May 16, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somali President Promises To Deliver New Constitution Before Next Elections
16 May – Source: AMISOM – 518 Words
President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has promised to ensure Somalia holds the next elections under a new constitutional order. The President made assurances yesterday in a speech read on his behalf by the Speaker of the House of the People, Mohamed Mursal Abdirahman, at the end of a three-day national constitutional convention in Mogadishu. He noted that the search for a new constitution had taken too long since it was launched in Djibouti, in the year 2000, adding that the process must be speeded up.
Though the review timetable expects the new document to be ready by the end of 2019, President Farmaajo’s administration is determined to complete the process ahead of schedule. “We are determined to put an end to the review and finalize Somalia’s constitution by the end of 2018. The process of constitutional review has gone on for too long and this is the right time to put an end to it,” the President said. He said the delivery of a new constitution was one of the three key promises that led to his election in February 2017, adding the document would foster unity, bring political stability and enable the country to co-exist peacefully with its neighbours.
Somalia is governed by a Provisional Constitution agreed in 2012 and the promulgation of a new and permanent constitution is expected to address a number of unresolved constitutional issues including the ‘one-person one-vote’, the future status of Mogadishu and the sharing of powers and resources between the federal government and the federal member states. The Federal Minister of Constitutional Affairs, Abdirahman Hosh Jibril, told the convention, attended by more than 350 delegates, among them, members of parliament, religious leaders and representatives from the federal member states and the civil society, that the team leading the review process had accepted to be accountable to the Somali people.
Key Headlines
- Somali President Promises To Deliver New Constitution Before Next Elections (AMISOM)
- Somalia Declares Thursday As First Day Of Ramadan (Halbeeg News)
- UN Calls For An Immediate Ceasefire Over Tukaraq Conflict (Hiiraan Online)
- UN Extends African Peace Mission In Somalia (Daily Mail)
- AMISOM Police Officers Undergo Training On Human Rights (AMISOM)
- 75th Anniversary of SYL – 15 May 1943 (Hiiraan Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Declares Thursday As First Day Of Ramadan
16 May – Source: Halbeeg News – 145 Words
The Somali government has announced that Thursday 17th May 2018 is the first day of Ramadan. The Ministry of Religious Affairs has said Wednesday will mark 30th of Sha’ban. “According to the Ramadan Crescent Observers committee of the Ministry, Thursday will probably be the 1st of Ramadan,” reads a statement by the Ministry.
More than 1.5 billion Muslims around the world will mark the month of Ramadan, during which believers abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and having marital relations from dawn until sunset. Muslims are also enjoined to avoid evil thoughts and deeds. Ramadan is sacred to Muslims because it was during this month that the Qur’an was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Fasting the month of Ramadan is also one of the five pillars of Islam. Some other Muslim majority countries like Indonesia have also announced the commencement of Ramadan.
UN Calls For An Immediate Ceasefire Over Tukaraq Conflict
16 May – Source: Hiiraan Online – 156 Words
The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, Michael Keating. Has called for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict in Tukaraq, in the district of Sool region. Heavy clashes between Somaliland and Puntland forces in the area are reported to have left at least 30 people dead from both sides, as reported by Hiiraan Online: “We urge both parties to engage in dialogue, and it is crucial to reach a ceasefire and a political settlement, the UN supports peace at all times, conflict always causes unnecessary deaths of civilians,” said Keating in a press statement.
Mr Keating recently visited the cities of Garowe and Hargeisa, where he discussed with leaders from both sides the need to end the violence in Tukaraq. However, yesterday’s fighting is said to be the fiercest between the warring sides to be witnessed lately. Similarly, Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has called for an immediate end to the fighting in Sool region.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
UN Extends African Peace Mission In Somalia
15 May – Source: Daily Mail – 250 Words
A UN-backed peacekeeping mission in Somalia, which faces attacks by an Al-Qaeda affiliate, received unanimous Security Council backing Tuesday until July 31. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), with about 21,600 troops, operates with the approval of the UN and relies on international funding. By extending AMISOM’s mandate to the end of July, the United Nations Security Council allowed for a review of recommendations expected in a “joint assessment” report on Somalia to be presented by June 15.
In its resolution, the Security Council recalled that it authorized the African Union to reduce AMISOM to roughly 20,600 personnel by October 30, after 1,000 troops were pulled out last year. There are plans for a full withdrawal of foreign troops by December 2020, but heads of state and ministers from the main troop contributors — including Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda — in March warned the timeframe for the drawdown was “not realistic and would lead to a reversal of the gains made by AMISOM.”
The mission was deployed in 2007 to defend the internationally-backed government against attacks by Al-Shabaab, a Somali-led Al-Qaeda affiliate. Al-Shabaab was blamed for the country’s worst ever attack, in which a truck bombing left more than 500 dead in October last year. Experts describe the bloated and largely ineffective Somali army as a collection of clan militias, with various international militaries providing poorly-coordinated training to different units. Al-Shabaab lost its foothold in Mogadishu in 2011 but has continued its fight.
