January 16, 2018 | Morning Headlines
My Administration Is Committed To The Stability Of Galmudug – President Farmaajo
15 January – Source: Goobjoog News – 272 Words
Federal Somali President has declared that his nascent administration has put extra efforts on bringing stability in Galmudug State during an event held in his honour. The federal president expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome by the people, and the state and reminded them, that his sole aim of traveling in the central region of the country is to strengthen peace and integration of the people. “Since we cannot live separately, we must all unite for the interest of the country. The Federal Government has long been committed to stability in Galmudug and how to unite the local of this region” said President Farmaajo
Also addressing the event, Galmudug state President Ahmed Duale Haaf said, he concisely updated the president on the prevailing circumstances his state is currently undergoing including their developmental needs. “While the president is present among us, we briefed him on the general situation of the region, and forwarded to him our existing needs. The visit of President Farmaajo is really important to us.”President Farmaajo who arrived yesterday from Puntland State has extensive consultation with the local leaders who he reminded how his government is determined to create peace in Galkayo town in particular and Galmudug state in general. The event was held in a farm situated 45 KM South of Galkayo town, and organized by a community elder, Bashir Abdulle Farah, and attended by distinguished guests among them state presidents of Galmudug Ahmed Duale Haaf, and his Puntland counterpart Dr. Abdiweli Ali Gaas, First Deputy Speaker of the Senate House, Abshir Mohamed Ahmed, federal ministers and MPs.
Key Headlines
- My Administration Is Committed To The Stability Of Galmudug – President Farmaajo (Goobjoog News)
- Crisis In Hiiraan As Traders Reject Somali Shilling (Radio Dalsan)
- Somalia And Turkey Sign Trade Agreements And Form Joint Economic Commission (SONNA)
- Veteran Somali Singer Dies (The East African)
- Somalia: Fascioliasis Blamed On Goat Deaths In Middle Shabelle (Outbreaknewstoday.com)
- ‘People Were Screaming’: Troops Destroy $200000 Aid Camps In Somalia (The Guardian)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Crisis In Hiiraan As Traders Reject Somali Shilling
15 January – Source: Radio Dalsan – 216 Words
A member of the Hirshabelle regional Parliament, Mr. Omar Gabow on Monday, decried efforts of the local business people to reject the use of Somali Shilling in the local market. The legislator who spoke at a parliamentary session held in Jowhar, the administrative capital of Hirshabelle, called for an emergency meeting with the business community to end the crisis. “The Somali Shilling is not used in Hiiraan. So how can that issue be solved? The existing problem is caused by Somalis themselves. There are business people who make money, and want to distrupt the poor with that money” he said.
Mr. Gabow proposed the punishment of the traders who will not respond to the invitation by the administration to resolve the crisis. “I suggest that the big business people in Hiiraan should be called, and asked how to save the poor people who use and rely on local currency. Since there will be no one who will go to a shop, and buy something with 100 USD, I suggest them to be blocked it from EVC Plus Service, if such need arises”, said MP Gabow. There were reports of fake money being circulated in markets within Hiiraan, and its surrounding and this has led to the business people to reject the use of the Somali Shilling.
Somalia And Turkey Sign Trade Agreements And Form Joint Economic Commission
15 January – Source: Somali National News Agency (SONNA) – 397 Words
The Federal Government of Somalia and Turkey signed a number of trade agreements that will further cement the already thriving economic cooperation between the two countries. In a meeting held in Ankara, the Somali delegation led by Somali Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Mohammed Gulaid and his Turkish counterpart Recep Akdağ, signed a cooperation protocol during the inaugural meeting of a Joint Economic Commission (JEC) last Friday. “The goal of the JEC is to translate the number of memorandums of understanding signed between the two countries into reality, with our immediate priority being to open Turkish markets for Somali products such as dry lemon, sesame and banana,” Mr. Gulaid said. “The agreements will also open Somalia’s exports to Central Asian markets through the Turkish gateway, as well as to contribute to the country’s economic recovery, and to generate employment for the Somali youth,” he added, noting that revitalizing the country’s economy was one of the top priorities for the Somali government. Somalia and Turkey previously signed trade memorandums in areas such as energy, mines, electricity, higher education, agriculture, and fisheries.
He said Somalia was open to foreign investment and was ready to boost trade cooperation with all friendly countries. Earlier, talking to Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Recep Akdağ said: “Turkey’s investment in Somalia stands at over $100 million,” predicting that the bilateral trade volume could rise to $200 million from $120 million in 2016. The JEC led by Mr. Gulaid on the Somali side and Mr. Akdağ on the Turkish side will have regular meetings to follow up the implementation of the agreements and to bolster the strategic cooperation in the years to come. “Apart from the historical relations between our countries, Turkey has become a very important ally for the Somali people and we are committed to consolidate these relations for the mutual benefit of our two countries,” Mr. Gulaid said.
The trade cooperation will also open the gates for the Somali business community to have business-to-business deals with their Turkish counterparts, and to participate in Turkish trade fairs. Mr. Gulaid expressed his gratitude to his Turkish counterpart and his team for the brotherly hospitality accorded the Somali delegation. In addition to Mr. Gulaid, the Somali delegation included the Minister of Fisheries, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdi Hashi, the Minister of Commerce, Mohamed Abdi Hayer Mareye, as well as senior officials and experts from a number of other ministries.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Veteran Somali Singer Dies
15 January – Source: The East African – 121 Words
Veteran Somali female singer Khadija Abdullahi alias Dalays has died in Toronto, Canada. “She has been ill for a while and died at a hospital in Toronto,” her relatives in Canada told the local media in Somalia. The celebrated singer rose into fame in 1952 after she was admitted to sing for the then Italian – owned Radio Mogadishu at the age of 16.
