that we focus on what this means to the people. The current administration seems too caught up in worrying about their own skins to pay attention to the important effects on daily life. Just call it missing the fields for the wheat.When thinking about the recent turmoil, it’s important to remember three things: One, people don’t behave like billiard balls, so attempts to treat them as such are a waste of time. Billiard balls never suddenly set up a black market for Western DVDs. Two, Somalia has spent decades torn by civil war and ethnic hatred, so a mindset of peace and stability will seem foreign and strange. And three, freedom is an extraordinarily powerful idea: If corruption is Somalia’s curtain rod, then freedom is certainly its flowerpot.
When I was in Somalia last January, I was amazed by the variety of the local cuisine, and that tells me two things. It tells me that the citizens of Somalia have no shortage of courage, and that is a good beginning to grow from. Second, it tells me that people in Somalia are just like people anywhere else on this flat earth of ours.
So what should we do about the chaos in Somalia? Well, it’s easier to start with what we should not do. We should not let seemingly endless frustrations cause the people of Somalia to doubt their chance at progress. Beyond that, we need to be careful to nurture the seeds of democratic ideals. The opportunity is there, but I worry that the path to stability is so poorly marked that Somalia will have to move down it very slowly.
And of course Mogadishu needs to come to terms with its own history.Speaking with a local farmer from the small Catholic community here, I asked her if there was any message that she wanted me to carry back home with me. She pondered for a second, and then smiled and said, reiaya-li-kona, which is a local saying that means roughly, “Dump husband in September, you have to get rid of the spiders.”I don’t know what Somalia will be like a few years from now, but I do know that it will remain true to its cultural heritage, even if it looks very different from the country we see now. I know this because, through all the disorder, the people still haven’t lost sight of their dreams.