August 14, 2017 | Morning Headlines
Al-Shabaab’s Mukhtar Robow Surrenders To Government
13 August – Source: Aljazeera – 523 Words
A renegade leader of Somalia’s Al-Shabaab has defected to the regional government, severing ties to the armed group that has been carrying out attacks in the country, according to a Somali military official. Al Jazeera has learned that Mukhtar Robow has been airlifted to Mogadishu, after surrendering earlier on Sunday to Somali forces in the government-controlled town of Hudur in the country’s southwest. Ahmed Mohamed, a senior government security official, earlier said Robow was taken from the Bakool jungle area, where he and hundreds of his fighters had been battling Al-Shabaab since early last week.
Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Adow, who had interviewed Robow, said the defection is significant as he is one of the founding leaders of Al-Shaabab, and is the only one living today. Earlier this week, Robow lost at least 19 of his fighters to Al-Shabaab, our correspondent said. Robow’s defection comes after the US in June cancelled a $5m reward offered for his capture. His surrender is culmination of months of talks between the Somali government, and it is believed the cancellation of the bounty for his capture helped convince Robow to turn himself in. Robow, who was the deputy head of Al-Shabaab, is the most senior figure to have quitted the group since its founding in 2001.
Falling out with al-Shabab: Estimated to be in his 50s, Robow is one of Al-Shabaab’s most experienced leaders, having travelled to Afghanistan and trained alongside Al-Qaeda back in 2000 after studies in Sudan. Robow had served as an Al-Shabaab spokesman, military commander and spiritual leader who planned and executed deadly attacks on Somali government troops and African Union peacekeeping forces, according to the US government. Robow and Al-Shabaab parted ways in 2013, and since then he had been laying low in the jungles with his forces.
Key Headlines
- Al-Shabaab’s Mukhtar Robow Surrenders To Government (Aljazeera)
- Hirshabelle MPs Preparing ‘No Confidence’ Motion Against State President Osoble (Goobjoog News)
- WHO Declares Somalia Polio Free In Three Years Urges Sustained Vaccination Campaigns (Goobjoog News)
- Former Puntland President Arrives In Kismayo (Garowe Online)
- Al-Shabaab In A Major Split Over Mistrust (The Standard)
- Somali Youths Discuss Their Role In Traditional Dispute Resolution Mechanisms (UNSOM)
- This Is What Hunger Looks Like — Again (The New York Times)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Hirshabelle MPs Preparing ‘No Confidence’ Motion Against State President Osoble
13 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 144 Words
Hirshabelle MPs are in the process of preparing motion of no confidence against the incumbent President Ali Abdulahi Osoble. The State MPs accused leader of overstepping the limits of the constitution and lack of executing his state duties. Speaking to Goobjoog News MP Omar Mohamed cited the motion is against President Osoble and he hopes that this time they will succeed in their move.
“Hirshabelle MPs prepared motion against the President and are collecting signatures to get enough support which thereafter will be presented to the parliamentary committee. Among some of the reasons for the anticipated motion include failure in executing his duties accordingly and constitutional violation” said MP Mohamed. Early this year some MPs prepared the same motion though they rescinded their decision after carrying out consultation with President Osoble. Similarly it’s not yet clear how the current motion will end.
WHO Declares Somalia Polio Free In Three Years, Urges Sustained Vaccination Campaigns
13 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 345 Words
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared Somalia free of polio for the third year running but warned the country must remain alert as it remains prone to polio virus importation. WHO Eastern Mediterranean head Dr. Mohamed Fiqi declared today in Mogadishu the country had gone without any cases of polio since the last reported case in 2014. He noted sustained vaccination campaigns and commitment by state and non-state actors had kept the polio virus at bay. “Today we celebrate a major milestone, however we must remember our work is not yet finished. As the world edges closer to eradicating polio, keeping alert in countries that have high risk of polio importation like Somalia is more of priority than ever,” said Dr. Fiqi.
