November 15, 2017 | Morning Headlines
Breakaway Somaliland Tallies Votes Amid Social Media Blackout
14 November – Source: The Guardian -338 Words
Officials in the self-proclaimed state of Somaliland counted votes from a presidential election Tuesday, with a social media blackout expected to last several days until results are announced. The northern territory, which declared independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991, hopes its third presidential election will bolster its democratic credentials and strengthen the case for independence from its troubled neighbour. The counting process “may take a couple of days before it finishes and the result is announced, it can be between 16th and 18th of this month,” said election commission chairman Abdikadir Iman Warsame.
No incidents of violence, unrest or disruption were reported during the day’s voting on Monday. Three candidates are vying for the state’s top office: seasoned politicians Muse Bihi of the ruling Kulmiye party and opposition leaders Abdirahman Iro and Faysal Ali Warabe, who was defeated in a previous election in 2010. Incumbent Ahmed Mohamud Silaanyo is not seeking re-election. Elections are meant to be held every five years, but the poll was delayed for two years due to drought and technical issues. Somaliland’s history of peaceful, credible elections and democratic transition sets it apart from anarchic southern Somalia, and indeed much of east Africa. Somalia’s election earlier this year saw a president chosen via a limited electoral process in which handpicked clan elders selected delegates who were allowed to vote.
However Somaliland drew criticism for imposing a blackout on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook after voting closed Monday, to prevent interference from outside the borders of the semi-autonomous state and speculation over the outcome. Somaliland, a former British protectorate, won independence in 1960 but days later joined with Somalia. In 1991, after years of bitter war with the government in Mogadishu, it declared independence from the rest of the country, and has long hoped for international recognition. “If the result is announced and a president comes with the peaceful elections, I don’t think there is anything that will stop this tiny state from getting international recognition,” said resident Ali Madar.
Key Headlines
- Breakaway Somaliland Tallies Votes Amid Social Media Blackout (The Guardian)
- Mogadishu October 14 Truck Bomb Victims to Return from Turkey After Treatment (Somali Update)
- Rwanda Sends Medical Relief To Somalia (Radio Shabelle)
- How Somalia Lost Millions Of Dollars To Fish Poachers (The East African)
- Has World Forgotten Somalia’s Huge Terror Attack? (RFI.fr)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Mogadishu October 14 Truck Bomb Victims to Return from Turkey After Treatment
14 November – Source: Somali Update – 219 Words
Ten victims of October 14 truck bomb blast who were treated in Turkey returned to Mogadishu on Tuesday, Somali government confirmed. Thirty-five people wounded in the truck bombing, including children were last month transferred to Turkey for medical treatment following the Oct. 14 attack that killed over 350 people and injured more than 500 others in Mogadishu.
The Minister of Information, Abdirahman Yariisow said said in on his Twitter account that the ten will be arriving in Mogadishu after they were treated well in Turkey. “Ten of the seriously injured people have recovered and are in stable condition now. The minister of Health of Turkey personally visited them as they brought back to Mogadishu,” said Yariisow. Among the returnees are Mr. Abdikadir Mohamud Abdulle, a freelance reporter working with VOA Somali service, who sustained injuries from the bombing and lost his friend and cameraman Mr. Ali Salad to the blast.
Twenty-five others are still undergoing treatment in Turkey. Turkey Somalia’s close ally swiftly responded in 48 hours after the deadliest truck bombing in the capital by sending Turkish Air Ambulance to pick up the wounded Somalis to Turkey for free medical treatment. Ankara has invested heavily in Somalia in past five years, also building Turkish biggest overseas military base in Mogadishu which will be training over 10,000 Somali soldiers.
Rwanda Sends Medical Relief To Somalia
14 November – Source: Radio Shabelle – 293 Words
The government of Somalia has expressed gratitude over a consignment of medical relief delivered yesterday by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Claude Nikobisanzwe. In a series of tweets on Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation said, that the charity act follows last month’s horrific terror attack in Zoobe District in Mogadishu city which has left over 300 people dead.
During the reception of the relief Mr. Abdinasir Saeed Musse, the Deputy Minister of Internal Security, and Ambassador Ali Mohamed Ali, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Somalia, Nikobisanzwe, said that Rwanda has been saddened and touched by the atrocity that happened two weeks ago. “The donation of medicine is a humble contribution from Rwanda to Somalia in an efforts to rebuild the health system,” said Nikobisanzwe.
