February 17, 2017 | Morning Headlines
Three Killed In Mortar Attack Near Presidential Palace In Somalia
16 February – Source : Xinhua- 181 Words
Three people were killed and four others were injured on Thursday when mortar shells landed at a residential area bordering the presidential villa in Mogadishu.”We can confirm that three people have been killed, among them two children. Four others were injured when mortar shells landed at Warta Nabadda near Villa Somalia,” police officer Abdullahi Ahmed told Xinhua.
Witnesses told Xinhua there were huge blasts in the village which also destroyed some housing structures.”There were at least five mortar shells which landed at our village. I heard three people were killed,” Muktar Nor said.The latest attack comes as Villa Somalia was hosting a handover ceremony for the new president to assume the new residence, paving way for the inauguration of the new president on Feb 22.Already, the government has announced it will suspend temporarily all domestic and international flights to Mogadishu airport because of the inauguration on Feb 22.No group has yet claimed responsibility for the latest attack which comes after the new president pledged during his campaigns to eradicate criminal networks and terror groups in Somalia.
Key Headlines
- Three Killed In Mortar Attack Near Presidential Palace In Somalia (Xinhua)
- Farmaajo Announces Interim Staff After Taking Reins At Villa Somalia (Hiiraan Online)
- No Retirement Deal For Hassan Sheikh Mohamud As State Officers Benefits Bill Still Hangs In Parliament (Goobjoog News)
- Kenya Hails Peaceful Presidential Polls In Somalia (Xinhua)
- Families Struggle To Survive Drought In North Eastern Somalia (BBC)
- Somalia’s New Leader Faces Delicate Balancing Act (Mail Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Farmaajo Announces Interim Staff After Taking Reins At Villa Somalia
16 February – Source : Hiiraan Online – 126 Words
Fresh off the heels of taking over daily operations as President of the Somali Republic, President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo named his interim team during his brief transitional period. Somali Ambassador to the EU, Ali Saed Fiqi will serve as the President’s interim chief of staff. Hussein Mo’allin Mohamud will serve as the interim national security advisor. Mr. Mohamud was previously a senior intelligence officer with NISA. He also named Siyad M Shire as the Chief of Protocol.
President Farmajo was sworn in immediately after the Feb 8th election because Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s mandate expired on September 10th; although formally recognized as the President of Somalia, today’s ceremony at Villa Somalia signified the official changing of the guards. A ceremonial inauguration will be held on February 22.
No Retirement Deal For Hassan Sheikh Mohamud As State Officers Benefits Bill Still Hangs In Parliament
16 February – Source : Goobjoog News – 415 Words
Immediate former president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud formally exits Villa Somalia today, a place he has lived in for the last four years but his next abode remains anyone’s guess and so is his welfare going forward. Thanks to lack of legislation which protects the welfare of state officials in the capacity of President, Prime Minister or House Speaker upon retirement, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s retirement benefits will largely be at the mercies of the incoming administration. Unlike other jurisdictions with clear arrangements for retired presidents, Somalia lacks such a plan. Parliament debated the State Officers Benefits bill in November 2015 but that debate did not yield a law which would have guaranteed Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke state support.
Bad blood between the House and Villa Somalia then sealed Mohamud’s deal. Parliament was still in impeachment mode after 90 MPs presented signatures to send the president packing mid August 2015. In the bill however, Parliament had proposed good perks for the president, prime minister and house speaker alongside their spouses and children upon retirement. The state would pay the president 70 per cent of his salary for life in addition to a house, car and a full elite security unit. A retired prime minister would be entitled to similar perks as the president save for security which is drawn down to two security personnel.
The bill also proposed welfare protection to the family of a president who is forced to leave office as a result of ill health or one who dies in office. In the event of ill health and the president is forced to leave office, he or she will be entitled to 60% of monthly salary and all other benefits of a retired president in addition to medical equipment which shall be delivered either to his home or any other place as shall be identified by the retirement committee, parliament proposed.
