April 20, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
President Asks UN Security Council To Lift Arms Embargo On Somalia
20 April – Source: Shabelle News – 199 Words
President of the federal government Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has asked the United Nation Security Council Council for a complete lift of the arms embargo on Somalia. The President said the lifting of the arms embargo would help speed up the development of national security forces while enhancing Somalia’s ability to defeat Al-Shabaab, protect its people and safeguard its future.He urged greater support for building up the country’s military, saying the lifting of the embargo on weapons for government troops would make “the most rapid and greatest impact to the development of Somalia’s own forces.” The President said this while addressing the UN Security Council in New York, US, on Tuesday.
Michael Keating, the U.N. envoy for Somalia, told the council that “the breakthrough on the electoral process is generating broader momentum,” pointing to a review of the provisional constitution and a discussion scheduled next month on “politically contentious issues.”Keating cautioned, however , that progress is taking place “amid great insecurity,” calling Al-Shabab “a potent threat.”Although the rebel group, which has ties to al-Qaida, has faced significant casualties, he said it continues to carry out attacks and warned that it “will try to disrupt an electoral process that they see rightly as threatening their agenda.”
Key Headlines
- President Asks UN Security Council Complete Lift Of Arms Embargo On Somalia (Shabelle News)
- Two People Killed In Rocket Propelled Grenade Attack In Afgooye (Goobjoog News)
- Underwater Earthquake Triggers Tidal Waves At Mogadishu Seaport (Hiiraan Online)
- Youth In Lasanod Greening Their Town (Radio Ergo)
- 14000 People To Elect Next Somali Parliament This Year (Associated Press)
- Commander Of New Uganda Battle Group Arrives In Somalia (AMISOM)
- How To Fight Extremism (The Star)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Two People Killed In Rocket Propelled Grenade Attack In Afgooye
20 April – Source: Goobjoog News – 283 Words
Two people have died after a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) fired by armed men struck their truck on Tuesdaynight in Afgooye town, 30km south of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu. This is barely a day after six children and their mother were killed in Jebey village in the outskirt of Marka town.
The victims in the latest attack were the driver of the truck and a passenger who were travelling in the town of Afgooye, witnesses said. Tuesday’s attack is believed to be a retaliation after gunmen attacked Marka on Monday night in the ongoing bloody rivalry between members of two rival clans. The disputes are said to be over natural resources and land. The attackers also burnt a supermarket.
“The attack was a retaliation of an earlier one and we are hunting for the attackers,” said a security officer who asked not to be named. Marka town, which is the epicenter of the conflict pitting two Somali clans, has become a deserted town, as members of the rival clans continue to leave the area to avoid been caught in retaliatory raids by marauding clan militia. The two warring clans have over the years been fighting for supremacy and administrative control of the district. The death toll in these attacks has risen to 10 since the first attack earlier this month.
Under Water Earthquake Triggers Tidal Waves At Mogadishu Seaport
20 April – Source: Hiiraan Online – 150 Words
Powerful tidal waves have struck at the Mogadishu main seaport on Tuesday causing damages to the port structure and number of ships that were docked at the anchorage port.According to Ahmed Abdi Wataa, a port authority advisor, the waves were caused by an underwater earthquake in the Indian Ocean, adding that “constant tidal waves that lashed over the port parameters forced at least 3 ships to float out of the anchorage as a result of the powerful waves that also caused havoc to the port facilities”.
Speaking to the VOA Somali services, Mr. Wataa further lamented that the tidal waves, which lasted for almost 3 hours subsequently damaged goods and fragile shipments on the ground, but no loss of lives was reported.Mogadishu port officials indicated that the port has suffered substantial damages as a result of the latest shock waves, which also brought the port operations into standstill.
Youth In Lasanod Greening Their Town
19 April – Source: Radio Ergo – 302 Words
Lasanod youth have been planting trees in public places in an effort to green the dry town in northern Somalia’s drought-hit Sool region.Abdiweli Yasin Suudi, chairman of the Environment and Social Development Club organising the campaign, said it was the first time anyone had taken on such an initiative.“When we saw that trees are scarce in this city, we decided to do this work. We have planted 300 trees in hospitals, schools, universities, streets and other public places like the city centre,” he said.
The trees chosen are flowering and shade trees. The sapling trees are bought at $3.5 each from Buhodle, 70 km away in Togdheer. Member contributions are used to fund the campaign.Hamdi Yusuf Awale, 18, the club’s vice-chair, is one of the 15 girls who make up the club’s membership of 25. “Girls are more enthusiastic in this campaign than the boys! Some of us contribute $10 a month,” she said. “When we started planting trees, people thought we were joking saying we were too young to come up with such a plan, but now they’ve seen our work and accepted our noble cause in protecting the environment.”
Abdihafid Hassan Abdirahman, leading the tree planting, said certain members were assigned to monitor the trees planted. “The sites where we planted the trees were very dry, without a single tree, but now the land has changed to green with many plants,” he said.The youth club is also involved in cutting down a tree called Prosopis juliflora (‘algarroba’), as research carried out by Nugal University has shown that the tree prohibits the growth of indigenous vegetation and degrades pastoral grasslands.The club also campaigns to stop littering with plastic bags, and to encourage residents to use cooking gas instead of charcoal to avoid deforestation.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
14,000 People To Elect Next Somali Parliament This Year
19 April – Source: Associated Press – 387 Words
Somalia’s President said Tuesday a new electoral process for the Horn of Africa nation will be far more democratic this year when an electoral college of thousands elects members of parliament — compared to just 135 elders who selected the current members in 2012.Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told the U.N. Security Council that this year’s electoral process will take the country, which is grappling with violent extremists, “one step closer to universal suffrage,” and planning is already under way for one-person, one-vote elections by 2020.Mohamud said this year’s electoral process will see a choice of candidates, voting not just in the capital Mogadishu but across Somalia, a dispute resolution process, and 30 percent of seats reserved for women. The process includes an electoral college of nearly 14,000 people.