The relief that was received at Aden Adde International Airport in the Somali capital Mogadishu consisted of varied medical supplies weighing ten tonnes. “Rwanda is also ready to share experience with Somalia in many areas including of public order and health among others,” he added. On behalf of the Somali government and people of Somalia, the county thanked the government of Rwanda and their people for the brotherly support. “This support is a response to the tragedy that happened on 14th October. I would also like to thank Ministers, Louise Mushikiwabo and Diane Gashumba of the Ministry of Health of Rwanda for their efforts,” Somali Minister of Health, Fawziya Abaikar Nur said in a tweet. The deadliest single blast in the country that was caused by a massive truck explosion killed more than 300 and wounded over 600. No group has yet officially claimed the responsibility for the attack although, the Somali government blamed Al-Shabaab militia.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
How Somalia Lost Millions Of Dollars To Fish Poachers
14 November – Source: The East African – 308 Words
Up to 2.4 million tonnes of fish have been illegally caught off Somali waters in the past six decades, a new study shows. The study notes that from the 1990s, much of the fish was shipped away by foreign trawlers, denying the country millions of dollars in fisheries revenues every year. The study was conducted by scientists working with the maritime lobby, Sea Around Us, at the Universities of British Columbia and Western Australia’s Indian Ocean division as well as peace lobby One Earth Future’s Secure Fisheries programme.
Somalia’s waters are some of the world’s most productive, with stocks of tuna, shark, swordfish, sardines, squid, and countless species of commercially valuable fish, providing food for coastal communities. The domestic fishing sector annually contributes about $135 million to the economy. Destructive fishing practices, illegal fishing, insecurity caused by conflict, underdeveloped infrastructure and competition from foreign fishing boats threaten the long-term sustainability of Somali fisheries.
One study’s findings, recently published in Marine Policy, also reveals 80 per cent more fish were caught from the country’s waters over the past six decades, contrary to official reports. Exploitation Lack of proper monitoring and control allowed foreign industrial vessels to exploit Somali marine resources or operate under dubious licences in the years before the Federal Government was established in 2012. “Using catch reconstruction, which improves the completeness of statistics assembled by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, our researchers determined that foreign boats were responsible for more than half of the total amount of fish taken from Somali waters between 1950 and 2015,” the report says. With more reliable and accurate data on each sector’s catch, the researchers say the Somali government can strengthen recently passed legislation and develop income generating policies for small-scale domestic fisheries, while at the same time controlling the amount of fish that legally licensed foreign vessels catch.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Asked what has changed since the Mogadishu bombing, Sahel Yusuf says it’s uniting Somalis: “The attacks have changed people’s position towards the terrorists, people are no longer afraid, they came out onto the streets and for the first time since the militants started their campaign in our country, we’re seeing people condemning Al-Shabaab directly,” he said. “
Has World Forgotten Somalia’s Huge Terror Attack?
14 November – Source: RFI.fr – 508 Words
Tuesday 14 November marks one month since a truck bomb exploded in the Somali capital Mogadishu, killing hundreds of people – many of whom were never identified. It was the worst bomb attack in the history of Somalia. In Britain, home to the largest Somali community in Europe, members feel the world has already forgotten the tragedy. “We haven’t seen the kind of media coverage that we normally see when one person shoots another in downtown Manhattan, or even in cities like Paris and London,” Sahel Yusuf, chairman of the Gaashaan Somali community centre in London tells RFI. On 14 October, a powerful bomb blast ripped through the capital of Mogadishu, killing at least 358 people and injuring hundreds more. “This doesn’t mean that the people of these countries are against Somalis, but it means that those who are in a position of power are not interested,” he says.
The attack in Somalia–the deadliest in its history– came shortly after a deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas, but many Somalis noted a quieter response to events in Mogadishu. “I think Somalia as a country has been forgotten,” reckons for his part Dwali Yusuf, vice-chairman of the Gaashaan Somali community centre. “It’s sad you know, African lives are not compatible with Western lives, especially Somalia.” Dwali also criticises the role of the US, whose forces carried out airstrikes against Al-Shabaab on 12 November, killing several people.
Earlier this month, the US struck Islamic State armed group (IS) targets in Somalia for the first time. “The worst condition Somalis are facing today is not only the bombing but also drone attacks from the United States of America, now based in Djibouti,” says Dwali. “Attacks from drones are killing more Somalis than these terrorists are killing,” he says. The militant group Al Shabaab, which has been fighting to topple the internationally-backed government for more than a decade, has yet to claim responsibility for the 14 October attack, but did claim a different one on 28 October. We must uproot their sponsors, whoever they are,” insists Sahel Yusuf. “At the moment all eyes are on the Gulf region, because this is where the financial help is flowing from.”
Observers claim that Eritrea sponsors Al-Shabaab in an attempt to counter the regional power, Ethiopia, its long-time enemy. Eritrea has consistently denied the allegations. Asked what has changed since the Mogadishu bombing, Sahel Yusuf says it’s uniting Somalis: “The attacks have changed people’s position towards the terrorists, people are no longer afraid, they came out onto the streets and for the first time since the militants started their campaign in our country, we’re seeing people condemning Al-Shabaab directly,” he said. Despite Somalia’s ongoing insecurity, sparked by the overthrow of former President Mohamed Siad Barre in the early 1990s, Somalis say they’re still confident they will one day go home. “We’re going back to our country,” says Dwali Yusuf. “I believe that by next year I’m going back to Somalia. I love to educate our younger people,” he says, referring to the 75 percent of children who are out of school. “I believe we need to replace bombs and guns with pens and pencils to educate our younger people.”