Speaking at the same event, President Mohamed Farmaajo hailed the efforts of various stakeholders in eradicating the polio virus but also called for continued vaccination campaigns urging parents to ensure all their children are vaccinated. “It’s an honour for me to be part of this historic occasion to celebrate and to declare today Somalia is without polio. In other words no cases were found for the past three years and no child was affected by this disease,” President Farmaajo said.
The President said the eradication of polio was a big success in Somalia which is involved in the ‘collective efforts and commitments by many young men and women who sacrificed their lives.’ “It has been a hard fought battle. The absence of cases of polio today is a testament to the leadership’s commitment and hard work of the government and people of Somalia, the dedication of WHO staff and the effective support of many partners in this country,” Peter de Clerq said. Somalia recorded the last case of polio in 2014 in Hobyo in the central part of the country. WHO said it has also scaled up efforts to carry out vaccination in hard to reach areas. Peter de Clerq said more than 74 million vaccine doses against polio have been administered to children under five years of age in Somalia since 2013.
Former Puntland President Arrives In Kismayo
13 August – Source: Garowe Online – 167 Words
Federal Senator and former Puntland President, Abdirahman Mohamed Farole, has arrived in the southern port city of Kismayo on Sunday. Senator Farole traveled to Kismayo from Mogadishu, after accepting an official invitation by President of Somalia’s southern semi-autonomous region of Jubbaland, Ahmed Mohamed Islam alias “Ahmed Madobe”. President Ahmed Madobe, his Vice President, several Ministers, speaker of the state Parliament, lawmakers and members of the civil society have warmly welcomed Farole’s delegation at Kismayo Airport.
According to a statement released by Jubbaland presidency, President Madobe has expressed his pleasure over the visit of ex Puntland President to Kismayo, where he will meet with intellectuals and traditional leaders during his stay in the city. The president said the visiting Senator has played a key role in the formation of Jubbaland, and the Government and the people are grateful to him for his solidarity during extremely difficult time of shaping the Federal state administration. Farole’s visit to Kismayo marks the first since the establishment of Jubbaland state in 2013.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Al-Shabaab In A Major Split Over Mistrust
13 August – Source: The Standard – 551 Words
An intelligence report has revealed that the dreaded Al Shabaab is on the verge of collapse due to acute mistrust among its members, leading to emergence of splinter cells. The report adds that while some splinter groups have confessed allegiance to ISIS, others remain affiliated to Al-Qaeda. The split has led to infighting and accusations within the insurgent group resulting in the killings of many fighters on suspicion of spying. The brutal conflict between two high ranking commanders; Sheikh Said Balbul and Abu Karim was reported in April in Somalia.
The two who had declared allegiance to ISIS were later executed. Following the executions, an Al Shabaab militant identified as Abu Musab, released a video clip condemning the execution while he too pledged allegiance to ISIS. “The Somalia-based militia group’s dwindling fortunes have led to the leadership trying to align itself with others. Al Shabaab has maintained its allegiance to Al Qaeda for a long time, but the recent alliance with ISIS by some middle level commanders suggests a rift in the group’s governance, further threatening its waning influence in certain parts of Somalia,” the report reads in part.
Warring factions: The document further states that the anxiety and suspicion among leaders and members has seen a vast of younger fighters surrender and pledge allegiance to the government. On May 13, for instance, a senior Al Shabaab commander, Abdullahi Bahar was killed during clashes between two warring factions professing allegiance to rival international terror groups in Baardhere.
Somali Youths Discuss Their Role In Traditional Dispute Resolution Mechanisms
13 August – Source: UNSOM – 369 Words
The involvement of young people in conflict prevention, social justice and sustainable peace in Somalia featured prominently in a youth forum conducted on the sidelines of the International Youth Day celebrations in Baidoa, the administrative capital of South West state. Organized by the UNSOM Rule of Law and Security Institutions Group, the forum brought together youth, civil society organizations, the UN and other experts on Somalia’s justice system.
