August 22, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Traders Importing Expired Food Will Be Prosecuted, Somali Attorney General
22 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 151 Words
The traders importing outdated food stuff and counterfeit drugs to Somalia will be prosecuted, said the Somali Attorney General Ahmed Ali Dahir, on Monday. Since the collapse of the Central government in 1991, markets in Somalia have not been regulated; this has resulted the country to become a booming market for counterfeits of different products including food products.
Dahir said Somali Ministry of Commerce and Industry would carry out quality check in order to reduce hazardous and substandard imported products.“We heard some of Somali traders complaining about the launch of quality control department in the country but I call on the ministry for trade to immediately set up quality control measures,” said Dahir.
Last year, Somalia’s Federal Government has contracted a Turkish company named PGM, to help inspect the quality of imports and exports products in a move to guard against importation of harmful products and implement quality assurance standards.
Key Headlines
- Traders Importing Expired Food Will Be Prosecuted Somali Attorney General (Goobjoog News)
- Two Hurt As Blast Hits Army Checkpoint In Mogadishu (Shabelle News)
- Jubbaland President Urges Somali Leaders To Jointly Fight Against Al-Shabaab (Goobjoog News)
- US Condemns Al-Shabaab Bombings In Somalia (Voice of America)
- Detectives Arrest KDF Soldier Four Others Suspected Of Selling Explosives (Daily Nation)
- Repatriation Of Somali Refugees From Kenya Uncertain Says Interior Minister (Bernama)
- Soccer Team Helps Unite Maine City (The Boston Globe)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Two Hurt As Blast Hits Army Checkpoint In Mogadishu
22 August – Source: Shabelle News – 110 Words
At least two people, including a soldier were wounded when assailants attacked a security checkpoint in Mogadishu with a hand grenade on Sunday night, police and residents said.The bomb attack happened at a police checkpoint near Fagah junction in Kaaraan district with reports that nine people have been injured in the blast and taken to a nearby hospital.
Somali security officials in the area did not provide further details on the casualties. So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the grenade attack on the checkpoint in Mogadishu. In the past few months, Al-Shabaab has increased its hit and run attacks in Mogadishu, targeting Somali force members, AU forces and Somali government installation.
Jubbaland President Urges Somali Leaders To Jointly Fight Against Al-Shabaab
22 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 159 Words
The President of Interim Jubba Administration, Ahmed Mohamed Madobe has called on Somali leaders to jointly fight Al-Shabaab fighters barely a day after Al-Shabaab waged a twin attack local government offices in Galkaayo and the Mintry of Transport in Mogadishu.
Al-Shabaab claimed the responsibility for Sunday’s twin suicide bombing in Galkaayo that left 20 people dead and over 80 people injured.Madobe noted that Al-Shabaab can be defeated by launched operations across Somalia.“I called on the leaders to give attention to this issue, the group kills innocent people every day. As you are busy in politics, the terrorists are murdering the public,” said Madobe.
Al-Shabaab, has carried out a series of deadly attacks in the Horn of Africa nation as it seeks to topple the Western-backed Somali government. Al-Shabaab, which controls several towns and villages in South and Central Somalia, was driven out from the capital city, Mogadishu by Somali forces supported by AU forces in 2011.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
US Condemns Al-Shabaab Bombings In Somalia
22 August – Source: Voice of America – 502 Words
The United States condemned two suicide bombings Sunday in central Somalia that killed at least 20 people. “Today’s cowardly attacks targeting Puntland security forces, government officials, and civilians are another attempt by terrorists to weaken Somalia ahead of its historic scheduled political transition this autumn toward greater representation,” National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
Witnesses and officials said the blasts hit a local government building and a nearby market in Galkayo. Abdullahi Daahir, an eyewitness described what he saw. “The first car bomb rammed into a local government compound housing administrative offices and soon after the first responders came out of the surrounding buildings, another suicide-bomber with a speeding car below himself up, he said.
Another eyewitness told VOA’s Somali Service on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals that the driver of the second car bomb was a female. “When the first explosion occurred, I was in a nearby tea restaurant. I came out to see what has happened. I saw a woman driver with a red head scarf speeding towards us, and then, I immediately crossed the road . The second explosion occurred.”
“I saw more than 18 dead bodies. The fatalities included students, local traders who were at a nearby market but most of them were the guards of the local government compound.” Puntland officials have confirmed that the terrorist attacks killed more than 20 people. Hassan Mohamed Khalif, Puntland’s Mudug regional Governor, said the town has come under attack by “barbaric and ruthless terrorists.”
