August 2, 2016 | Morning Headlines
AMISOM Senior Commanders Convene To Review Military Operations In Somalia
01 August – Source: AMISOM – 352 Words
The Force Commander of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) Lt. Gen. Osman Noor Soubagleh, has asked senior military officers to review existing strategies to improve the efficiency of security operations and strengthen collaboration with the Somali National Army (SNA).
The Force Commander said this would help SNA take full charge of the country’s security: “It is a chance for us to review what we have been tasked to do over the next year and align our thinking, as well as to outline to you some of the changes and developments that we are currently working on, towards implementing the strategic direction from the African Union,” Lt Gen. Soubagleh told the sector commanders.
The conference was officially opened by the Special Representative of the African Union Commission Chairperson (SRCC) and Head of AMISOM Ambassador Francisco Madeira. Lt. Gen. Soubagleh said he will soon outline his thoughts on how to achieve the new strategic direction, adding that it was an opportunity for AMISOM officers to discuss and refine how the joint planning and operations with SNA will be conducted.
The Force Commander reiterated that AMISOM’s mandate cannot be effectively accomplished without capacitating the SNA, to ensure long term security and stability of Somalia: “With the support of our partners and allies, we must help train them (SNA), build their confidence. We must plan and conduct operations with them and when they are ready, we must handover the lead for security to them. Only then, can we leave Somalia,” added the Force Commander.
Ambassador Madeira commended the troops for their bravery in liberating territory from Al-Shabaab and freeing many Somali citizens from the tyranny of the terrorists. The SRCC appealed to the commanders to strategize on how to build on the successes made so far, to ensure total degradation and defeat of Al-Shabaab as well as restoration of peace in the whole of Somalia.
Key Headlines
- AMISOM Senior Commanders Convene To Review Military Operations In Somalia (AMISOM)
- Electoral Team To Begin Preparations For 2016 Polls (Garowe Online)
- Infant And Maternal Deaths Still Highest In Somalia But Gradual Decline Is Remarkable – UNICEF(Goobjoog News)
- Puntland Marks 18th Anniversary Of Establishment (Goobjoog News)
- Somalia Vows To Work With New AMISOM Commander In Fight Against Al-Shabaab (Xinhua News)
- Officer Injured After Explosive Is Thrown At Group In Lamu (Daily Nation)
- UAE Ambassador Meets Somali Minister (WAM Emirates News Agency)
- Interview With SRSG Michael Keating On The United Nations Role In The 2016 Electoral Process(UNSOM)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Electoral Team To Begin Preparations For 2016 Polls
01 August – Source: Garowe Online – 244 Words
The Chairman of the Federal Electoral Implementation Team (FEIT), Omar Mohamed Abdulle (Degey) have assured the public that his team will carry out its task with impartiality to ensure the electoral process is successful.
The FIEIT bos gave the assurance during a media briefing held on Monday in the Somali capital of Mogadishu: “Our committee is independent, and I want to assure all presidential candidates that we shall carry out our exercise without due favour to anybody.”
Members of the international community have expressed disappointment over the delay in the country’s electoral process that has been marred by disputes. The presidential elections are scheduled for 10th of September and there is word that the poll could be pushed forward by some two months. Moreover, the Upper House whose selection process is dependent on federal member states is slated to precede that of the Lower House.
The FEIT’s press briefing notwithstanding, fears of poll delay continue to surface over failure to meet the timetable agreed by Somali political leaders during talks in southwestern Baidoa town on June 25. Somalia has only 19 days to go before the deadline for the selection of parliamentarians.
The 22-member electoral implementation team was announced by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud last month. International diplomats and members of the federal electoral commission are meanwhile said to be working out a new timetable to be presented before Somali political leaders meeting in Mogadishu this week.
There have been fears that the country’s electoral preparedness could be adversely affected. With time running out, the Mogadishu talks are meant to offer the final word on the fate of the 2016 elections.
Infant And Maternal Deaths Still Highest In Somalia But Gradual Decline Is Remarkable – UNICEF
01 August – Source; Goobjoog News – 371 Words
One in seven children dies before their fifth birthday while at least 732 maternal deaths occur in every 100,000 live births in Somalia but a gradual decline in these deaths have been recorded in the last decade, the UN children’s body, UNICEF said Monday.