The State Officers Benefits bill also catered for the welfare of the president’s spouses in the event of death while in office. The bill says the deceased president’s wives will get 70% of a retired president’s benefits, a furnished house, health care for the family, four security personnel, a driver and four wheel drive car. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and PM Omar Sharmarke (should he be relieved of duties by incoming administration) will now have to wait for the tenth parliament to revisit the bill and also hope it will have a retrospective application when it comes into law.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Kenya Hails Peaceful Presidential Polls In Somalia
16 February – Source : Xinhua- 280 Words
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta Thursday commended Somalia for successfully holding a peaceful presidential election, saying it was proof that the Horn of Africa country was heading in the right direction. Speaking in Nairobi when he received a special message from the new Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, Kenyatta said the conclusion of the electoral process and peaceful transfer of power will help stabilize the Horn of Africa nation.”The way the election was conducted and the subsequent peaceful transfer of power has made us very proud,” he said in a statement issued after the meeting.
The new president, Abdullahi Farmajo, who holds dual Somali-U.S. citizenship was declared the winner on Feb. 8 after two rounds of voting by the Somali Parliament in Mogadishu in an electoral process that took almost 18 months.The runner-up, the incumbent, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, chose to withdraw from a third and final round of voting and congratulated the former PM on his victory. President Kenyatta observed that the election held recently gave renewed hope to the Somali people and international community that Somalia was on the road to full recovery.He said existing cooperation between Kenya and Somalia in a wide range of areas including peace and security would strengthen the bonds of friendship between the two countries.President Mohamed’s special envoy, Abdisalam Omer, who is also the foreign minister of Somalia, expressed appreciation for the efforts Kenya has continued to offer towards stabilization of Somalia.
Despite successful election, President Farmajo faces a formidable set of challenges in meeting the expectations of the Somali people who will expect the new federal government to respond to the country’s worsening drought crisis and avert another famine.
Families Struggle To Survive Drought In North Eastern Somalia
16 February – Source : BBC News Days – Video : 02:01 Minutes
Nearly 3 million people in Somalia are facing starvation because of severe drought. The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation says famine is imminent if emergency supplies do not reach the affected people in time. Ferdinand Omondi reports from northeastern Somalia.
OPINION, CULTURE & ANALYSIS
“While prime minister for a mere eight months in 2010-11, Farmajo swiftly won over Somalis with his efforts to improve governance. His resolute nationalism, in which he tried to revive Somali pride in a nation best-known for anarchy and bloodshed, was also well regarded. He culled the number of government ministers and banned non-essential foreign trips by officials, and launched a program for stamping out corruption.”
Somalia’s New Leader Faces Delicate Balancing Act
16 February – Source : Mail Online – 699 Words
Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed’s victory in Somalia’s presidential election last week brought joyous crowds into the streets of Mogadishu, a testament to the former prime minister’s enduring popularity. But analysts warn that the iron will and nationalist discourse that Somalis fondly remember from his time as premier could be Mohamed’s biggest obstacles when it comes to rebuilding the world’s most notorious failed state. Mohamed, who is better known by his nickname Farmajo, or “Cheese”, has inherited an administration that has limited control over Somali territory due to the presence of Shabaab Islamists, and is heavily propped up by the international community.
This fragile core is further weakened by deeply entrenched corruption and the rivalries in a maze-like clan structure that dominate Somali politics. “There is a super-sized expectation, but the problems that bedevilled Somalia for three decades won’t vanish because Farmajo is the president,” said Abdirashid Hashi, a researcher at the Heritage Institute.
Why so popular? While prime minister for a mere eight months in 2010-11, Farmajo swiftly won over Somalis with his efforts to improve governance. His resolute nationalism, in which he tried to revive Somali pride in a nation best-known for anarchy and bloodshed, was also well regarded. He culled the number of government ministers and banned non-essential foreign trips by officials, and launched a program for stamping out corruption.
Farmajo’s image also received a boost from the improved security in Mogadishu which saw Shabaab militants driven from the capital a few months after he stepped down as premier. “It was under Farmajo that the groundwork was laid for this victory,” said Roland Marchal, a researcher at Sciences Po university in Paris. He was also highly popular within the military, not least because his government made sure to regularly pay soldiers, a rarity in Somalia’s turbulent history.