August 9, 2016 | Morning Headlines
Somalia President Appeals To AMISOM To Help Secure Upcoming Elections
08 August – Source: AMISOM – 459 Words
Somalia President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, has appealed to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Somali National Security Forces to secure the coming parliamentary and presidential elections slated before the end of the year. President Mohamud said the elections would be a turning point for Somalia in its steady progress to peace and stabilization. He, however, asked security forces to be on alert, adding that the terror group, Al-Shabaab, may seek to disrupt the process and prevent voters from exercising their democratic rights.
The elections will be a watershed because it will be the first time in more than 40 years that 14,025 electorates will elect the leaders. This will be an increase in representation compared to the last elections in 2012, where a council of 135 elders represented the electorate. The head of state made the appeal on Saturday night at a dinner, he hosted for the police and military commanders of AMISOM, the Somali National Army and Somali Police Force at Villa Somalia, the presidential palace, in Mogadishu.
In attendance were Somali government officials, top AMISOM officials led by the Special Representative of the African Union Chairperson (SRCC) for Somalia, Ambassador Francisco Madeira, and his Deputy (DSRCC), Lydia Wanyoto, as well as diplomats from Troop Contributing Countries. The President praised AMISOM’s efforts in the fight against Al-Shabaab as well as supporting the country’s federal state formation process.
Key Headlines
- Somalia President Appeals To AMISOM To Help Secure Upcoming Elections (AMISOM)
- Al-Shabaab Burn Vehicles In Jilib Town (Shabelle News)
- Somaliland Forces Intervene In Deadly Somali Clan Fight In Northern Somalia (Goobjoog News)
- Somalia President Receives Delegates From Germany (Goobjoog News)
- Khaatumo Begins Peace Talks With Somaliland (Garowe Online)
- Official: US Secretary Of State To Visit Kenya This Month (Associated Press)
- Victimized Somalia (Wardheer News)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Al-Shabaab Burn Vehicles In Jilib Town
08 August – Source: Shabelle News – 100 Words
Reports from the southern city of Jilib indicate that Al-Shabaab fighters burned down three vehicles suspected of directing foreign military jets. The militants set ablaze the vehicles outside the city, the main stronghold of Al-Shabaab in southern middle Jubba region, according to reliable sources.
Reports say chips were installed in the cars, for guiding U.S. missiles to kill fellow militants. The vehicles were burnt after surveillance drones were spotted hovering over the skyline of Jilib, which serves as main Al-Shabaab stronghold. No further details were available.
Somaliland Forces Intervene In Deadly Somali Clan Fight In Northern Somalia
08 August – Source: Goobjoog News- 229 Words
The forces of the breakaway Somaliland on Monday reportedly intervened to quell a deadly inter-clan confrontation in northern Somalia. The clashes that erupted on Sunday claimed at least five lives, reports indicated. Somaliland’s Minister for Trade, Ahmed Haji Ali, who spoke to the media, said Somaliland deployed troops to the battle areas in a bid to stop fighting between the clans.
“We deployed troops who will intervene in the situation before it gets worse and we expect both clans to accept ceasefire without condition,” said Ali. According to the reports from Sanaag region, two militias turned their guns on each other when one group sought revenge for two men killed earlier in the week.
The dead, the reports said, included the combatants and civilians at Dararweyne village. The clashes are said to have left at least 20 other people wounded. Residents confirmed that confrontations had resumed on Sunday, albeit with less intensity, prompting the troop’s intervention.
Traditional clan elders, led by area chief, were also reported trying to mediate between the warring sides. “Stop the fire and acknowledge the old Somali saying that wars do not produce boys, instead they kill boys,” remarked areas chief, Abdurahman Abdi.
Somalia President Receives Delegates From Germany
08 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 149 Words
A delegation from Germany led by the Director General for Sub-Saharan Africa and Sahel in the Federal Foreign Office, Ambassador Georg Schmidt arrived in the country. The ambassador was received at Adan Adde International Airport by Somalia’s President, Hassan Mohamed and other officials. According to a press statement from the office of the President, both sides discussed issues related to the current political, security and development situation in the country.
