December 10, 2018 | Morning Headlines
Motion Filed To Impeach Somali President – Statement
09 December – Source: Reuters – 174 Words
The top official of Somali’s parliament administration said on Sunday he had filed a motion with the speaker of parliament to impeach the country’s president, Mohamed Abdullahi. “We have filed an impeachment against the president of the federal republic of Somalia,” Abdikarim H. Abdi Buh said in a statement.
Constitutionally, 92 lawmakers have to sign such a motion for it to be submitted to the speaker. Parliament may debate the motion a week later. Somalia’s parliament has 275 lawmakers in total. A successful impeachment vote requires the backing of two thirds of all MPs. A copy of the motion, seen by Reuters, lists as grounds for the impeachment an allegation that the president secretly signed agreements with other countries including Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The agreements touched on the use of Somali ports and economic and security cooperation, it said. He was also accused of illegally extraditing alleged criminals to other countries and violating Somalia’s federalism law and the rules and regulations of parliament. Officials at the president’s office could not be reached for comment.
Key Headlines
- Motion Filed To Impeach Somali President – Statement (Reuters)
- UN Envoy Calls On Somalia Leaders To Fight Corruption (Garowe Online)
- Bomb Attack Kills Six People Outside Mogadishu (Halbeeg News)
- US Airstrike Outside Somalia’s Capital Kills 4 Al-Shabaab (Daily Mail)
- China Sends New Naval Fleet For Escort Mission (Xinhua)
- Raila A Strong Voice In Somaliland’s Bid For Independence (Daily Nation)
NATIONAL MEDIA
UN Envoy Calls On Somalia Leaders To Fight Corruption
09 December – Source: Garowe Online – 209 Words
Marking International Anti-Corruption Day, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, today underlined the importance of strengthening the rule of law and of building accountable and transparent institutions. “Corruption and lack of transparency in the public and private spheres, greatly impede development and stability – like every other country, Somalia is not immune to these practices,” the UN Special Representative, Nicholas Haysom, said.
“Everyone can take action, whether in big or small ways, to keep corruption in check and strengthen a culture of integrity. I want to particularly congratulate the office of the Prime Minister for leading government efforts to tackle corruption,” he added. A key instrument to sustain, manage and track countries’ fight against corruption is the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which this year marks its 15th anniversary, since entering into force around the world.
Although, Somalia is one of a handful of countries yet to sign and ratify the Convention, the world’s only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument, the United Nations is encouraged, steps that are taken towards achieving this goal. Around the globe, 9th of December, is observed as the International Anti-Corruption Day, in which the aim is to raise awareness of corruption, and the role of the Convention is to combat and prevent it.
Bomb Attack Kills Six People Outside Mogadishu
09 December – Source: Halbeeg News – 138 Words
Six people, including soldiers, are feared dead and several others are injured, when a military pickup truck ran over an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) outside Mogadishu. Witnesses who asked not to be named said, the suspected Al-Shabaab attack on Sunday, left four soldiers and civilians dead and four others injured.
The attack happened at Sinka-Dher area along the Mogadishu-Afgooye road. The blast suspected to have caused by an IED has destroyed the vehicles. The attack comes barely three days after two senior military officials and seven of their guards were killed in bomb blast in Dhanane village outside Mogadishu.
Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the IED blast on the roadside. The group, military operation spokesman, Mr. Abdiaziz Abu Mus’ab said, two senior military officials identified as Mr. Omar Adan and Mr. Abdi Ali were killed by the bomb blast.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
US Airstrike Outside Somalia’s Capital Kills 4 Al-Shabaab
09 December – Source: Daily Mail – 134 Words
The U.S. military says it has killed four members of the Al-Shabaab extremist group with a “self-defense airstrike” outside Somalia’s capital after partner forces were attacked. The U.S. Africa Command statement says the airstrike occurred on Saturday near Basra, a community outside the capital, Mogadishu. The statement says no civilians were involved.
The U.S. military has carried out 39 airstrikes this year against the Al-Qaida-linked Al-Shabaab, Africa’s most active Islamic extremist group, which controls parts of rural southern and central Somalia and continues to stage deadly attacks in Mogadishu and other cities. The U.S. airstrikes have picked up dramatically since President Donald Trump took office and approved expanded military operations in the Horn of Africa nation. Airstrikes also target a small presence of fighters linked to the Islamic State group.
China Sends New Naval Fleet For Escort Mission
09 December – Source: Xinhua – 164 Words
The 31st fleet from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy has left the port city of Zhanjiang in south China’s Guangdong Province for the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia to escort civilian ships. Composed of a landing vessel, a missile frigate and a supply ship, the fleet started its mission Sunday morning.
The fleet has 700 officers and soldiers, dozens of special operation soldiers and three helicopters on board. The Chinese Navy began to carry out escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia in December 2008. In the past 10 years, the Chinese Navy has sent out 26,000 officers and soldiers, escorted 6,595 ships and successfully rescued or aided more than 60 Chinese and foreign ships.
The navy also carried out various other missions, including the evacuation of Chinese nationals from war zones in Libya in 2011 and Yemen in 2015, the search and rescue for the missing Flight MH370 and supplying fresh water to Maldives.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“For their previous positive gesture, it appears Odinga and Munya are targets of Somaliland’s wider and well-mapped out strategic approach for political autonomy. Perhaps well aware of the sensitivity of the matter, both leaders kept off from the Somaliland event.”
Raila A Strong Voice In Somaliland’s Bid For Independence
09 December – Source: Daily Nation – 857 Words
Last Friday’s Somaliland’s Investment Conference in Nairobi may have proceeded unnoticed by many. However, unknown to most Kenyans, the event also served a major political purpose for Somaliland, including rekindling ties with Opposition leader Raila Odinga. According to initial arrangements, the former Prime Minister was supposed to attend the event as chief guest – but opted out at the eleventh hour.
Nonetheless, Mr Odinga, who is African Union’s High Representative for Infrastructure Development, is understood to have met the Somaliland delegation in private ahead of the event. Somaliland, which has claimed autonomy from the main Somalia government, is on a mission to initiate relationships with regional states as it pushes for recognition at the African Union and the United Nations.
And Mr Odinga, who has consistently led the push for Kenya to recognise Somaliland as an independent state, is regarded as a valuable friend and partner in these efforts. Mr Odinga’s current posting to the AU has particularly excited Somaliland. His appointment in October was widely hailed by Somaliland government officials, with some pundits in the Hargeisa capital suggesting President Muse Bihi’s administration could now comfortably push through its agenda with the help of a formidable ally.
But the AU envoy is not the only Kenyan ally the Hargeisa government counts on. There is also Trade Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya, who has occasionally pushed Somaliland’s case as well. Munya, who momentarily lobbied for the recognition of Hargeisa by the international community while he served as chairman of the Council of Governors, was also listed among key guests of last Friday’s event.
For their previous positive gesture, it appears Odinga and Munya are targets of Somaliland’s wider and well-mapped out strategic approach for political autonomy. Perhaps well aware of the sensitivity of the matter, both leaders kept off from the Somaliland event. According to Foreign Affairs Chief Administrative Secretary Ababu Namwamba, Kenya is yet to formally receive any request for the referred recognition, and that if it came through “it would be subjected to the spirit of the AU resolution that upholds respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its member states”.