February 10, 2017 | Morning Headlines
Somalia’s New President Meets With Diplomats In Mogadishu
09 February – Source : Garowe Online – 210 Words
The newly elected President of Somalia Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, held meetings on Thursday for the first time with representatives from the International community in Mogadishu. President Farmajo received the foreign diplomats, including envoys for the United Nations, Michael Keating and African Union Francisco Madeira. During the meeting, the international partners have congratulated Farmajo on his election as the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia on Wednesday in Mogadishu by the Federal Parliament.
The meeting was reported to focus on collaboration between the International partners and Farmajo’s new government. “We look forward to strong partnership in addressing the hopes and needs of the people of Somalia,” UN’s special envoy for Somalia Michael Keating said in a Twitter post following the meeting. The International community has called on the upcoming new Federal government led by President Farmajo to respond to the country’s worsening drought crisis and avert possible famine.
Farmajo, a former Prime Minister who holds dual Somali-US citizenship has been elected as the 9th President of Somalia by the newly sworn-in lawmakers in a secret ballot in Mogadishu on Thursday. His election was overwhelmingly welcomed by Somalis in the country and abroad, as they celebrated with the country’s army soldiers on the streets in the capital, and other major towns.
Key Headlines
- Somalia’s New President Meets with Diplomats In Mogadishu (Garowe Online)
- Arab League Welcomes President Farmajo’s Election Pledges Support (Goobjoog News)
- Erdogan Congratulates New Somali President (Anadolu Agency)
- Election Of New Somalia President Sparks Celebrations In North Eastern Kenya (Xinhua)
- Kenya Court Quashes Government Order To Close Dadaab (Aljazeera)
- Somalia’s ‘Mr Cheese’ President Has A lot On His Plate (BBC News)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Arab League Welcomes President Farmajo’s Election, Pledges Support
09 February – Source : Goobjoog News – 165 Words
The Arab League has lauded Somalia for electing a new president and pledged its support to the Horn of Africa country. In a statement Thursday, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said the election of President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo completed the formation of all organs of the state after a four month process. Gheit noted the electoral process in Somalia which started October last year and culminated in the election of a new president was a step forward in building a democratic, secure and stable Somalia.
The Secretary General also thanked former president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud for the good work he did for the last four years and also saluted him for accepting the electoral result. The Arab League sent an observer team for both presidential and parliamentary elections. The Arab League, said through spokesman Mohamed Afifi will stand by Somalia and pledged the bloc’s support for the country. Somalia joined the Arab League in 1974, becoming the first non-Arab member of that organization.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Erdogan Congratulates New Somali President
09 February – Source: Anadolu Agency – 71 Words
Turkey attaches great importance to stability and prosperity in Somalia, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his newly-elected Somali counterpart late Wednesday, according to a Turkish presidential source. Erdogan congratulated Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo during a telephone call after he was elected by Somali lawmakers following five hours of voting Wednesday in the capital, Mogadishu, said the source who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking with the media.
Election Of New Somalia President Sparks Celebrations In North Eastern Kenya
09 February – Source: Xinhua – 439 Words
Hundreds of Kenyans of Somali origin took to the streets of Kenya on Wednesday night to celebrate the newly elected Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo.The residents in Garissa and other Somali dominated areas hailed the newly-elected former prime minister who holds dual Somali-U.S. citizenship as step toward emancipation of Somalia from the ills of bad governance for more than three decades.
The residents said Farmajo is a development-oriented person whose leadership track has been proven in the short stint he was Prime Minister of the war-ravaged country. “We believe the newly elected President will bring much needed change in Somalia, insecurity and corruption being the most challenging and complex thing in that country, we congratulate and at the same time pray for him in his new position,” said Halima Abdi, one of those who took to the streets.