Schmidt said that he was honoured and excited to his new role and pledged that the Germany will continue to support Somalia as it continues to recover from the two decades of civil war. “I was encouraged to hear from Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud about the progress that has been made towards a more inclusive electoral process this year,” said Schmidt. He reiterated the Germany’s commitment to Somalia, making clear that Somalia security is a top priority.
Khaatumo Begins Peace Talks With Somaliland
08 August – Source: Garowe Online – 262 Words
The leader of self-declared Khaatumo administration and federal Member of Parliament, Ali Khalif Galaydh, has disclosed that he is seeking peace with breakaway Somaliland following years of protracted hostility in northern Sool region.
Galaydh made the revelation in an interview with BBC Somali Service. Sounding reconciliatory, he stressed that they now wanted to live side-by-side in peace with Somaliland. He noted that this negotiation is not the first one that seeks independence from the rest of conflict-afflicted country.
Galaydh hoped that Khaatumo will reach a similar agreement with Puntland, days after his envoys met with Somaliland ministers in Aynaba. Somaliland last month brought together elders for talks about the future of Sool and Sanaag regions. Prominent Sool traditional leader Garad Saleban Garad Mohamed decried any Somaliland activities in Sool, though he did not take sides with Puntland.
Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali’s administration has yet to comment on the latest developments including consolidating Somaliland involvement in the disputed territories. In August, 2014, Galaydh who has sought to exercise substantial autonomy, was elected President of the mini state.
Khaatumo and Puntland leaders for the first time met at the Prime Ministry in Mogadishu in December, 2015. Somaliland, located in northwestern Somalia declared its independence from the rest of the country 1991 but it is yet to be recognized internationally.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Official: US Secretary Of State To Visit Kenya This Month
08 August – Source: Associated Press – 190 Words
Kenya’s State House spokesman, Manoah Esipisu, has said US Secretary of State John Kerry will hold discussions with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Foreign Affairs Minister Amina Mohamed on the upheaval in South Sudan and security in violence-plagued Somalia. When Kerry was in Kenya last year he urged Kenyatta not to close Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp, without stability in Somalia and called on South Sudan’s warring leaders to form a transitional government.
Kenyatta has since said Kenya will close Dadaab camp this year. South Sudan is threatened by a return to civil war after another falling out between President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar. On his last visit to the region on May 2015 Kerry became the first secretary of state to set foot in Somalia— two decades after dead American soldiers were dragged through the streets of Mogadishu.
It was a symbolic visit to show support for the African nation’s fledgling government and the U.S.’s readiness to move past a dark chapter in its history. The top U.S. diplomat stayed a little more than three hours, meeting with Somalia’s President and prime minister and several regional chiefs and civil society groups.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“The political and military imbroglio between these neighboring and foreign entities in Somalia since the collapse of the central government in Mogadishu was a clear indication that the once powerful Horn of Africa nation was up for grabs. While some struggled to control it, others ventured to own it for good.”
Victimized Somalia
06 August – Source: Wardheer News – 2,036 Words
Somalia is a victim of different politically motivated foreign meddlers and interest groups whose long-term agenda is preferentially aimed at dismantling the beleaguered nation’s strategically important position and manipulate its vital explored or unexploited and exploited or unexplored natural resources. This horrific and uncalled for rendezvous miscalculated grandiose actions causes a lot of damage in the Horn of Africa.
In a nutshell, foreign interferences and unnecessary proxy wars facilitated by self-centered interest groups dissipated every concerted effort to build mutual trust among contending parties. On the other hand, the protracted and continued conflict prolongs human suffering, undermines human coexistence, triggers human displacement, creates clusters of clan-based mini-states, accelerates the exodus of new terrified, famished refugees, and opens a path for small arms proliferation consequently inflicting damage across a wide margin.
Without an iota doubt, the widely visible consortium of greedy, bloodletting groups like the marauding warlords, destructive NGOs, materialistic businessmen, and fundamentalist or Islamic fanatics are to blame for the devastation and the civil unrest visible in Somalia to this day. Many of Somalia’s intentionally and stealthily handpicked gun totting hired goons who were forced onto the peace loving citizen by habitual foreign meddlers with hidden agendas, preposterously failed in many peace processes that were held occasionally in various locations.