May 1, 2018 | Morning Headlines
Somali Parliament Elects New Speaker
30 April – Source: Voice of America – 356 Words
Somali lawmakers elected Mohamed Mursal Abdirahman speaker of parliament’s lower house Monday after two rounds of voting in Mogadishu’s heavily protected parliament building. Abdirahman resigned as Defense minister just last week to run for the speakership, securing 147 votes out of 265. He defeated Ibrahim Isak Yarow, former deputy minister of Telecommunications, who received 118 votes.
Ten candidates competed for the post, which became vacant April 12 following the resignation of Mohamed Osman Jawari, a seasoned and longtime politician. He stepped down after a bitter dispute with the legislative branch of the government. Jawari was accused of aligning himself with opposition lawmakers who were allegedly planning a no-confidence motion against the government of Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire. However, MPs who support the prime minister brought a no-confidence motion against Jawari, which eventually forced him to step down after nearly a month of political turmoil.
Abdirahman, 61, is a former Somali ambassador to Turkey who is believed to have a close working relationship with Prime Minister Khaire. He will lead a parliament divided by the recent dispute. The election of the speaker comes as the country faces serious security and humanitarian challenges. Leaders of African Union troop contributing countries have recently announced plans to stop reducing the number of peacekeepers in the country because Somali security forces are not ready to take over those responsibilities.
Key Headlines
- Somali Parliament Elects New Speaker (Voice of America)
- President Farmajo Visits Flood-hit Beledweyne (Hiiraan Online)
- Floods Kill Five People In Beledweyne Town ( Halbeeg News)
- Over 80000 Somali Refugees Back Home Since 2014-UNHCR (Goobjoog News)
- KDF Troops Rescue 13 Al-Shabaab Recruits In Somalia (The Star Kenya)
- Cholera Epidemic Fears In Somalia And Kenya As Severe Flooding Forces Families To Flee Their Homes (The Telegraph)
- A Failure Of Epic Proportion Or “Boil the Frog” Politics: Somali Political Discourse (Hiiraan Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
President Farmajo Visits Flood-hit Beledweyne
30 April – Source: Hiiraan Online – 134 Words
President Farmajo travelled to Beledweyne on Monday to assess the damage caused by days of torrential rain. Farmajo was welcomed to Beledweyne by Hirshabelle regional President Mohamed Abdi Ware. While in Beledweyne, President Farmajo met with Ugas Hassan Ugas Khalif. According to aid agencies on the ground, close to 150,000 people have been affected after the Shabelle river burst its banks earlier this week.
The humanitarian disaster has caught aid and relief agencies off guard. Photos circulating social media this week showing desperate Beledweyne residents trying to flee to higher ground have sparked emergency response efforts. Hiiraan Online reported that families in Hawo-tako, Koshin and Bundaweyn suburbs have been forced to seek shelter on higher grounds in the outskirt of Beledweyne town after their houses were submerged and valuables washed away.
Floods Kill Five People In Beledweyne Town
30 April – Source: Halbeeg News – 283 Words
At least five people have been killed in Hiiraan region following heavy floods that inundated the region. Hirshabelle authorities announced that the floods displaced the entire residents of Beledweyne town after their houses were submerged. Speaking to the media, the governor of Hiran region, Abdullahi Ahmed Moalim, said the intensifying floods had so far killed five people in Beledweyne town and its environs. Moalim pointed out that some of the victims had drowned after the floods washed away their houses. “Five people including two children were killed by the floods after River Shabelle burst its banks in Beledweyne town,” said Moalim.
The governor called on the government and humanitarian aid agencies to urgently respond before the situation turns tragic. “We urge the Federal Government and humanitarian agencies to help these flood victims in the region. People have no place to sleep, no clothes, no clean water to drink, and no food and medicine,” said the governor. He warned of the the emergence of water-borne diseases as a result. “Due to lack of clean water, there could be an outbreak of water-borne diseases like diarrhea and cholera as well as malaria,” he noted.
Somali government on Saturday formed a committee to monitor the situation of the flood-affected residents in central Somalia. The 22-member committee which was also tasked to spearhead the government’s effects to rescue flood victims will be headed by Mahdi Mohamed Guled, Somalia’s deputy Prime Minister. In a statement on Sunday, Council of inter-state cooperation said the floods displaced thousands of people across the country. “The floods have seriously affected all basic services and livelihoods of people living along riverine villages destroying homes, food stocks, crops, water wells. It also displaced over 150,000 households,” reads the statement.
Over 80,000 Somali Refugees Back Home Since 2014-UNHCR
30 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 208 Words
Slightly over one thousands Somalis displaced into four countries arrived in the country in March adding to over 80,000 the number of returnees since the UNHCR-led voluntary repatriation started in 2014. The UN refugee agency UNHCR said in its March repatriation update Monday, out of the 1089 who arrived in the country between March 1 and 31, majority of them (759) were from Kenya while 272 others came from Yemen, 56 from Libya and two from Gambia.
The agency estimates 835,900 Somali refugees still remain displaced in the region noting 35,000 had spontaneously returned from Yemen since 2014 without the support of UNHCR. Out of the 81,030 repatriated since 2014, 79,847 were from Kenya, 1,487 from Yemen, 589 from Djibouti while 34 others came from Eritrea. Others were from Tunisia (3), Gambia (2) and Pakistan (1).
