January 14, 2016 | Morning Headlines.
Crucial Kismayo Conference To Kick Off Today
13 January – Source: Garowe Online – 146 Words
Somali political leaders will finally gather for the much anticipated conference on the model for electoral transition this year in the southern port city of Kismayo from Thursday morning. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud finally landed at Kismayo airport on Wednesday, three days after the due date of the crucial talks. Jubaland President Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Madobe), who received the President’s entourage, announced that the forum will kick off on Thursday.
The National Consultative Forum (NCF) was initially slated for 10th of January; but delayed to kick off due to what organizers have referred to as “technical challenges”. Members of the international community are pushing for a more enhanced system as opposed to the 2012 polls that brought the first stable government in power after a two decade period of civil war. In December, 2015, Somali leaders failed to adopt a viable roadmap for the 2016 polls. Analysts believe debate over return to 4.5 (nomination of political leaders on basis of clans) and the district-based election model may dominate the political discussions.
Key Headlines
- Crucial Kismayo Conference To Kick Off Today (Garowe Online)
- EU Condemns Prisoner Executions Carried Out By Somalia And Somaliland (Goobjoog)
- Al-Shabaab Militants Invited To Play In Somalia’s Premier League (Hiiraan Online)
- Somali Police Commissioner Holds Talks With Turkish Counterpart (Wacaal Media)
- Kenya Steps Up Security Along Troubled Border With Somalia ( Xinhua)
- UN Seeks Global Support As 4.9 Million Somali People Need Humanitarian Aid( Xinhua)
- Federal And Regional Authorities Agree On A Somali Media Development Strategy (UNSOM)
- Somalia: Change Coming? (Hiiraan Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
EU Condemns Prisoner Executions Carried Out By Somalia And Somaliland
13 January – Source: Goobjoog – 211 Words
The European Union on Wednesday condemned the execution of soldiers by Somalia and the breakaway Somaliland and unequivocally opposed the death penalty under any circumstances: “We are deeply concerned by reports of at least four executions in Somaliland on 11th January and by the authorities renewed use of the death penalty. We are similarly concerned with reports of an execution in Mogadishu on 3rd January,” said a statement from the Heads of Missions of the European Union and Member States.
They called upon Somalia and Somaliland authorities to immediately halt the executions of death sentences as a first step towards adopting appropriate legislation, which they said aim at abolishing the death penalty: “The EU and Member States’ Heads of Missions call upon the respective authorities to halt executions and to apply a moratorium of the death penalty. We are committed to support and work with the respective authorities in achieving a full abolition of the death penalty and in the strengthening of institutions to provide justice to all Somali people in a fair and transparent manner,” read the statement. This week, Somaliland authorities carried out six death sentences at the Mandera Maximum Security Complex, after a long defacto moratorium, whereas Somalia executed a secret intelligence agent, who killed a civilian.
Al-Shabaab Militants Invited To Play In Somalia’s Premier League
13 January – Source: Hiiraan Online – 494 Words
In a surprise move that has shocked the sports fraternity in Somalia, the chairman of the country’s Football Federation (SFF), Abdiqani Said Arab, has extended an invitation to the Al-Shabaab militant group to join the country’s top soccer league, “should they desire to do so”.
“We are not against them and they are not against us,” Arab told the BBC in an interview. Arab is a respected sports figure on the continent. Early this month he was appointed vice chairman of the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa). And last Friday (Jan. 7) he was named African football leader of the year at the Confederation of African Football (CAF) awards that took place in Abuja, Nigeria, for his efforts to revive the game in Somalia.
The call to Al-Shabaab may be his way to communicate to the group that it can be a part of Somali society rather than “an enemy within”: “Not only Al-Shabaab, but also those fighting for the warlords, the moderate Islamists or anyone else involved in Somalia conflict is welcome to our football,” Shafi’i Mohyaddin Abokar, a spokesman for SFF, explained to Quartz.:“If they show interest in playing football it means they accept peace and football is all about peace and integration. So we are welcoming anyone who embraces peace and wants to play football.”
