February 9, 2017 | Morning Headlines

Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo Declared Somalia President

08 February – Source : Aljazeera – 451 Words

A former prime minister who holds dual Somali-US citizenship has been declared Somalia’s new president. Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo was named the new leader after two rounds of voting on Wednesday and quickly took the oath of office. Incumbent President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud conceded defeat. “History was made, we have taken this path to democracy, and now I want to congratulate Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo,” Mohamud said. The country is trying to put together its first fully functioning central government in a quarter-century.

The protracted vote began on Wednesday after 14,000 elders and prominent regional figures chose 275 members of parliament and 54 senators, who in turn chose whether to back President Mohamud for a second term or one of 21 rivals. Fears of attacks by al-Shabab, an armed group, limited the election to the country’s legislators, who voted at a heavily-guarded former air force base in the capital, Mogadishu.

Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Adow, reporting from the capital Mogadishu, said sources within the parliament had confirmed that huge sums of money were paid by some of the candidates and rival presidential candidates have accused each other of buying the loyalty of MPs, drawing furious denials. “One member of the parliament told me that he received thousands from one of the presidential candidates,” he said. “There is lot at stake here. This election is supposed to bring leadership that heals the country but if corruption plays an important role, many doubt whether Somalia is going to be on the right path.”

Key Headlines

• Abdullahi Mohamed Farmaajo Declared Somalia President (Aljazeera)
• Phones Confiscated From MPs Senators Ahead Of Historic Vote (Hiiraan Online)
• No “Band Aid” Solution To Rehabilitating Former Child Soldiers Activist Warns (United Nations Radio)
• Grand Island Man Elected President Of Somalia (The Buffalo News)
• Wary Somali Refugees Pack For Trip To US … Again (Yahoo News/ AFP)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Phones Confiscated From MPs, Senators Ahead Of Historic Vote

08 February – Source : Hiiraan Online – 267 Words

Voting has begun on Wednesday in the presidential elections amid a complete security lockdown in Mogadishu. 328 members of both Houses of Parliament descended on the heavily guarded airport where the vote was being held. Previous plans to host the vote at the police academy were abandoned due to security threats. Election officials say the expansive security measures are warranted; just yesterday mortar fire rained down on Mogadishu residents.

Accusations of vote-buying, intimidation, and corruption have marred the election campaign. The auditor general has previously said that seats in Parliament and a chance to vote for the president have sold for as high as $1.3 million. Inside the election hall, fears of corruption are palpable for organizers, journalists and independent observers alike. As a precautionary security measure, the electoral commission has barred all voting MP’s and Senators from entering the airport grounds with their mobile devices, tablets or laptops.

Initially, reporters were told that they too would be barred from bringing in their laptops or cell phones. Some journalists report having their phones confiscated by security personnel but was returned to them before voting began. Before the historic vote, the race claimed its latest casualty, Zakariye Hagi, who announced that he is dropping out of the contest. He said that he is quitting because of persistent foreign interference saying “some of those who didn’t want me to win are sitting here today.” Mohamed Osman Jawari, the Speaker of Parliament, cast the first ballot after announcing that only 328 members of the bicameral Parliament will be voting, the sole missing candidate was unable to attend due to health concerns.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

No “Band Aid” Solution To Rehabilitating Former Child Soldiers, Activist Warns

08 February – Source : United Nations Radio – Video: 4’14 Minutes

There is no “band aid” solution to rehabilitating and reintegrating former child soldiers, a Somali activist warned UN Member States on Wednesday. Ilwad Elman, Director of Programs and Development at the Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre in Somalia, made the remarks ahead of an event to commemorate 20 years of work to protect children. The UN General Assembly created a mandate in 1996 to end persistent and grave violations against children in war zones.

Ms Elman returned to Somalia in 2010 to take up the “torch of activism” and lead the organization that her late father founded. He was murdered in 1996 by warlords for his work. Speaking to Jocelyne Sambira, she spoke about her work and also shared her thoughts on how drone tactics are not helpful in the global war against terror.