In a report released in Mogadishu, UNICEF said Somalia still records some of the highest infant and maternal deaths only outpaced by countries such as Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Chad. Neonatal challenges, acute respiratory illness, diarrhea, vaccine preventable diseases and malaria top the list of the contributory factors to what UNICEF terms unacceptably high levels of neonatal, infant and child mortality.
The high number of deaths among mothers during birth relates to the fertility rates which is one of the highest in the world, at average of 6.6 children per woman in Somalia, the report notes. This, the UN agency attributes to common incidences of early marriage, low birth spacing and lack of access to contraception. Only a third of births are attended by skilled staff while a quarter of expectant women receive antenatal care, factors leading to high maternal rates, UNICEF says.
To ensure these trend is reversed, UNICEF Representative in Somalia Steven Lauwerier has called for concerted efforts particularly in government to given precedence to the welfare of children in all its policies. Noting the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child last year by Somalia as a remarkable step, Lauwerier called for full implementation of the provisions of the Convention adding the future of Somali children is dependent on the government’s commitment to actualizing the Convention.
“Somalia’s success in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals will depend largely on how well it is doing to fulfill the promises made to Somali children,” said Lauwerier. Every child, Lauwerier noted must enjoy rights under the convention and ‘we will not be able to call our work in Somalia a success unless and until, collectively we achieve this for children.’
The Situation Analysis of Children in Somalia 2016 report is the second comprehensive report coming ten years after the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey in 2006. It covers five thematic areas-health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene; education and child protection.
Puntland Marks 18th Anniversary Of Establishment
01 August – Source: Goobjoog News
The semi-autonomous state of Puntland in northern Somalia on Monday marked the 18th anniversary since its establishment. Celebrations marking the event took place in several cities in the region including Garowe, Galkayo, Bosaso and the diaspora across the globe.
Since its establishment, Puntland has been ruled by five presidents, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, Mohamed Abdi Hashi, Mohamoud Muse Hersi, Abdirahman Farole and Abdiweli Gaas who is the current President President and who was elected in January 2014. Talking during the celebrations, President Abdiweli said his administration was determined to work on the stability and unity of Somalia.
Puntland declared itself to be semi-autonomous from Somalia in 1998 as fighting raged through most of the country. Unlike the self-declared state of Somaliland, Puntland has not tried to obtain international recognition as a nation. It maintains to be part of the united Somalia that is a federal republic.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Vows To Work With New AMISOM Commander In Fight Against Al-Shabaab
01 August – Source: Xinhua News – 308 Words
The Somali government has pledged to work with the newly-appointed African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) force commander to flush Al-Shabaab militants out of the Horn of Africa nation.
Minister for Internal Security, Abdirisak Omar Mohamed, said the country’s security forces will work with Lt. General Osman Noor Soubagleh to ensure Al-Shabaab militants are defeated and peace is restored to the country: “I have worked with Gen Soubagleh in the past; he is someone who can make change,” Mohamed said in a statement issued on Monday.
He said the Somali forces and the AMISOM troops under the leadership of the new force commander would help boost security in Somalia. Somalia’s Chief of Defence Forces, Major Gen. Mohamed Aden Ahmed, urged Somali security forces to work closely with AMISOM to ensure their joint operations have a lasting positive impact.
The officials were speaking on Sunday evening during a gathering to welcome the new AMISOM force commander. Al-Shabaab militants have of late increased their attacks on AMISOM bases, hotels and public utilities in a bid to topple the Somali government. Dozens of people have been killed in the past months in Al-Shabaab attacks in the capital Mogadishu and southern Somalia.
Soubagleh on his part appealed for joint efforts in fighting Al-Shabaab: “We must take initiative to fight them in their safe havens. We must isolate them from the population and provide Somali people with security and enable them to rebuild their country.”
Officer Injured After Explosive Is Thrown At Group In Lamu
01 August – Source: Daily Nation – 329 Words
A Kenyan administration police officer and a National Youth Service (NYS) excavator machine operator were been injured in Lamu County after they were attacked by suspected Al-Shabaab members.
