January 18, 2017 | Morning Headlines
Presidential Election Postponed In Somaliland
17 January – Source: Garowe Online – 157 Words
Political parties in Somaliland region have agreed to delay the presidential polling that was scheduled to be held on March this year, due to worsening drought condition in the region. Kulmiye ruling party along with opposition parties UCID and Waddani have jointly released a statement on Tuesday, stating the presidential election is delayed for six months, as the government is aiming to provide humanitarian assistance to drought victims.
The low rain seasons and extreme climate conditions have significantly affected hundreds families and caused the death of many livestock, which is considered a lifeline for nomadic communities in Somalia. The political parties in Somaliland region have stated the election comes during a critical time and revealed that the government has requested from the opposition political parties to postpone the election.
Somaliland located in the northwest of Somalia has declared its independence from the rest of Somalia in 1991 but it has not been recognized internationally.
Key Headlines
- Presidential Election Postponed In Somaliland (Garowe Online)
- Somali AU Forces Capture Bariire In Southwest Somalia (Goobjoog News)
- Two More MPs Elected To Lower House As Electoral Process Resumed In Mogadishu (Goobjoog News)
- U.N. Warns Of Famine Risk In Somalia Amid Worsening Drought (Reuters)
- Five Detained In Somalia Gang Rape (VOA News)
- What Is At Stake As Somalia Goes To The Polls (Daily Nation)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somali, AU Forces Capture Bariire In Southwest Somalia
17 January – Source: Goobjoog News – 165 Words
US-trained Somali forces backed by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops, on Tuesday captured the Al-Shabaab stronghold of town of Barire in Lower Shabelle region. The joint forces launched dawn attacked on the town which is situated about 90 kilometers South-west of the Somali capital of Mogadishu. Witnesses confirmed the takeover of the town, saying Al-Shabaab fighters fled ahead of government and AU troops, pulling out of the town before the day break.
“Al-Shabaab fighters fled the town before allied forces moved in and the troops are now conducting security operations to clear the town,” said a resident in Bariire. The official said the operations against the militant group Al-Shabaab will continue until they are cleared out of the region. The Somali army and the AU forces often carry out military operations in the south and central Somalia to flush out Al-Shabaab fighters. Al-Shabaab is fighting to overthrow Somalia’s Western-backed government, which is propped up and protected by the 22,000-strong AMISOM force.
Two More MPs Elected To Lower House As Electoral Process Resumed In Mogadishu
17 January – Source: Goobjoog News – 169 Words
The remaining seats for Benadir have been filled as two more candidates were voted to the House of the People, bring the number of MPs elected to seven. One hundred Electoral College delegates have casted ballots to elect parliamentarians representing Benadiri community in the upcoming Lower House chamber. Two parliament members including a female MP have been elected in Mogadishu after Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation team (FIEIT) announced the resumption of election.
Today’s election took place at the Police Transport headquarters in Mogadishu. Among the two parliamentary seats elected today, were one seat exclusively allocated for women candidates. Biibi Khaliif Mohamed became the first winner of the ballot and she has retained her lower house seat after winning 47 votes, defeating her rival female candidate, Qamar Islow Noor.
Lufti Shariif Mohamed has been elected as Lower House MPs, with 26 votes. After the conclusion of Somalia’s parliament election will see a total of 275-seats of lower house who will vote for Somalia’s next President in the upcoming presidential polls.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
U.N. Warns Of Famine Risk In Somalia Amid Worsening Drought
17 January – Source: Reuters – 566 Words
Somalia risks slipping back into famine, the United Nations said on Tuesday, as worsening drought has left millions of people without food, water or healthcare in a country crippled by decades of war. Five million Somalis, or more than four out of 10 residents, do not have enough to eat because of poor rains and fighting between the Islamist militant group al Shabaab and Somalia’s African Union-backed government.
Famine last struck pockets of Somalia in 2011, killing 260,000 people. It was caused by drought, conflict and a ban on food aid in territory held by al Shabaab. “The humanitarian situation remains grim for millions of Somalis,” the U.N.’s humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, Peter de Clercq, said in a statement. “We are faced with a slight but steady increase in the number of people in need, and most recently with a significant risk of further deterioration to famine.”
Both of Somalia’s 2016 rainy seasons were below average and the April to June 2017 Gu rains are predicted to be poor, the U.S.-based Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) said. “Urgent action to ramp up assistance provision and ensure adequate humanitarian access is needed to address rising levels of food insecurity and mitigate the potential for large-scale loss of life,” it said. In the south, the regions of Bay and Bakool are most worrying, as poor households have had little to no harvest, own few livestock and rely on wage labor which declines quickly during severe droughts, it said.