“I had seen an advertisement in the Corriera della Somalia (then a daily newspaper), called for a female singer and I went forward,” Dalays narrated how she started her singing carrier at the time. Dalays was born in Baidoa town, 240 Southwest of Mogadishu, in 1936. In the 1970s, she joined Waaberi Group, the largest musical band in Somalia.
Somalia: Fascioliasis Blamed On Goat Deaths In Middle Shabelle
15 January – Source: Outbreaknewstoday.com – 294 Words
Fasciolosis is a well known worldwide and an important helminthic disease of silvatic ruminants caused by liver fluke species of the genus Fasciola, which is one of the most neglected diseases that can lead to human infection. In a recent Radio Ergo report, goat herders in Mahaday district of Southern Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region say they are losing many of their goats due to the liver flukes.
The report notes that some 4,000 goats have died from the parasite during the past three months. It is extremely difficult to verify such numbers, although experts say that Fascioliasis alone would most likely not cause such high fatalities, the report notes. The livestock disease is reported in areas where the water has been contaminated after seasonal flooding of the river Shabelle.
Fasciolosis infections in livestock can result in significant economic losses, from decreased productivity to mortality. Fasciola hepatica, the common liver fluke (also called the sheep liver fluke) is a flatworm belonging to the Trematodes. Its final hosts are sheep, goats, cattle and other domestic and wild mammals, including horses, dogs, cats and humans. The common liver fluke occurs worldwide but is particularly abundant in humid regions with temperate climate where it can be endemic.
It is one of the most abundant and damaging helminth parasites of grazing ruminants (sheep, goats, cattle). In endemic regions 100% of the animals can be infected. It is particularly harmful, even fatal for sheep. Prevalence and incidence in a particular region depends strongly on ecologic and climatic conditions (e.g. habitats for intermediate hosts and wild mammals, overwintering of the parasites in the environment, etc.) and on livestock management practices (stock density, grazing patterns, etc.).
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“We managed to secure land, at least for the coming four years, and will hopefully renew the lease or find an alternative solution but our priority now is to help build shelters for those who lost their properties in the eviction and we call upon all parties including the federal government, the UN and other aid agencies to support these people,” he said.
‘People Were Screaming’: Troops Destroy $200,000 Aid Camps In Somalia
15 January – Source: The Guardian – 651 Words
Two weeks after being forcibly evicted from their shelters, thousands of vulnerable families are still living rough in the outskirts of Mogadishu. Somali security forces went in and destroyed 23 camps for internally displaced people, housing more than 4,000 Somalis, on 29 and 30 December last year according to the UN. People say they woke up to bulldozers and soldiers demolishing their shelters. “We were not even given time to collect our belongings,” said Farhia Hussein, a mother of nine. “People were screaming and running in all directions. Two of my children went missing in the chaos. They are twin sisters, aged six – thank God I found them two days later.”
Hussein, 46, came to the city nine months ago from the Shebelle region. “I was a farmer but I lost everything to the drought and I cannot go back now because the security situation is terrible there,” she said. “I never thought my own people would treat me this way in Mogadishu, I felt like a foreigner in my own country.” The UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (Unocha) said the destruction included health and sanitary facilities, schools, latrines and water points, at a cost of more than $200,000 of donor money. Witnesses say the police and military personnel involved in the clearances beat up anyone who tried to resist or question them.
Omar Mohamed, 54, and his eight children now share a makeshift shelter with other families in a nearby camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs). “It was a nightmare. At least my children are alive. I saw a mother who lost her eight-month-old child because of hunger and heat. They were literally sleeping under the sun in the open air,” he said. Mohamed Ismail Abdullahi, district commissioner of Kahda, where the demolitions took place, said: “The eviction was done for the safety of the IDPs since the area they settled was a disputed private land and the eviction order was issued by a High Court, although there was not a proper notice and it was not well coordinated.”
Aid workers and journalists were not allowed to film. “Security forces stopped reporters from taking photos. It was done quite swiftly and there is not much [reporting] of the eviction in the local press,” said aid worker Abdiaziz Hussein. Land and property disputes by powerful local clans have been increasing in the city, thanks to booming real estate developments. Displaced people, who mostly come from smaller clans, are often caught up in the middle of the dispute. Famine, conflict and drought displaced one million people throughout Somalia last year alone. Most end up in large towns and cities like Mogadishu where they face being constantly moved on. In 2015, similar large-scale destruction of such settlements took place in the same Kahda district, with more than 21,000 people forcibly removed from their makeshift shacks.
The district commissioner said only about 600 families had been rehoused so far and they were working hard to shelter the remaining families. “We managed to secure land, at least for the coming four years, and will hopefully renew the lease or find an alternative solution but our priority now is to help build shelters for those who lost their properties in the eviction and we call upon all parties including the federal government, the UN and other aid agencies to support these people,” he said. Farhia Hussein has been taken in by another displaced family whose camp was not affected. “Imagine sharing a small tent with another family of ten. We are basically sleeping in the open air. There are many charities here but there is not enough support.” Abdiaziz Hussein, who works with a local organisation in the camps, said thousands were in difficulty. “They cannot go back to the camps because the police are still there, guarding the emptied settlements to stop people from coming back,” he said.