February 6, 2015 | Morning Headlines.

Main Story

Somali parliament holds session over Merchant’s Bank of California decision

05 Feb – Source: Somali current – 183 Words

Somalia’s federal parliament on Wednesday debated and expressed their concern over America’s Merchants Bank of California suspension decision. The Bank is set to close Somali accounts tomorrow according to a copy of a letter the bank sent to the Somali companies last week. Senior Somali MP Mohamed Abdi asked Somali government to address this grave situation, adding that government leaders should contact the USA bank to find lasting solution to the problem. He said that Bank of California statement will prevent Somali Americans to wire cash for their families living in East Africa and elsewhere in the region. Recently Congressman Keith Ellison described the decision as ‘catastrophic’ to Somalis in US were who are accustomed to sending money to support to families and relatives in Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia. “For the past few years, I have been warning every regulator and official about the devastating effects of closing the last safe and legal pipeline to provide humanitarian remittances to Somalia,” Mr. Ellison said. The decision will affect Somali companies such as Dahabshiil, AMAL Bank, KAAH and other Somali remittance firms.

Key Headlines

Somali military court sentences four Al-Shabaab militants to jail terms (Radio Bar-kulan)
Somali parliament holds session over Merchant’s Bank of California Decision (Somali current)
UN urges Somali parliament to endorse female ministers (Hiraan online)
Al-Shabaab accused of looting livestock from pastoralists in Lower Jubba (Radio Bar-kulan)
Presidential aspirant Ahmed Fiqi welcomes the Dhusamareb conference (Radio Goobjoog)
Mogadishu residents urged to install light bulbs outside their houses (Radio Bar-kulan)
Deportation of businessman an act of impunity says Haki Africa (Star Kenya)
You’re not special Nkaissery tells Mandera teachers (Capital News)
MP sobs as teachers tell of Mandera ordeal (Star Kenya)
Spanish court sentences six Somalis for piracy (Business standard)
UNHCR relocates over 1200 Somali refugees from Kenya (Xinhua)
Gun was not mine: Somali shopkeeper (Times live/Hiraan online)

SOMALI MEDIA

Somali military court sentences four Al-Shabaab militants to various jail term

05 Feb – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 146 Words

A military court in Mogadishu on Wednesday sentenced four Al-Shabaab members to various jail terms. The jail terms ranged from three years to ten years, said court’s spokesperson, Colonel Abdullahi Mohamed (Kayse). Abdiqafar Dahir Turyare and Abdikadir Mohamed Jama were sentenced to ten years in prison. Abdikadir was found guilty for being part of the group’s intelligence wing. Abdikadir confessed to be part of the group and facilitated transportation of weapons for them. Mas’ud Khalif Dahir, an Al-Shabaab member, who was arrested with a pistol confessed to have attempted to murder a local cleric in a mosque, and was sentenced to eight years in jail. The fourth, Nuur Isgow confessed that he was a member of the group and committed various crimes during the time he served as a member of the group and thus was given a three-year jail sentence.

Somali parliament holds session over Merchant’s Bank of California decision

05 Feb – Source: Somali current – 183 Words

UN urges Somali parliament to endorse female ministers

05 Feb – Source: Hiraan online – 185 Words

With the Somali prime minister’s new cabinet picks facing mounting pressure from a parliament that opposes certain ministers in his cabinet, the United Nations has urged Somali legislators to endorse the female ministers in the cabinet which will be voted on Monday. In a letter addressed to the speaker of the parliament on Wednesday, Anne Demirjian, the United Nations’ director for political and mediation group for Somalia has noted that certain groups in the parliament are opposing the nomination of women into the cabinet. “This is very disconcerting and would not be utilizing Somali human capital to its fullest,” Demirijian said in the letter. Somali women often complain of discriminations and challenges in political participation in a male-dominated political society. In the new cabinet, three female ministers were appointed for key ministries, including health, women and human rights, family affairs and education. The UN’s call comes as the Somali prime is expected to present his cabinet to the parliament on Monday.

Al-Shabaab accused of looting livestock from pastoralists in Lower Jubba

05 Feb – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 81 Words

The Interim Jubba Administration has accused Al-Shabaab of forcefully taking livestock from pastoralists in villages near Badade district in Lower Jubba region on Wednesday. Badade district commissioner Farah Haibe Maalim told Bar-kulan that the group’s fighters robbed 150 livestock including goats and cattle. Farah said the militants also arrested some of the affected pastoralists. He vowed they will soon send their troops to pursue the fighters in order to free the detained innocent pastoralists and return their stolen livestock.