Half of those who died in 2011 lost their lives before famine was officially declared, a situation that must not be repeated, de Clercq said. Governments typically declare famines when situations grow dire, using a classification system developed by the U.N. However, while official declarations of famine may encourage awareness and foreign aid, some governments are reluctant to do so because of the negative image. Many indicators like those seen in Somalia in 2011, such as rising food prices and falling livestock prices, have reappeared, according to FEWSNET.
Five Detained In Somalia Gang Rape
17 January – Source: VOA News – 677 Words
Authorities in central Somalia say they have detained five men accused of raping two girls early last month. News about the incident came to light Sunday when video emerged of one of the girls being tortured, stabbed and sexually assaulted. The video was recorded on a cellphone camera by the attackers, officials said. The relatives of the girl confirmed the authenticity of the video to VOA’s Somali service.
In the video, the 14-year-old is seen stripped naked. Several young men surround her, yell and order her to surrender to be raped. The girl rejects and attempts to fight off the men, who then threaten her with a knife and tell her to lie on her back. “I’m not sleeping!” she screams. The men then curse her until she is forced to surrender. The mother of the girl seen in the video, Shukri Abdullahi Sheikh Abdirahman, told VOA the incident took place December 7 in the late afternoon outside the town of Goldogob in Puntland’s Mudug region, near the border with Ethiopia. Her daughter and another girl accompanied a friend to her home. The men confronted them on their way back.
“The men pulled up in a car alongside them and told them to get in. When they refused, they pushed them into the car and drove off,” Abdirahman said. “They were taken into the car forcefully and then the men turned on music. They took them to the outskirts of the town and they did the ugly things that you have heard [about].” Abdirahman said her daughter was brutally beaten and tortured because she told the men, “You have to kill me to rape me.”
Abdirahman was at her daughter’s bedside at a hospital in the town of Galkayo when she talked to VOA. Local officials and religious leaders have condemned the attack and have vowed to seek justice for the victims. Hassan Salah Ayahle, the mayor of Goldogob, said authorities took the two girls to the hospital after the incident and then immediately started searching for the perpetrators. Five suspects were subsequently captured and are now being held in a house guarded by local security and police. A sixth man is on the run. “We want justice for the girls so that this never happens again. The victims’ relatives insist that they want the attackers tried according to the Islamic law,” said Ayahle. “We will be relying on Islamic law as well as the regional rape laws to make sure they get the right justice.”
OPINION, CULTURE & ANALYSIS
“Among the urgent priorities should be to speed up the rebuilding of the Somali National Forces to shoulder more responsibility in combating security challenges such as Al-Shabaab. Currently, the Somali National Army is largely unable to maintain law and order on its own and has to rely heavily on the African Union Mission in Somalia.”
What Is At Stake As Somalia Goes To The Polls
17 January – Source: Daily Nation – 600 Words
In the coming weeks, Somalia will head to a crucial presidential election that will define the country’s strategic direction as it strives to regain stability after 25 years of conflict and get ready for a one-person, one-vote election in 2020. The election matters not only for Somali nationals in and outside the country, but also for the region and the larger international community keen to see a stable country emerge from the ashes of conflict.
Firstly, among the urgent priorities should be to speed up the rebuilding of the Somali National Forces to shoulder more responsibility in combating security challenges such as al-Shabaab. Currently, the Somali National Army is largely unable to maintain law and order on its own and has to rely heavily on the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom). This is because it is ill-equipped, poorly trained and goes for months without salaries while the command structure is dysfunctional. Billions of dollars are provided by the international community every year to support Amisom operations. But a fraction of those funds would be enough to rebuild a functional local military to secure the country. While Amisom troops have made huge sacrifices and contributions in stabilising Somalia for the past 10 years, they are not expected to stay indefinitely. Investments are urgently needed to create a unified Somali military from the security forces of regional administrations and to rebuild naval forces to deal with piracy, illegal fishing and dumping of toxic waste material in its territorial sea.
Secondly, there is an urgent need to tackle the crisis of youth unemployment as part of an overall strategy to enhance peace and stability in the country. Today, Somalia has one of the highest rates of youth unemployment in the world. This makes them vulnerable to being lured into criminal groups like al-Shabaab or pirates. Youth below 35 constitute 74 per cent of the population and nearly two thirds prefer to leave the country for a better life abroad. Tragically, many have lost their lives while undertaking risky journeys to Europe and North America.
Somalia has abundant natural resources, including rich fertile lands and rivers (Jubba and Shabelle) that can support a vibrant and high-value agriculture and livestock sector while the maritime territory, the longest in Africa, can support a huge marine and fisheries industry. The entrepreneurial spirit of Somalis can also be tapped to create wealth and jobs. Within a few years of focused efforts and smart investments by the government and other stakeholders, youth unemployment can be significantly reduced. Somalia imports nearly everything, including basic foodstuff, even though many of the products can be produced in the country.