A total of 3,199 returnees since January to end of March were given a one-time grant of $200 and each family a monthly allowance of $200 for a period of six months to allow them settle and build livelihoods. The UN agency added it had provided technical and vocational education training to 744 since January and supported a further 170 to start up small business.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
KDF Troops Rescue 13 Al-Shabaab Recruits In Somalia
30 April – Source: The Star, Kenya – 374 Words
Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) on Sunday rescued thirteen people who were recruited form Magarini in Kilifi county to fight for Al-Shabaab in Somalia. The returnees, aged between 18 to 38 years, were reportedly lured by one Mohamed Ali – a resident of Marereni, that there was a job in the neighbouring country.
Two among the lot are reportedly from Bargoni in Lamu county while the remaining 11 are from Msumarini, Gongoni, and Marereni in Magarini sub-county. They were flown from Kiunga where they were being held by KDF personnel. They were received by Malindi OCPD Matawa Muchangi on Monday. A senior security officer said after being recruited, Ali handed the unsuspecting youths to Abdalla Shekue – a boat owner in Kiunga, who took them to Somalia.
The official said the returnees were recruited on March 26 and KDF managed to rescue them on April 29 after some reported to their families. “Shekue handed over them to Yusuf Ali on the pretext that they were going to engage in fishing in Somalia.” “During their one month stay in Somalia, the boys moved from Mdoa to Bula Haji with the intention to be recruited to fight for Al-Shabaab,” the official said. The security officer said Mdoa and Bula Haji are Al-Shabaab bases.
Cholera Epidemic Fears In Somalia And Kenya As Severe Flooding Forces Families To Flee Their Homes
30 April – Source: The Telegraph – 425 Words
A potentially lethal epidemic of cholera and other disease is set to sweep parts of Somalia and Kenya after severe flooding left hundreds of thousands homeless in the two countries, aid workers have warned. The Somali prime minister, Hassan Ali Khaire, appealed for international humanitarian intervention after two of the largest rivers in the centre of the country – the Shebelle and the Juba – burst their banks, sending floodwaters coursing through riverside towns and villages.
More than 100,000 people were forced to flee Beledweyne, a town in the Shebelle Valley 206 miles north of the capital Mogadishu, over the weekend, local officials said. Hundreds of thousands more, including 174,000 in the town of Baidoa, are struggling to survive in partially flooded homes.
But it is in some of the country’s makeshift camps, where up to 2 million Somalis fleeing fighting in one of the world’s most fragile states, where concern is highest. “Our staff on the ground have seen the elderly, women and children struggling to survive while their flimsy shelters are knee-high full of stagnant water,” said Victor Moses, Somalia country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council, a charity. “With limited access to proper toilets and clean water, it’s a ticking time bomb for disease outbreaks like cholera and malaria.”
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Today’s election of the speaker of the house will tell us more about the psyche of the regime and how far they will go to grab the control of all three branches of government.”
A Failure Of Epic Proportion Or “Boil the Frog” Politics: Somali Political Discourse
30 April – Source: Hiiraan Online – 539 Words
As soon as president Farmajo was inaugurated, the prime ministerial hopefuls started campaigning and after a long deliberation of the president’s circles, the uncanny bystander, Hassan Kheyre, is selected. In fear of strong opposition from the powerful Mogadishu residents whose choice of prime minister is not honoured, Farmajo conducted a series of preemptive steps to suppress and eliminate the political dissidents.
The attack of Abdirahman Abdishakur’s residence and the killing of his security entourage was a great tragedy and one that was feared to cause a political mayhem to the newly formed government. Surprisingly, the outcry of this attack and the extradition of Abdikarim Muse (Qalbi Dhagax), a former Somali military officer and a veteran of 77 war, to Ethiopia for prosecution, did not bring forth the political repercussions the government feared of and that made the regime more brazen and continued its use of force and intimidation to meet their political ends.
An important member of the president’s team who was, at the time, the mayor of Mogadishu, Thabit Abdi, had opposed the despicable and unlawful raid of Abdishakur’s residence. Unfortunately, instead of recognizing the misstep and fixing the problem, the government swiftly forced Thabit to resign. Also, around that time, a prominent member of the Senate, Abdi Qaybdiid, had his house attacked and destroyed and the government shifted blame to UAE.
The speaker of the house, Jawari, allegedly opposed the DP/Somaliland port of Berbera deal and he brought a motion to the house floor to debate and vote. The house rejected to the deal, The PM and the president opposed the motion and indicated it is not timely, so the president and PM organized MPs to oust the speaker bribing them with public funds. It was obvious that they couldn’t persuade 2/3 of the MPs to sack Jawari so they resorted to intimidation and illegal voting tactics. Finally, the speaker decided to step down to save the country from bloodshed and political quack mire. Kudos Jawari.
Given all that, the pundits are out analyzing the discourse of Farmajo’s tenuous political tenure. Some attribute the governments unconstitutional actions to a political plot similar to Trumps “Boil the frog” strategy while others think it is a complete political failure of epic proportion in the government’s part, and a testament to that is the latest statement from the deputy speaker of the house when he said “the constitution is stolen and we found it”. Mr. Mudey owes an apology and explanation to all of us.
Conventional wisdom tells us that the regime will run out of quick wits to outmaneuver the opposition or the opposition itself will catch up to these plots. Either way, we will face a new political stalemate which will require the intervention of international community and that is a step in the wrong direction and a big disappointment.