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Grand Island Man Elected President Of Somalia

08 February – Source : The Buffalo News – 640 Words

A Grand Island man was elected president of Somalia today in that war-torn African country’s first presidential election in decades. Mohamed A. Mohamed, 54, a former prime minister of Somalia who worked at the state Department of Transportation office in Buffalo, was picked to be the country’s president by its Parliament, the Associated Press reported. Mohamed beat nearly two dozen candidates, including the incumbent president to win the job.

“This is an historic opportunity for the people of Somalia who finally have a leader who will put their needs and priorities first,” said Joel Giambra, the former Erie County executive and close friend of Mohamed. “His objective will be to establish peace and prosperity inside his homeland by aggressively going after terrorists. This is an opportunity for our new president to collaborate with a new world leader who happens to be from Grand Island.” Mohamed has been campaigning in Somalia for nearly a year, said Intisar Mohamed, his daughter who lives in Grand Island.

Mohamed, the former prime minister of Somalia and founder of the Tayo political party, was one of two finalists considered by the Parliament,  The other finalist was Somalia’s incumbent president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Somalia, a country wracked by terrorism for years, is one of the seven predominantly Muslim countries from which President Trump barred all travel in an executive order issued Jan. 27. “This could have a big impact on the fight against terrorism,” Giambra said of the Somali election. “You could have a new president in Somalia and a new president in Washington and they happen to be from the same state.”

OPINION, CULTURE & ANALYSIS

“While parts of the Horn of Africa nation are still under control of Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab militants, the country is also facing its worst drought since a 2010-11 famine left some 250,000 dead.Over six million people require food aid, half of whom are bordering on starvation, aid agencies have warned.Dakan described the prospect of returning to Somalia, if the US ban holds and Kenya forces them out, as simply “horrible”,

Wary Somali Refugees Pack For Trip To US … Again

07 February – Source : Yahoo News/AFP- 756 Words

When Aden Bare Farah, 23, first boarded a bus taking him away from the bleak rows of dust-coloured tents where he was born and raised a refugee, there was no looking back.This time around, he can barely summon the enthusiasm to believe he is finally leaving the ochre sands of Dadaab in arid eastern Kenya, the world’s largest refugee camp, for Pennsylvania in the United States. Farah is one of scores of Somali refugees who were sent back to the camp last week after US President Donald Trump ordered a ban on travellers and refugees from seven mostly Muslim nations — including Somalia.”I felt sad and weak. I didn’t know where I belong. I felt I would be stateless forever,” Farah told AFP from Dagahaley, one of several camps inside the complex that houses 256,000 Somali refugees.

His heart sunk as he disembarked again inside the camp where he was born.His parents were among the first to arrive in the camp built in 1992 to house Somalis fleeing civil war, and which swelled over the decades as new disasters from drought to radical extremists, hit the country.His father died in 2000 and he was raised by a single mother who, along with him, spent eight years undergoing vetting for resettlement.”I was very joyful as I took my bag to board the bus for Nairobi where I would stay for a week and then, home.”I call Pennsylvania home,” he said laughing. “I wish Trump knew that.”

After hearing the bad news he switched off his phone, unable to bear speaking to his friends in the camp, having to admit defeat.”I was depressed. I didn’t have an appetite to eat or do anything else.”Now, several days later, he has once again been told he will be getting on a bus to Nairobi by the end of this week, after a federal judge barred enforcement of the controversial measure, allowing several refugees to once again enter the United States.”I think we can go back now, but let us see how it goes,” he said warily.

With a US appeals court due to hold a hearing on the ban on Tuesday, the refugees may be right not to get their hopes up yet.”I am happy but not too happy until I land in the USA because who knows what will happen in the coming days,” said Halimo Dakan, 72, also one of the camp’s original residents.She, her husband and six children happily sold all of their belongings in the run-up to their move to Ohio. Returning to Dadaab was a “journey full of sorrow” for the family and Dakan cannot even imagine the prospect of their resettlement being cancelled for good.