February 7, 2017 | Morning Headlines.
Security Beefed Up In Mogadishu Ahead Of Wednesday’s Presidential Elections.
06 February – Source : Nep Journal – 310 Words
Security forces in the Somali capital Mogadishu have in the past days embarked on major security operation to secure the city ahead of the hotly contested presidential elections on Wednesday, February 8, 2017. Major roads within the city have been blocked with both public and private vehicles advised to use alternative roads. Mayor of Mogadishu Yussuf Hussein Jimale told the press on Sunday the roads will remain shut from Monday evening till the end of the presidential elections on Wednesday. “Security in Mogadishu and the surrounding areas will be beefed up by Somali forces with the support of AMISOM to thwart any threats” said Jimale.
The Mayor advised Mogadishu residents to abide by the newly imposed security measures and work with security agencies. He called on academic institutions especially universities and schools in Mogadishu to close shop for the two days to avoid inconveniencing students and lecturers. On Saturday, Presidential Elections Committee (PEC) relocated Wednesday’spresidential elections venue from the Police academy to Affissioni Complex near Aden Adde International Airport which is guarded by heavily armed personnel. Enough security has been posted to the area after 18 Presidential candidates raised concerns of over their security and possible corruption.
Abdirahman Warsame, one of candidates said they lost confidence for the election to be held at the Police Academy after reports emerged Somali Police Chief General Mohamed Hassan Hamud openly indicated his support for the current President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. “We asked for venue change because police academy was compromised since it was vulnerable to possible smuggling of money and acts of corruption,” added Warsame.
Key Headlines
- Security Beefed Up In Mogadishu Ahead Of Wednesday’s Presidential Elections. (Nep Journal)
- Vote For Jubbaland Seat Continues To Be Marred By Controversy Confusion (Hiiraan Online)
- Somalia Suspends Flights To Mogadishu On Election Day (Garowe Online)
- Somalia Presidential Hopefuls Make ;Last Vote Pitch In First-ever TV Debate (Reuters)
- Somalia Says Preparation For Presidential Polls Complete (Xinhua)
- Will Landmark Gang-rape Case Spur Change In attitudes In Puntland? (CNN)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Vote For Jubbaland Seat Continues To Be Marred By Controversy, Confusion
06 February – Source : Hiiraan Online – 232 Words
An election for the last remaining seat in the Lower House of Parliament was held today in Kismayo, despite protests by one of the primary candidates in the race. The previous election was dogged by controversy after accusations of vote-rigging and failed to produce a winner. Abdullahi Mohamed Aden Sha’ir emerged the victor in the controversial poll winning 40 of 43 votes. Mohamed Mukhtar, who was one of two frontrunners in the last election boycotted the vote saying “the rules of the game have changed.” Mr. Mukhtar spoke to Hiiraan Online after the ballot and said he didn’t attend because the poll flouted the election rules set out by the government.
“The 51 delegates who took part in the vote were not from the designated sub-clan eligible to vote”. Mr. Mukhtar went on to say that “the other sub-clans who were part of the delegates corrupted the result of the process.” Omar Dhagey, the head of the Parliamentary Electoral Commission told Hiaraan Online that there were domestic and international election observers present at the vote and a formal announcement of the winner will be made after he convenes with them in Mogadishu to review their findings. As the Presidential election is just two days away, the parliamentary and presidential election commissions are scrambling to fill both houses of parliament. There are two seats in the upper house that have yet to be filled.
Somalia Suspends Flights To Mogadishu On Election Day
06 February – Source : Garowe Online – 170 Words
Somali federal government have announced that all flights arriving and departing from Mogadishu’s Airport will be suspended on Wednesday, in a new measure to enforce security during the presidential election. Yesterday, Mogadishu’s Mayor has said that major roads in the Somali capital of Mogadishu will be closed for two days till the conclusion of the ballot.
On Monday, the outgoing Minister of Civil Aviation, Ali Jama Jangli told the local media that flights to Aden Adde Airport in Mogadishu will be suspended on Wednesday, however, the flights are expected to resume normally in the following day. This comes amid preparation by the Presidential Election Committee (PEC) to complete arrangement ahead of February 8 ballot. The country is planning to prevent possible terrorist attacks by Al Qaida-linked Al Shabaab group, which vowed to disrupt the forthcoming presidential election. Somalia’s Federal Parliament will pick a new President in a secret ballot, as the newly sworn-in MPs and Senators will cast votes among 23 presidential aspirants competing for the top office in Somalia.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Presidential Hopefuls Make ;Last Vote Pitch In First-ever TV Debate
06 February – Source : Reuters – 432 Words
Presidential candidates in Somalia rounded off campaigning with an unprecedented televised debate on Monday, dominated by issues of corruption, security and U.S. President Donald Trump’s travel ban.Somalia, which holds a presidential vote on Wednesday, is one of seven majority Muslim nations whose citizens were barred from travel to America under Trump’s executive order. Many Somalis were sent back home or stranded at airports, until a U.S. judge put the ruling on hold.”I will tackle the issue of refugees deported from the United States and other countries, and will settle internally displaced people,” Bashir Rage, one of several former warlords seeking election, said in the debate broadcast on TV and radio.