According to Lamu County Commissioner Joseph Kanyiri, a homemade bomb exploded injuring the officers on Usalama Road, where a wall is being built to separate the county from neighbouring Somalia. An evacuation is under way and police have launched a manhunt for the assailants with Mr Kanyiri urging locals to maintain calm.
The 9am attack happened just 600 metres from Usalama camp in Kiunga Division: “We suspect those who planted the IED are Al-Shabaab militants but so far all is well since security has been beefed up in the area. The injured have also been evacuated to Nairobi for treatment. I call on residents to be vigilant and calm,” said Mr Kanyiri.
Police sources on the ground who talked to the Nation intimated that the police officer sustained multiple fractures on both legs and that the NYS excavator operator escaped with minor injuries. The incident comes just a week after more than five Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers escaped death narrowly when their military tanker ran over an IED in Kiunga Division of Lamu East Sub-County on July 25. Al-Shabaab militants have been terrorising the region for the past two years.
UAE Ambassador Meets Somali Minister
01 August – Source: WAM Emirates News Agency – 109 Words
Ambassador of the UAE to Somalia, Mohammed Ahmed Al Othman, and Somali Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Mohamed Abdi Hayir, met to discuss bilateral relations and ways of promoting relations in various spheres.
During the meeting, which took place at the Embassy, the Somali Minister expressed his appreciation to the UAE for supporting development projects in Somalia. He underlined the importance of relations between the two countries and praised the positive role that the UAE was playing in Somalia to support security and stability.
On his part, the UAE ambassador thanked the Somali minister for his efforts in bolstering relations between the two countries.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia, Michael Keating, speaks on the UN’s role in the upcoming 2016 electoral process. He addresses issues of women’s participation in politics, how voting will take place and how the UN is working with the Federal Government of Somalia, the existing and emerging Federal member states and civil society.”
Interview With SRSG Michael Keating On The United Nations Role In The 2016 Electoral Process
01 August – Source: UNSOM – 741 Words
Interviewer: Hello sir, welcome and thank you for agreeing to do this interview. What is the role of the UN in the electoral process?
SRSG: The UN’s role is to support a Somali owned and Somali managed electoral process. Our job is to provide technical support and advice, but very much to respond to what Somalis themselves want to achieve through this process. In terms of the timetable, that needs to be set by the electoral implementation teams according to the steps that must be taken to ensure that the process is credible.
Interviewer: When is the electoral process going to take place in 2016?
SRSG: Under the constitution, the electoral process should take place towards the end of August. The challenge is going to be to hold the electoral process on time, given that a number of things have to be put in place for it to be credible in the eyes of the Somali public and indeed in the eyes of the international community. The FIEIT is the Federal Indirect Elections Implementation Team and it consists of a group of people, 22 people who have been brought together to set the rules of the game as it were, to prepare for the electoral process. And they are working together in the best interests of Somalia to devise the rules that will govern this process.
Interviewer: What role did the UN play in the negotiations over the 2016 electoral process and the formal adoption of the model via a presidential decree earlier this year?
SRSG: The main role that the UN has played has been in bringing everyone together to discuss what is most desirable for Somalia. In 2012, the election was of 275 MPs by 135 clan elders using the famous 4.5 formula; the 4 big clans and the 0.5 for the minorities. In 2020, the ambition is to go to one-person one-vote which is a big, big jump. So what we did, is facilitate discussions in the last six even twelve months among Somali political leaders, involving civil society, involving youth groups, involving women to help figure out what kind of formula would be most acceptable to Somalis in terms of a midway point between 2012 and 2020.
Interviewer: Isn’t the 2016 electoral process worse than 2012 in some ways?
SRSG: I think 2016 is already looking significantly different to 2012 in a number of ways. First of all, it’s much more inclusive. In 2012, 135 clan elders chose 275 MPs. This time, the number of electors, is going to be multiplied by 100s, 14,000 people including many women and that’s another big difference, many women in the electoral colleges will be involved in the election of the 275 MPs. Secondly, the voting is going to take place around the country in six or seven locations, so there’s going to be real sense of much more local ownership. There’s going to be ballot boxes, there will be a mechanism for verifying whether the process is being conducted, there’ll be secret voting. So it’s going to have aspects that simply did not exist in 2012.