The forum offered participants a platform to exchange views on that system and how young people can be agents of change in their communities. A similar forum was also held in the Jubbaland state capital of Kismaayo. “The youth have benefited from the forum, which focused on the traditional justice system and the formal justice system. We have also learnt the importance of formal and traditional justice system to the youth,” said Mohamed Ali Hassan of the Somali Women Development Center, a non-governmental organization dealing in legal issues.
Some of the speakers at the forum noted that the potential of young Somalis to resolve conflicts has not been fully tapped within the traditional justice system, which remains a popular mechanism for settling disputes in the country. “Somalia’s population mostly consists of the youth, and they have a huge potential in contributing to changes in the justice system,” explained Amanda Felipe, an UNSOM Judicial Affairs Advisor in the Joint Justice and Correction Section.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“The entwining of wars and famine has multiplied the magnitude of deaths among Somalia’s farmers and herders. More than half a million Somalis have been displaced since November 2016 by drought and desperate hunger, according to the United States Department of State. They have sought solace in refugee camps on the edges of Mogadishu and other towns. Somalia already had about 1.1 million internally displaced people.”
This Is What Hunger Looks Like — Again
13 August – Source: The New York Times – 1253 Words
As I waited for my ride to collect me from the Mogadishu airport, an officer told me an apocryphal tale: A starving goat, blind from hunger, mistook a baby wrapped in a green cloth for grass and bit off a mouthful of emaciated flesh from the baby’s upper arm. The baby’s anguished cry brought the mother to her knees and she wept in prayer. The next day, a friend I met in Mogadishu repeated a variation of the same tale. I saw the story as encapsulating much of what everyone needs to know about the goat-eats-baby severity of the current famine in the Somali Peninsula, with more than six million affected, crops wasting away, livestock dead or dying, water and foods scarce. Cholera, typhoid and meningitis finish the job that prolonged hunger has started.
The entwining of wars and famine has multiplied the magnitude of deaths among Somalia’s farmers and herders. More than half a million Somalis have been displaced since November 2016 by drought and desperate hunger, according to the United States Department of State. They have sought solace in refugee camps on the edges of Mogadishu and other towns. Somalia already had about 1.1 million internally displaced people. The families at the internally displaced people’s camps had left their scorched farms and walked numerous miles in punishing heat, across land stripped of vegetation. Parents go mad with despair at the sight of their babies dying from hunger, thirst or both. Hunger affects children’s memories. More than a million children are projected to be malnourished in Somalia, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund. Memories of older famines returned. In 1974, I lived in Somalia when the rains failed and a drought worked itself into a famine. Our destitute relatives, who had lost several children and their beasts to the famine, turned up at our doorstep.
Seventeen years later, in 1991, the Somali civil war destroyed the state and created a huge reduction in food production. In 2011, when another famine stalked the nation, I remember standing in the midst of a rainless ruin as the weak wind, as malnourished as the people, blew across a barren land, unable to stir the dust in the cracks of the hard-baked earth. The men and women I met were bereft of every vital element that gives meaning to life. About 260,000 people died of hunger. Lower Shabelle and Bakool, the two regions most hit by famine and controlled by Al Shabaab militants, are inaccessible. Al Shabaab denies the existence of famine in the areas it controls and has barred humanitarian agencies from reaching those affected. Sadly, the United Nations and the international community have also refrained from describing it as a famine.
I contacted a man whom I will call Mr. Markaawi. He worked with an aid group that ran a camp on the outskirts of the city for those displaced by war and famine. Since the collapse of the Somali state in 1991, one is more likely to fall prey to a bomb when driving on a highway, in a cafe, in a well-appointed restaurant, a luxury hotel, a hospital or at a refugee camp. A journey away from one’s private space in Somalia renders one as vulnerable as a clay pigeon, ready to be shot at.