Abdi said Farmajo has shown leadership qualities during the period he was prime minister adding that he had brought some sense of governance in the war-torn country.Hundreds of locals moving in huge convoys of vehicles celebrated through the night and early hours of Thursday morning. Others took a walk in the town’s streets waving the Somalia flag and beating drums busted with songs of “Somalia hanolato” (May Somalia live longer) as they matched in different parts of Garissa town.They were joined in celebrations by residents in Somali dominated areas including Nairobi’s Eastleigh areas as well as refugees in Dadaab camp which hosts majority of Somalis.
Kenya Court Quashes Government Order To Close Dadaab
09 February – Source : Aljazeera – 491 Words
Kenya’s high court has said it would be unconstitutional to close the world’s biggest refugee camp, which houses more than 200,000 people who have fled war in neighbouring Somalia. In a ruling on Thursday, the court said a government order to shut the camp, which would have sent the refugees back to Somalia from the sprawling Dadaab camp, was illegal. Judge John Mativo, who issued the ruling, said Kenya’s internal security minister had abused his power by ordering the closure of the camp, which borders Somalia, in May last year.
According to Mativo, the order had been given without consulting the people who would be directly affected by its implications, which was a violation of Kenya’s constitutional right to fair legal proceedings. “Hence, the said decision is null and void,” he ruled. Mativo also said that the order was discriminatory in nature and went against international treaties that protect refugees from being forced to return to persecution, adding that the Kenyan government had failed to prove Somalia was safe enough for the refugees.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director Michelle Kagari, said a durable solution should be explored for Somali refugees. “This would include for example, exploring options for Somalis to be integrated into local communities, it would also include exploring options to increase resettlement opportunities for Somali refugees,” she said. The ruling also blocked a government decision to disband the Department for Refugee Affairs.
OPINION, CULTURE & ANALYSIS
“Seen by some as a nationalist and a centrist while prime minister, the success of what’s become a firmly federal project will depend on a change of heart.Devolution of power was strengthened through the electoral process with the selection of parliament’s upper house by federal member states.But there are unanswered questions over how state income will be distributed from port taxes or natural resources like oil,”
Somalia’s ‘Mr Cheese’ President Has A lot On His Plate
09 February – Source: BBC News – 1030 Words
Somalia has a new, apparently popular president. His main challenges include making federalism work, reducing corruption and improving security.Somalia’s complicated electoral process is finally complete and the country’s new big cheese has his work cut out. Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed – known by the nickname Farmajo – is a technocrat, a former prime minister who served just eight months in office, but is a popular choice judging from the response to his victory on the streets.There was celebratory gunfire punctuating the night sky across Mogadishu, as the results from the secured voting hall at the highly fortified airport were broadcast to the nation.
His nickname (derived from the Italian word for cheese – formaggio) was apparently inherited from his father rather than from a childhood love of Italian cheese as has been reported, but that’s perhaps a question for his first news conference.Mr Farmajo wasn’t favourite to win the presidential election – in some quarters he was one of the least fancied of the main contenders.Somalis may share one ethnicity, language and religion, but years of war have hardened the domination of society and politics by a complex family tree of clans, sub-clans, and sub-sub clans, and the differing loyalties and rivalries between them.
Members of the Hawiye clan have dominated political leadership in Mogadishu for many years, and although presidents in Somalia don’t tend to win second terms in office, another Hawiye choice was available.By selecting a Darod from the more northern regions of Somalia, MPs from the upper and lower houses decided to vote for even greater change.Having joint American and Somali nationality, Mr Mohamed returned from the US only last year to announce his candidacy.He was first posted to the Somali embassy in Washington in the 1980s and was studying in the US when the civil war started in 1991 and he claimed political asylum.
He was a popular prime minister during his brief tenure in 2010 and 2011, with a reputation for making sure soldiers were paid their monthly salaries.And with state finances allegedly being diverted to fund an expensively corrupt electoral process they will be hoping to jump to the front of the queue.Strengthening the national army and police force – in the new federal state that Somalia has become – will be probably his first challenge.