Wednesday’s presidential vote is part of the rebuilding effort in Somalia, which was shattered by more than two decades of conflict and where clan loyalties still tend to trump policy in politics.”Somali clans have fought for many years so I will reconcile them so we have a government that will bring people together,” said candidate Mohamud Ahmed Nur Tarsan, a former Mogadishu mayor, promising to fight corruption and Islamist militants.
Candidates bidding for office in a race repeatedly delayed since August promised to improve security and the economy.Most of the 23 hopefuls did not turn up for the debate, split between two sessions due to number of candidates. Voters complained that the debate was more of a question and answer session, that ignored people’s daily concerns.Candidates were asked questions such as “why do you deserve to become president?” by a prominent journalist.”I wish the questions were from citizens,” Ahmed Nur, from Baidoa, southwest of the capital, told Reuters.
Somalia Says Preparation For Presidential Polls Complete
06 February – Source : Xinhua – 358 Words
Somalia’s electoral committee said preparations for Wednesday’s presidential polls which has been postponed four times, are complete and the election will take place as scheduled. Chairperson of the 17-member Presidential Election Committee Abdirahman Beileh said on Sunday night the elections will take place on Feb. 8and gave an undertaking that the elections will be free and fair.”The president is elected by the public and so we are representatives of the public. We are listening to them, we have given a commitment that we will do our best, to select the best on their behalf,” Beileh said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.
“I want to assure the Somali people that we will be true to our commitment to our country, our commitment to them and the nation in general, that we will do our best to select the best in the group,” he said. The Wednesday’s elections will draw curtains on an electoral process that began in October 2016 after months of delay in a tortuous process.Somalia’s newly inaugurated Parliament comprising of 275 lower house seats and 54-member senate will vote for the president in a secret ballot.The newly elected president will be installed immediately after the announcement of the final results.
Beileh said strict procedures on balloting have also been put in place, to minimize risks of rigging. Beileh said to avoid incidences of ballot stuffing, the ballot papers will be printed inside the voting hall, shortly before the onset of balloting.”We planned taking into consideration all factors that can be expected and therefore we have no reason to doubt that on the eighth, toward the end of day, we will have a president,” he said.
Some 23 presidential candidates are eyeing the hotly contested seat, as the election committee puts in place strict rules to govern the process and ensure transparency. One of the candidates pulled out on Sunday, citing a crowded process.”Everybody is determined that this process is carried out in a manner in line with the international rules and regulations. It will be credible, it will be transparent. I have absolutely no reason to believe otherwise,” Beileh said.
OPINION, CULTURE & ANALYSIS
“With the passing of the new Act and a seemingly stronger will to deal with these cases quickly and effectively, the Puntland administration appears to be at least indicating that it wants to take sexual violence seriously at last,”
Will Landmark Gang-rape Case Spur Change In attitudes In Puntland?
06 February – Source: CNN- 741 Words
The verdict in a gang-rape case of two teenage girls in Puntland, Somalia has sent ripples through the semi-autonomous East African state.Five boys were arrested after footage of the event was posted on social media in December and the case was highlighted by the Galkayo Education Center for Peace and Development and its international partner, Donor Direct Action.
The families of the two survivors had previously rejected an initial settlement of 100 camels for each girl.Activists and government authorities had hoped that the case would be arbitrated under the Sexual Offenses Act, passed in Puntland in late 2016, but in the end, a combination of customary, secular and Sharia law was applied.In a landmark decision, the court of five religious leaders, with Puntland government authorities as observers, ruled on Sunday that the rapists should serve between five and ten years in prison and pay fines of several thousand dollars each.
The case was brought to trial relatively quickly. It is less than two months when, on the evening of December 6th, the 14 and 16 year old girls were walking along a street in Galdogob town near the Ethiopian border.Authorities say a group of boys jumped out of a car and forced them inside. They drove for around 15 kilometers, stripped the girls naked and raped them in turn.One boy filmed and took pictures — which would also later be used as evidence in the trial. When the older girl tried to resist, one of the boys stabbed her in the back.At around 3 amthe following morning the girls were abandoned, still naked, near the younger girl’s home. They managed to find some clothes and escaped to extended family nearby.
A few days later, social workers from the Galkayo Center made contact with the girls and took on the case. They provided counselling and financial support to the severely traumatised girls and referred the 16 year old, who had suffered the knife wound, for medical treatment.The incident was reported to police. During this time, it also emerged that this was the second occasion that one of the girls had been raped in ten days.The tortuous journey that these two girls have had over the last two months has reached some form of resolution, but the Galkayo Center deals with cases of rape and helps to protect girls from other forms of violence such as female genital mutilation (FGM) all the time.