Presidential aspirant Ahmed Fiqi welcomes the Dhusamareb conference

05 Feb – Source: Radio Goobjoog – 64 Words

Despite opposition by some political sections, the presidential aspirant for Central State Ahmed Moalim Fiqi has welcomed the ongoing reconciliation conference in Dhusamareb. “We commend the conference there, I am happy that people [have] come to realize to solve their differences and move forward” said Mr. Fiqi. He said that its time for development and peaceful coexistence between the communities in the Central regions.

Mogadishu residents urged to install light bulbs outside their houses

05 Feb – Source: Radio Bar-kulan – 137 Words

Somalia’s security ministry called on residents of Mogadishu to install light bulbs outside their houses. Speaking to local media on Wednesday, Mohamed Yussuf Osman, the ministry’s spokesperson said this would help illuminate the capitol at night time and ensure security. He said Al-Shabaab would not like the idea and might attempt to damage the lights or threaten house owners. He appealed to the locals to alert the police if they come across any people destabilizing the security. Recently, Al-Shabaab operatives destroyed several streetlights in Yaqshid district installed by the Benadir regional administration. Some of the residents in the district who refused to switch off lamps outside their houses were also threatened by the group. Al-Shabaab operatives have in recent past damaged several streetlights in the capital so they can operate under the cover of darkness.

REGIONAL MEDIA

Deportation of businessman an act of impunity, says Haki Africa

05 Feb – Source: Star Kenya – 130 Words

A human rights group has accused the police for disobeying the courts following the deportation of a Mombasa businessman.Haki Africa CEO Hussein Khalid said the deportation of Aweys Ossoble is “unacceptable” and a “blow” to the judicial system.“It is an absolute abuse of the judicial system of the country. The police have become law unto themselves,” he said. Khalid said the courts found Ossoble innocent of any crime. “The police have now become the judge, jury and executioner,” he told the Star on the phone yesterday. Ossoble, a prominent Mombasa businessman was arrested on December 5, last year on suspicion for financing terrorism activities. However, a Mombasa court cleared him after the police failed to link with such crimes. The police rearrested him and consequently deported to Somalia.

You’re not special, Nkaissery tells Mandera teachers

05 Feb – Source: Capital News – 327 Words

Interior Cabinet secretary Joseph Nkaissery now says Mandera teachers will not be treated special on matters concerning security. He says already the government has set in place elaborate measures to deal with security threats posed by Somalia-based militants, Al-Shabaab. The minister insisted that the over 1,000 teachers who are yet to resume duty in their respective work stations should do so without issuing conditions. “There is nothing special about the teachers… Kenyans are travelling to and from Mandera,” he stated. “The teachers should not bring those difficult conditions.” He has also defended the decision to punish a number of Mandera workers who ignored an order to vacate a quarry where 36 other miners were killed last year.

“They went there without alerting the police…if the attackers came, the matter could have brought a lot of tension in the country,” he stated. Mandera security agencies have issued orders barring miners from spending nights at quarries after the killings late last year. When the 36 miners were killed, Deputy President William Ruto defended the government stating that the victims had been asked to vacate the quarries. The punishment meted on the quarry workers was issued as hundreds of teachers held a demonstration to Parliament to demand its intervention after the government declined to transfer them from Mandera over insecurity concerns. On February 4, the Teachers Service Commission said teachers who failed to report to schools in Northeastern Kenya by the February 2 deadline can still do so. TSC Chief Executive Officer Gabriel Lengoiboni indicated any disciplinary action by the commission can only be initiated once action has been taken by the affected schools.

MP sobs as teachers tell of Mandera ordeal

05 Feb – Source: Star Kenya – 440 Words

An MP sobbed yesterday as teachers told of their ordeals and humiliation in North Eastern region.Bomet women’s representative Cecilia Ng’etich shed tears when she heard that during inter-clan fighting, women teachers are raped and sexually harassed.A representative of the teachers demanding transfer because of insecurity in Mandera, Garissa and Wajir said they are traumatised by hostile and inhuman treatment by their Muslim hosts. Caren Nyongesa told the Parliamentary Education Committee they are constantly ordered not to use toilet paper because it could fill pit latrines. The committee chaired by Tinderet MP Julius Melly heard the teachers live in fear of their lives and suffer religious and cultural degradation, sexual harassment and other humiliating and demeaning treatment.