AMISOM Police Officers Undergo Training On Human Rights
16 May – Source: AMISOM – 298 Words
Police officers serving under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) have completed a one-week refresher course on human rights and gender-based violence in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. Twenty-six officers drawn from all the six Police Contributing Countries (PCCs) of Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Zambia attended the training aimed at helping AMISOM personnel broaden their knowledge on human rights issues.
Speaking during the closing ceremony, yesterday, AMISOM Police Chief of Staff, Rex Dundun, thanked the officers for attending the training and urged them to apply all they have learnt, to enable the Mission achieve its mandate. “What you have learnt in these six days is capacity building. These are skills and knowledge to develop your capacity in order to deliver the AMISOM Police mandate with effectiveness and efficiency,” Mr. Dundun said.
He urged the participants, comprising personnel from Formed Police Unit (FPU) and Individual Police Officers (IPOs), to always work together in aiding Somalia to establish a functioning police force capable of maintaining law and order. “We want you to serve as multipliers. Go out there and teach your colleagues. Educate them on what the standard practice is, on human rights and SGBV (sexual and gender- based violence) prevention,” Mr. Dundun emphasized. AMISOM Women Protection Officer, Gloria Jaase Nkundanyirazo, echoed Mr. Dundun’s remarks and urged the officers to use the knowledge acquired to diligently serve the people of Somalia, particularly women and children.
OPINION, ANALYSIS & CULTURE
“The Lega differed from the other political parties in two important aspects: firstly, it was led by the best educated elements of the time, and secondly, its financial resources came from monthly contributions from members throughout the territory. Party membership was open to any Somali over the age of 15.”
75th Anniversary of SYL – 15 May 1943
15 May – Source: Hiiraan Online – 2449 Words
This article is being published to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the Somali Youth League party, better known as Lega dei Giovani Somali (LGS). In this article I give a brief outline of the emergence of this party, its rise and eventual fall. It is hoped in a second article to examine the activities of other political parties that rivaled the Lega before and after independence.
The first modern Somali social organization, the Somali Youth Club (SYC), was founded in Mogadishu on May 15, 1943. Somalia was then under British military occupation. At the beginning, the SYC was primarily actively engaged in promoting social and welfare, education and health programmes, targeting particularly the less privileged segments among its affiliates.
However, it would be wrong to believe that the promotion of the social welfare of members of the Club could entirely be divorced from political matters. To help improve the new club, the British allowed the better educated police and civil servants to join, thus relaxing Britain’s traditional policy of separating the civil service from political parties “because the new movement was progressive, co-operated with the government, and was anti-Italian.”(I.M. Lewis, 2002)
Two differing narratives explain the genesis of the Club. One explanation suggests that in early 1943, when the Italian community in Somalia was permitted to organize political associations, a host of Italian organizations of varying ideologies sprang up with a view to challenge British rule, and agitate, sometimes violently for the return of the colony to Italy. Faced with growing Italian political pressure inimical to continued British tenure, British colonial officials encouraged the Somalis to organize their political organizations. (I.M. Lewis, 2002)
The second explanation of how the SYC came about, which received wide currency, endorses the notion that, on May 15, 1943 a group of 13 little-known young urban Somalis came together, in a small one-room office in Via Cardinale Massaia in Mogadishu, to found a club they called Somali Youth Club (SYC). The group included elements hailing from the main Somali clan families.
TOP TWEETS
@Goobjoognews: #BREAKING: A former #Al_Shabaab defector who had been posted to #Belet_Hawo as an immigration official Tuesday killed a police officer and escaped with his gun
@DalsanFM: Security Council Extends Support For African Union Force in Somalia https://www.radiodalsan.com/
@UKinSomalia: “Think big, be ambitious, use the@cheveningfco experience you had in the #UK, the great network and club you belonged to in #Chevening, use it all as a springboard and place absolutely no limits whatsoever on yourselves as you do that” David Concar
@SRSGKeating: The continuous unemployment of the youth in Somalia is an enormous challenge towards the establishment of secure and prosperous Somalia.
@US2SOMALIA: @US2SOMALIA encourages immediate ceasefire around Tukaraq; urges Somaliland, Puntland dialogue and partnership with local communities to end conflict
@Goobjoognews: CONFLICT AND climatic factors displaced 15,000 people a day in 2017-report.
@AbdurahmanShar: Important visit to #Dhusamareb#Galmudug today with @vincentlelei & @OCHASom to understand humanitarian needs, protection situation & address bureaucratic challenges faced by NGOs. It’s an area that is fully accessible but with little presence of hum. actors. More to be done.
@mpfsomalia: .@IMFNews welcomes Somali authorities’ continued satisfactory progress under the SMP in a difficult environment http://www.imf.org/en/News/
@engyarisow: We celebrated the National Youth Day last night for the first time girls play nighttime in #Mogadishu since 1990
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Constitutional Affairs Minister, Abdi Hosh Jibril along with others during the concluding National Constitution Convention held in Mogadishu city.
Photo: Dhacdo