War-torn Somalia and its UN-backed government has been battling the al-Qaeda-affiliated group for almost a decade, with the help of African Union (AU) forces. While the Al-Shabaab group has been driven out of most of areas of the country it once controlled, the group still remains a threat by periodically staging deadly attacks in the capital Mogadishu and neighboring countries. But the AU force has helped the Somali government establish some semblance of stability. This increasing sense of security has created the space for cultural life to return—the re-establishment of the country’s football league being one example. The eight-team league saw one of its matches broadcast live on TV for the first time ever last month. And according to Arab, due to better security, foreign players are also flocking to Somalia to ply their trade in the country’s domestic league. “More than 20 foreign players are now playing in our Premier League in about six clubs,” Arab told the BBC.
Somali Police Commissioner Holds Talks With Turkish Counterpart
13 January – Source: Wacaal Media- 72 Words
The Police Commissioner of Somalia Mohamed Sheikh Hassan Hamud has held talks with his Turkish counterpart Celalattin Lekesiz in the Turkish city of Istanbul. Hamud expressed gratitude for the support the Turkish government has given to Somalia, especially the police force. Mr. Lekesiz on his part pledged more support from his country for the Somali police force. He explained that both sides must work together for the benefit of the people of both countries.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Kenya Steps Up Security Along Troubled Border With Somalia
13 January – Source: Xinhua News – 421 Words
Kenyan authorities said Wednesday they have managed to restore security along its porous border with Somalia in Mandera by deploying more police officers to enhance security. Mandera County Commissioner Fredrick Shisia said more security patrol teams have been deployed in Elwak and Lafey sub counties following December attacks that claimed five people.
“We have 100 security officers on the ground made up of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), paramilitary police and Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) who have managed to push the Al-Shabaab inside Somalia,” Shisia told journalists in Mandera town. The enhanced security follows the recent killing of three security officers and two passengers last month when a commuter bus they were traveling in was ambushed by the insurgents from Somalia.
Shisia said the multi-security team which was deployed since Jan. 1 has been able to thwart off cross border incursions by the Islamist militants along the common border with Somalia. He said several suspects have been arrested, with the latest being on two operatives who have been providing food to the Al-Shabaab militia operating in Lafey and Elwak. The government administrator disclosed that the two are giving crucial leads to KDF and CID intelligence teams which will help in apprehending more culprits.
Kenyan authorities have blamed the militants for being behind spates of kidnapping of expatriates working in the sprawling refugee camps in the incursion-prone northern region and tourists in the coastal archipelago towns of Mombasa and Lamu. Officials link these attacks to the fact that Mandera (a border town in Kenya’s northeast) and Bula Hawa (an adjoining town in Somalia) are barely two kilometres apart thus making it easy for terrorists to cross the border and attack.
UN Seeks Global Support As 4.9 Million Somali People Need Humanitarian Aid
13 January – Source: Xinhua News – 251 Words
The UN agencies working in Somalia said they will launch an appeal next week, seeking 885 million U.S. dollars to provide humanitarian aid in the Horn of Africa nation in 2016. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said About 4.9 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Somalia and that the funds will enable the agencies to reach some 3.5 million people this year.
“This includes 1 million people who face food insecurity, while 3.9 million remain highly vulnerable to shocks,” the UN said ahead of next Tuesday’s launch of the 2016 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Somalia. According to OCHA, the El Nino phenomenon, which affected some 145,000 people in 2015, has also exacerbated the humanitarian situation: “The HRP is requesting for 885 million dollars to reach 3.5 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, while at the same time linking humanitarian action and durable solutions,” the statement said.
