December 14, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Somali President Pays A Courtesy Call To The UAE Embassy In Mogadishu
14 December – Source: Hiiraan Online – 330 Words
The President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud paid a courtesy call to the embassy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Mogadishu amid rising tensions between the president and the government of the UAE. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has publicly denied that the meeting was meant to repair a fractured relationship and maintains that ties are strong. “We thank the UAE government for the projects it implements in Somalia. Recently, there were rumors with the intent to tarnish the ties and the friendship of Somalia and the UAE. It is a fabrication and the ties between the two nations remain stronger than ever,” The president said. Many believe the visit is aimed to pacify tensions after UAE government invited regional administrators to the Emirates without offering an invitation to the Somali president. A move which may have caused palpable friction between the two. The deputy ambassador of the UAE embassy in Somalia, Hamdan Rashid Al-Shamsa acknowledged the visit of President Hassan to the embassy and met with him.
The ambassador of the UAE to Somalia, Mohamed Al-Uthman, has been absent from Somalia since UAE leaders held a conference on the Somali elections in Abu Dhabi last month. Since then Ambassador Mohamed Al-Uthman has been staying in Nairobi where he has reportedly met with several presidential candidates. Analysts are speculating that the relocation of the ambassador and the invitation to meet with regional administrators as signs that the UAE government may be looking to endorse other candidates for Somalia’s top job. Foreign funding played a major role in swaying influence during the 2012 elections and this year’s election is expected to be more or less the same. The UAE and Somalia have a strong relationship that goes back to the Siyad Barre government where the UAE ruler at the time Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan maintained a farm in Afgooye that he visited regularly. The UAE has attempted to exert more influence in Somalia to counteract Turkey’s visible involvement in Somalia.
Key Headlines
- Somali President Pays A Courtesy Call To The UAE Embassy In Mogadishu (Hiiraan Online)
- Jowhar’s Security Improved Significantly Official Says (Goobjoog News)
- Presidential Candidate Abdirahman Farole Denies Reports About His Withdrawal From The Race (Jowhar.com)
- Puntland Certifies Newly Elected Federal MPs Senators (Garowe Online)
- American Community Of Somali Expatriates Unite Against Violence (VOA)
- The Islamic State Is Losing in Africa (Foreign Policy)
- Looming Closure Of Dadaab Puts Orphans Children From Mixed Marriages In Limbo (The Star)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Jowhar’s Security Improved Significantly, Official Says
14 December – Source: Goobjoog News – 191 Words
Somali Police has improved the security of Jowhar, the administrative capital of Hirshabelle after conducting a number of security operations to hunt down pugnacious individuals in the town, police commissioner said. Middle Shabelle police commissioner, Khalif Abdulle Abdi, said the town is already enjoying the fruits of this operations as crime levels have reduced as a result of the good relationship with the local population, who have become vigilant and quick to report any suspicious elements hiding amongst them. “They have made our work easy by taking control of their own safety and that of their neighborhood and they work very closely with the security forces,” said Abdi. He said the police have been combating the domestic front of Al-Shabaab and its sympathizers. He emphasized that they will work day and night to solve the problems that hinder the realization of peace and security in communities. “We will fight against peace undermining factors in all its forms and manifestations, irrespective of who their sponsors are,” he said. Hirshabelle state which is the youngest regional state formed in Somalia has recently concluded the elections for the Lower House of parliament in Jowhar.
Presidential Candidate Abdirahman Farole Denies Reports About His Withdrawal From The Race
14 December – Source: Jowhar.com – 90 Words
Senator Abdirahman Farole has provided details about a closed door meeting between him , outgoing Prime Minister, the President of Puntland and Senator-elect Jurille. The meeting was to discuss for a possible agreement between the outgoing Prime Minister and Faroole to approach the elections on a united front.“The meeting was consultative meeting about the upcoming presidential election as lower house elections were concluded, we only discussed about the Puntland position towards the election” Farole said. Mr Faroole denied media reports that he withdrew from the race.
Puntland Certifies Newly Elected Federal MPs, Senators
14 December – Source: Garowe Online – 289 Words
In a special ceremony held in the state capital of Garowe, Puntland government awarded certificates to the newly elected Federal parliamentarians that will represent the state in the upcoming Lower and Upper Houses of the Federal Parliament. The gathering was attended by Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, Puntland President, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali and former Puntland President, Abdirahman Mohamed Farole, Speaker of the Parliament, cabinet ministers and state parliamentarians. During the event, the chairman of state-level electoral body (SIEIT), Khalif Aw Isse, stated that despite challenges encountered in the parliamentary elections, particularly from the delegates side, the process went smoothly without disruption or disputes. He later expressed gratitude to all sides that placed efforts to support the process. A member of the Federal electoral body (FIEIT), Saed Qorsheel, also commended the election process that took place in Garowe city, and called the newly elected parliamentarians to serve the interests of the nation and the constituency they represent.