Detectives Arrest KDF Soldier, Four Others Suspected Of Selling Explosives
22 August – Source: Daily Nation – 158 Words
Detectives have arrested a Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldier, a former soldier and three other men suspected to be selling explosives in Lang’ata, Nairobi. During the operation, police recovered explosives which were taken for analysis.
Mr Francis Otieno Oluoch based at Kabete Barracks, former soldier Robert Osano and Mr Nathaniel Kiprono, a security guard at Athi River Mining were arrested on Sunday in Otiende estate by detectives who were posing as buyers. Police also arrested Mr Johnson Nyarang Omayio and Mr Simon Muturi Gichuki, both residents of Kitengela and Waithaka respectively.
The night operation involved a joint team of detectives drawn from the National Intelligence Service (NIS), KWS and detectives from the Bomb Disposal Unit at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters. Investigations have been launched to establish the source of the explosives and also to arrest other suspects. The soldier based at Kabete had left the service but later re-joined as a Constabulary.
Repatriation Of Somali Refugees From Kenya Uncertain, Says Interior Minister
22 August – Source: Bernama – 147 Words
Kenyan Interior Cabinet Secretary (Minister) Joseph Nkaissery says the repatriation of Somali refugees from camps in Kenya is uncertain as the government, despite being determined to carry out the exercise, must adhere to United Nations conventions and protocols. Nkaissery said over the weekend that although the government had made clear its stand on having the Somali refugees repatriated, dialogue on the matter was still ongoing.
He added that although the November expiry of the tripartite agreement between the Somalia government, the United Nations and the Kenyan government was drawing near, Kenya had to be satisfied that, Somalia, the host country, was adequately prepared to receive its people. Nkaissery, however, noted that President Uhuru Kenyatta would next month lead a Kenyan delegation to the UN General Assembly where modalities of the repatriation process would be discussed, with the hope that Kenya’s stand on the issue would be supported.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“McGraw has preached acceptance since Somali and other African boys began joining the team over the last decade. Initially, black and white players rarely sat together during practice. McGraw responded by placing black boys among whites, whites among blacks.”
Soccer Team Helps Unite Maine City
21 August – Source: The Boston Globe – 1,598 Words
“Stop! You’re better than that!” coach Mike McGraw barks at his players on the first day of soccer tryouts. “Battle! Battle! Push-ups if you lose.” These are the defending state champs, the first in McGraw’s 34 seasons as head coach at Lewiston High School, and he pushes them relentlessly through drill after drill on a sizzling hot morning last week. No one seems to mind.
Not the Somali boys, who make up the bulk of the team. Not the players from Kenya. Not the ones from Chad, or Angola, or Ethiopia, or Rwanda. Playing soccer on a field of lush Maine grass is a gift — a dream, really — compared with the refugee camps where many of the boys once lived. “He motivates you,” co captain Maulid Abdow, a Somali refugee, said of McGraw. “If you feel like you’re not having a good day, it becomes a great day.”
Every day feels great now for the Lewiston High soccer team, which ranked as high as 17th in the nation at one point last season. But its success extends far beyond the scoreboard. The Africans, who grew up in a land where soccer is king and one of few joys amid hardship, dominate the squad.
Ten of 11 starters last year were Somalis, chattering in their native language as they darted around the field, and they are widely credited with building ties between the 7,000 refugees who live here and longtime residents who once resisted them. It is a team defined less by its excellence than its example of unity.
“This can be a seed that can grow,” said McGraw, a 66-year-old biology teacher. “Time will tell whether it grows or stays the same.” The pursuit of harmony faces big obstacles. When GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump brought his campaign to Portland on Aug. 4, he suggested that Somali Muslim refugees in the state are potential terrorists and are driving up crime.
TOP TWEETS@Soomaalikabe: #Somalia #Kenya: Detectives arrest KDF soldier, four others suspected of selling explosiveshttp://wp.me/p7HTk4-2XH @clarionproject : #AlShabaab kill 23 people in #Somalia @AhmedKosar1 : BREAKING: Heavy fighting btn #Alshabaab & the forces of #Somalia‘s SW administration reported in Qansax-dheere, Bay region @USEmbassySA : #AlShabab claims double suicide bombing in#Somalia – @AJENews @FatmaZully6000: Lobbying and advocacy will be key in ensuring women are at least equally represented in the next#Somalia‘s parliament. UNHCR_Kenya : Voluntary Repatriation of Somali Refugees from Kenya to #Somalia Analysis Dec ’14-12 Aug ’16http://bit.ly/2aQ9g60 @kurt_nimmo : Accusations US & #Qatar funding & arming opposing sides in #Somalia civil war.http://anotherdayintheempire. |
IMAGE OF THE DAY
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Somali President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud meets with the Minister of Foreign Affairs to prepare for the IGAD Summit in Mogadishu next month.