In 2015, humanitarian partners were able to reach nearly 2.5 million people with some of the most urgent lifesaving assistance. Experts have warned that the floods, which have made roads impassable and cut thousands off from aid, could reverse many of the humanitarian gains made in southern Somalia since 2011 when the Horn of Africa nation was devastated by famine. OCHA said the above has been possible thanks in part to early funding estimated at 14 million dollars specifically to preparedness and response to El Nino in Somalia.
Federal And Regional Authorities Agree On A Somali Media Development Strategy
12 January – Source: UNSOM – 326 Words
A two-day national conference on Somalia media strategy development ended in Mogadishu today as participants reviewed and agreed on the implementation of a “Somali Media Development Strategy” for the next five years. Organized by the Federal Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism with the participation of existing and emerging federal member states, the conference also discussed the implementation of the media law that was recently signed by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
Addressing the conference, the Federal Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Mohamed Abdi Hayir (Mareye) said the media law would pave the way for a more professional media industry in Somalia: “Somalia has a vibrant media industry that employs many people, but there has been no media law that can regulate it as well as cater for the rights of public broadcasters, private media and their audiences,” said the minister.
The head of the National Union of Somali Journalists, Mohamed Ibrahim Pakistan, acknowledged that the Somali Media Development Strategy, which was the focus of the two-day conference, was in sync with the implementation of the media law: “It will bring progress to the Somali media. The objective is to get structured regulations that take into account the security, dignity and rights of journalists. Without it, we cannot do anything,” noted Mr. Pakistan. Layla Abdulahi, Chairperson of the Somali Women Journalists’ Association, said the media strategy would protect journalists from media owners who operate outside the confines of the law.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“This is really where Al-Shabaab, a profoundly despised movement, gets its fuel of support. The incompetence of successive clan-based governments failed to reconcile the nation, provide essential public services, and protect national assets.” – Abukar Arman, former Somalia Special Envoy to the United States
Somalia: Change Coming?
12 January – Source: Hiiraan Online – 1,230 Words
Since Somalia’s independence in 1960, its relationship with the United States has been—for lack of a better metaphor—on a roller coaster that travels up and down dangerous steeps and performs sudden inversions that turn everything upside down. In other words, due to lack of formal and sustainable policy toward Somalia, the U.S. has contributed to creating the thrill-seekers’ paradise by setting aside diplomacy and soft engagement to chase terrorists.
For the past decade or so, counterterrorism has been the name of the game, as both Somalia and the U.S. struggle to reshuffle their allies and redefine their strategic interests. In 2006, in partnership with the most ruthless warlords in Somalia, the CIA funded a covert campaign that ultimately backfired on the George W. Bush Administration. In Operation Dung Beetle, the CIA commissioned cold-blooded warlords to help decapitate Islamic Courts—a coalition of clan-based “sharia courts” formed to fill the vacuum created by anarchy and provide semblance of law and order. This was followed by U.S. support for the Ethiopian invasion and occupation (2007-2009). In 2010, the U.S. then rolled out yet another self-defeating policy, known as dual-track.
This latter policy was seen as a rebranded version of Ethiopia’s “engage all actors on the ground” policy, even those engaged in a zero-sum campaign against the Somali government—so long as they are willing to fight Al-Shabaab. These successive foreign policy fiascos have overshadowed the generous humanitarian assistance and security contribution that U.S. has been making.
Though it flies in the face of conventional wisdom, U.S. foreign policy toward Somalia is still fixated on counterterrorism and relies heavily on “militarized diplomacy” delivered by remote-controlled aerial bombers, which routinely create more enemies than the number of extremists they kill. With every periodical drone attacks, Al-Shabaab gains priceless propaganda ammunitions and recruitment appeal. Somalia is in need of a strategic partner willing to pressure the neighboring tag-team that is holding her in a deadly headlock—Ethiopia and Kenya—to step aside; to weigh in and put economic pressure on key actors in order to engage in genuine, Somali-led reconciliation; and to help rebuild the national army and security apparatus that can keep Al-Shabaab at bay.