On his side, President Ali has congratulated all elected parliamentarians, and urged them to represent their region and put efforts to bring together the Somali people and the country. Later, Puntland President was reported to have a closed-door meeting with the newly elected MPs and senators, including PM Sharmarke and Farole, who were elected Senators. So far reports are not clear about what the sides have discussed, but it’s expected to be focused on the Somali presidential election. The ceremony comes following the conclusion of the Lower House elections in Puntland region yesterday. A total of 37 lawmakers and 11 senators were elected in Puntland region. The newly elected parliamentarians for both Houses are set to vote for the new Speakers of the Houses and Somali President on December 22 and December 28 respectively.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Looming Closure Of Dadaab Puts Orphans, Children From Mixed Marriages In Limbo
14 December – Source: The Star – 739 Words
During a walk through the five camps in Dadaab, now five months away from closure, one finds boys playing soccer or ‘swimming’ in puddles of water, and girls playing hopscotch or skipping rope. Those not playing are helping their parents look for firewood in nearby bushes. Others are fetching water or collecting sand for repairing their homes. However, among the children born in the camps, some have never gotten the opportunity to make friends. The people they call friends are their siblings and parents. Such is the story of four-year-old Bahsan Mahdi Mohammed. She was found wrapped in damp clothes in a bush in Dagahley camp by boys playing football. The boys alerted the police and took the baby to the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Hospital. She was just days old when the boys found her. “I got to know about the baby since I was under the foster parent programme run by Save the Children. When I saw the child, I told them that I volunteered to care for her as my own,” Muhubo Hassan Hilolwe, 51, says.
Muhubo, a mother of six, fled from Somalia in 2008 with her entire family. She says, ever since she moved to the camp life has been difficult, especially four years ago when gunmen attacked her family, tortured her and murdered her mother in front of her. She looks at where her mother was murdered as we carry out the interview. “We had just come from the evening prayers with my family. My mother was playing with her grandchildren while I carried Mahdi, who was crying. It is at that point where the gunmen stormed in and killed my mother in-front of my family,” Muhubo recalls. “Where is Muhubo? Where is Muhubo?” They asked her after shooting her mother four times. “I do not know where she is,” she responded. “After I told them that, they hit me with a metal rod several times on my back, leaving me with two broken ribs.”
American Community Of Somali Expatriates Unites Against Violence
14 December – Source: VOA – Video
In the weeks since a student at Ohio State University attack a group of people, the community has struggled to understand what drove the refugee from Somalia, who came to the U.S. with his family in 2014, to such violence. Nowhere has that been felt more than the Muslim community of Columbus, Ohio, where people are working hard to distance their faith from a lone-wolf attacker.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“The Islamic State also began courting Al-Shabaab, sending envoys to encourage the Somali militant group to switch its allegiance and even producing propaganda videos featuring members of Boko Haram that were designed to appeal to Al-Shabaab’s rank and file. It also began to target the group’s main source of foreign recruits: the Somali diaspora.”
The Islamic State Is Losing in Africa
13 December – Source: Foreign Policy – 1226 Words
On Oct. 26, Islamic State fighters seized control of the ancient port town of Qandala in northern Somalia, marking the group’s most significant territorial acquisition to date in that country. In a propaganda video released the following day and described in dozens of credulous news reports heavily armed men can be seen marching into the town and hoisting their signature black flag over a tall whitewashed building. Look closer at the video, however, and it’s the same fighters parading past the camera again and again. It was a transparent attempt by the group to seem bigger, and more resilient, than it is in reality. And sure enough, the Islamic State was soon forced to abandon Qandala, retreating to the mountainous enclave where its leader, Abdiqadir Mumin, has been hiding out since he defected from Al-Shabaab in October 2015. This is the story of the Islamic State in sub-Saharan Africa. It has achieved a number of symbolic victories a pledge of allegiance from Boko Haram in Nigeria, the loyalty of at least one faction of the militant group Al-Mourabitoun in Mali, and the support of a few minor Al-Shabaab sellouts like Mumin but it has failed to displace Al-Qaeda as the continent’s premier jihadi franchise.
That’s partly because the Islamic State misjudged the jihadi movements it targeted in Africa, failing to appreciate both the strength of their ties to Al-Qaeda and the degree to which their leaders valued their autonomy. But it’s also because Al-Qaeda affiliates have fought back hard against encroachment on their turf and the Islamic State has offered its own fledgling affiliates little in the way of military support. Al-Qaeda’s initial expansion into sub-Saharan Africa was impressive both for its speed and its breadth. It had no African presence to speak of on the eve of the 9/11 terrorist attacks the old Al-Qaeda networks behind the 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania had been broken up but by 2014, the year the Islamic State began to make inroads in Africa, Al-Qaeda had two strong organizational affiliates and could count on the cooperation of a handful of other like-minded groups.
TOP TWEETS
@HarunMaruf: Somalia: New report finds alleged corruption in awarding/pricing of contracts and choosing recipients of aid by NGOs http://www.transparency.org/
@mohabulbul: BREAKING:Heavy fighting between Al-shabab fighters and Somali Govt troops,backed by #AMISOM forces in#Qoryley,lower shabelle region.Somalia
@UNSomalia: #Puntland President congratulated the newly-elected Somali representatives including 10 women & issued certificates. #Doorashada2016
@unicefsomalia: Wrapped in blankets & a PLASTIC BAG because there aren’t incubators. Baby Faduumo’s incredible story of survival. http://uni.cf/2hndpUa
@OCHASom:In October 544k ppl received food assistance & >200k ppl benefited from livelihood building activities in#Somalia http://bit.ly/2gzhnEk
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali award a certificate to Presidential Aspirant Senator Abdirahman Farole during a ceremony held for the newly elected legislators from Puntland by President Abdiweli
Photo: Garowe Online