Somalia has been trying to rebuild after establishing its first functioning central government since 1991, when warlords overthrew a longtime dictator and turned on each other, plunging the impoverished nation into chaos. Al-Shabab rebels were ousted from Mogadishu in 2011 and have been pushed out of other key cities but they are not yet defeated, and the government remains weak.While almost 80 percent of the country has been liberated from Al-Shabab, the president said “terrorism and violent extremism” still pose a threat.”We cannot and will not quit before it is successfully completed,” Mohamud said. “Further resources and commitment are needed now more than ever to chop off the head of the venomous snake of terror once and for all.”He urged greater support for building up the country’s military, saying the lifting of the U.N. arms embargo on weapons for government troops would make “the most rapid and greatest impact to the development of Somalia’s own forces.”
Commander Of New Uganda Battle Group Arrives In Somalia
20 April – Source: AMISOM – 233 Words
The Commander of a new battle group from the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF), serving under the African Union in Somalia (AMISOM), has arrived in Mogadishu. Col. Ronald Bigiriwa, the commander of battle group 18 jetted into Somalia on yesterday afternoon with another batch of soldiers serving under him.
The new group is replacing battle group 15 based in Arbiska, which under the command of Col Silvio Aguma has completed its one year tour of duty. Col. Bigirwa was received by Lt. Col. Paul Muhanguzi, the Commanding Officer of 35 Battalion under battle group 15. Addressing the soldiers moments after arrival, Col. Bigirwa called for discipline, alertness and dedication.
“My headquarters is going to be based in Arbiska and these troops are going to occupy the positions in the basecamp and outside Mogadishu town,” Col. Bigirwa said. Speaking about his expectations, he expressed optimism that his team will deliver on the mission and play its part in bringing peace and stability in Somalia.
“It is just to continue with the mission of pan-Africanism. We are going to start where battle group 15 which is rotating out ended and we will continue with the task. We are ready for the challenges. These troops have trained enough and are ready,” Col. Bigirwa said. In November last year, another Ugandan battle group rotated out and was replaced by battle group 17, commanded by Col. Bob Ogik.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Unfortunately most of us in the counter-violent extremism (CVE) agenda confine ourselves to responding to the spiritual narrative instead of responding to the socio-economic and political issues that the extremists are talking about. We miss the point while the violent extremists are scoring points with the youth because their message resonates with their real challenges” — Hassan Ole Naado, Columnist
How To Fight Extremism
20 April – Source: The Star – 496 Words
Between November 2015 and April 2016, the world witnessed deadly attacks that claimed the lives of civilians in Paris and Brussels. Kenya also suffered when Al Shabaab militants killed dozens of our soldiers at the El-Adde camp in Somalia. Behind all these attacks, one finds young Muslim men and women who have been radicalised, recruited, trained and deployed to carry out terrorist activities in the name of their religion.
I have always advocated a soft-power approach to counter the narratives adopted by extremist groups to lure young people into militancy. Soft power is different from hard power where the coercive instruments of the state are deployed to fight extremism. Soft power requires collaboration between civil society and the persuasive instruments of the government to design a mutually beneficial strategy to stop young people from being recruited into violent extremism and to persuade those who have already been recruited to abandon their antisocial activities and return to peaceful society.
We need to adopt a national counter-violent extremism (CVE) strategy that addresses the issues that make violent extremism attractive to many young people. And we should caution against possible extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances and profiling of members of certain communities. A successful national CVE strategy aimed at undermining violent extremists narratives requires a well-articulated counter-narrative system.
Why? Because those who recruit have done their homework and identified real challenges that face communities across the world. They then assemble a compelling narrative that very few youth can resist. CVE stakeholders often mistakenly think religion is the main motive of the young people who carry out attacks. But the profiles of the attackers reveal they are usually not religious at all. The mastermind of the Paris attacks, for example, was known to be a ‘party animal’ who did drugs and had hardly any knowledge of the Koran.
TOP TWEETS
@guardian: ‘We’ll make our country great again’: project shows true face of Somalis http://gu.com/p/4tdjq/stw #Somalia#SomaliFaces
@Aynte:Had the pleasure of meeting UK Ambassador to#Somalia @HarrietLMathews to discuss National Development Plan
@HarunMaruf:The govt did not release results of the investigation into how the plane attack was planned despite several promises to do so. #Somalia
@Aynte:Today an old friend Michele Cesari visited me at the office. Glad we could catch up on all things #Somalia
@HassanIstiila:#Somalia Government has adjourned all visas to go to Sudan, as to halt Somalis migrants traveling to #Libya& #Egypt
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Somali Minister of Planning & Int’l Cooperation, Abdi Aynte meets the UK Ambassador to Somalia, Harriet Mathews.
Photo: @aynte