The teachers said they have reported the incidents to law enforcers and their employer, the Teachers Service Commission, but no action has been taken on the perpetrators. Nyongesa, a teacher in Garissa county, said female teachers are denied maternity leave and at times forced to seek the services of local midwives. “Expectant teachers are denied maternity leave until very late in their pregnancy. Some are forced to seek the services of village midwifes since by the time they are given permission, it is always risky to travel,” she said. North Eastern Down Kenya Teachers Association chairman Johnes Osoro said they have received threatening SMS for revealing the challenges they go through in the region. “Those asking us to go back to the stations do not know how difficult the ground is. Even their elected leaders have no idea. We are discriminated against and left vulnerable,” he said.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Spanish court sentences six Somalis for piracy

05 Feb – Source: Business standard – 333 Words

A Spanish court today convicted six Somalis for piracy and sentenced them each to 16 and a half years in jail for attacking a Spanish tuna trawler off the coast of Somalia in 2012. The six men have been held in a Spanish jail since November 2012 since being caught by Dutch sailors after they ambushed the Izurdia off the Horn of Africa using AK-47 assault rifles. Spain’s National Court, the country top criminal court, convicted the six of piracy and membership of a criminal group. In its ruling the court said the six men formed “an assault cell or organised pirate group with material to board and kidnap commercial boats that sailed in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia.

“The court said they were part of an organisation, based in Zimbabwe capital Harare, dedicated to enriching itself from assaulting and kidnapping boats in the Horn of Africa. The court said the six armed men approached the Izurdia on a skiff on October 10, 2012 about 300 nautical miles off the Somali coast. They aborted their attempted ambush after private security guards on board the Spanish trawler fired shots at them. A Dutch navy ship taking part in the European Union’s anti-piracy operation Atalanta detained them the following day and handed the six men over to Spanish authorities.

Gun was not mine: Somali shopkeeper

05 Feb – Source: Times Live/Hiraan Online – 355 Words

A Somali shopkeeper fired the shot that killed a teen while a seemingly unstoppabble crowd was breaking down his door – and one of them had brought the gun.This was the explanation Abdixashi Sheik Yusuf offered the Protea Magistrate’s Court in Soweto on Wednesday.Yusuf, 33, who has allegedly been in the country since 2006 as a refugee, is charged with the murder of Siphiwe Mahori, 14, after the shooting last month. Widespread looting of foreign-owned shops in Soweto and elsewhere followed the incident.

The Somali national applied for bail on Wednesday. In an affidavit, the father of one said that he and his brother had just closed the shop in Snake Park, Soweto, at about 10pm on January 19 when they heard banging on the shop’s roller door. They realised that people were trying to break into the shop. Some people attempted to enter the shop through the roof, he said. He called the police and soon after that some of the people managed to get the door open. Yusuf said in the scuffle to get the door closed, a gun fell from within the crowd into the shop. He said after he and his brother closed the door, he picked up the gun and fired at the roof and at the door. Yusuf said he was not aware that he had shot anyone. “I only saw there was a boy shot when the police arrived,” he said. “I accept that the charges laid against me are serious but I don’t admit to any guilt,” he told the court.

UNHCR relocates over 1,200 Somali refugees from Kenya

04 Feb – Source: Xinhua – 375 Words

UNHCR relocates over 1,200 Somali refugees from KenyaThe UN refugee agency said Wednesday 1,274 Somali refugees living in northern Kenya have voluntarily returned home since a pilot repatriation project was launched on Dec. 8, 2014. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in its biweekly update that more than 80 percent of the returnees are refugees who arrived in Kenya after 2010. “All returnees have reached their final destination in safety and dignity. There are no reports of security incidents affecting the returnees or return to a situation of internal displacement,” said the UN agency. According to UNHCR, the refugees who have been living at the Dadaab complex, the world’s largest refugee settlement in northern Kenya, use prearranged bus transport. So far, the agency said 11 convoys have departed since launch of the project, with Kenyan police providing security to ensure a safe and secure journey.”All of them (refugees) have returned either to Baidoa or Kismayo. Most returning refugees are in family groups with children,” it said.

According to UNHCR, before their departure, the refugees underwent counseling by UNHCR and partners on conditions in Somalia, especially with regard to security. A tripartite agreement signed by the Kenya, Somalia governments and UNHCR in November 2013 guides dialogue on the voluntary repatriation of Somali refugees living in Kenya. UNHCR has formed the Return Consortium, consisting of UN agencies and international NGOs in Somalia, to promote a standardized approach to assist returnees and seeks synergy to facilitate voluntary return, with the aim of safe and sustainable reintegration of returnees in Somalia.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS

“Given the hopes for lasting peace, Somalia needs to upgrade and pave its 18,229km earth roads in rural areas in order to improve access to market centers for rural communities.”

Somalia’s poor transport infrastructure

05 Feb – Source: Horseed Media – 734 Words

It seems, after two decades of bloody conflict the weak economy in East Africa wants to opt for durable recovery and boost the local economy which has been in shambles with booming transport infrastructure. However the steps should be called into question and to me the frequently asked question is: “How can the people with appropriate expertise in the field of technology transform dreams into possibilities?. Well, to tell the truth, lack of peaceful political environment coupled with shortage of experienced engineers has long prevented the central government as well as key partners to invest more in roads, airports and seaports infrastructure. Today, according to UN report on infrastructure, the country’s network of roads spans 22, 000 km of which only 2757 kilometers are paved while rail transport, pipelines and inland waterways remain nonexistent.

I have personally drawn some of the engineering analysis in this piece from direct observations and practical works. Look at how weak maintenance and rehabilitation, damages from fighting and vandalism have largely put the paved roads in bad condition, and in particular cave-ins on the primary roads continue to pose greatest challenge to vehicular transportation across Somalia. Take Puntland and Somaliland where regional governments at least established institutional capacities as example. The situation is quite different from south-central regions; yet Diaspora returnees can’t land at Puntland airports in modern airliner.

Something that’s worthy to be praised points to Puntland President Dr. Abdiweli Mohamed Ali who cut the ribbon for flagship project- 2.65km paved runway that would replace the existing 1.8km gravel runway On December 4, 2014. Thanks to Kuwaiti government that contributed USD 10 million in loan to Somalia’s development sector. If the construction of Bossaso airport is successfully completed, surely Somalia will make greater stride in aviation sector since by now, Mogadishu, Kismayo, Berbera and Hargeisa airports accommodate any wide cargo and passenger planes in conformity with code 4C clause. Somalia could have generated colossal amount of money from aviation. To this end I am optimistic about the construction of new runways, passenger buildings, parking areas, runway lightings, air traffic control towers and fire and rescue stations in the coming five years anywhere in the country.

“Somali diaspora intellectuals are silent on the inequalities between the majority and minority clans. They have killed the prospect of Somalia being a diverse and tolerant society.”

Biased Somali scholars eclipse warlords

04 Feb – Source: Daily Nation – 480 Words

Until recently, most scholarly publications on Somalia were written by non-Somalis, particularly Western academics. Thankfully, this trend is now being reversed by Somali scholars in the diaspora, whose research on this war-torn country has increased knowledge of the politics and society. Unfortunately, much of this scholarship is tainted by the clan or ideological interests of the authors. While author bias seeps into most academic research, Somalia’s is often marred by the fact that individual scholars view themselves as spokespeople for their clans, and, therefore, often tilt research in favour of those clans. Some Somali intellectuals in the West delight in fabricating lies to attack living or deceased politicians of rival clans. Objectivity is not in their book.

Recently, for instance, I read two essays — one on a popular Somali website in which I. H. Warsame alleged that former Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal (1967-1969) accepted bribes from Emperor Haile Selassie on a visit to Ethiopia in the 1960s. The other writer, M. H, Ingiriis, was reviewing a book on Somaliland, and argued that Egal brought peace to Somaliland by bribing his opponents. What caused two Somali diaspora intellectuals to besmirch the reputation of a politician who cannot defend himself? If you are familiar with post-1991 Somali politics, it will not take you long to figure out that Egal was attacked posthumously by rival clan members.

Another writer, Fahad Yasin, has described Puntland as the Kurdistan of Somalia.Such descriptions, which reflect the author’s ignorance of the Kurds’ struggle for a homeland, get picked up by other academics, and distort the narrative about Somalia. While Somalis in the homeland are resisting being swayed by these hate narratives, diaspora intellectuals are conjuring one obstacle after another in essays and briefings to keep Somalis in perpetual inter-clan war mode.