January 19, 2016 | Morning Headlines
New UN Envoy Meets Somalia’s President And Prime Minister
18 January – Source: Horseed Media – 179 Words
The newly appointed United Nations special envoy to Somalia, Michael Keating, has met Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke in the capital of Mogadishu. According to a press statement from the Office of the President, both leaders held discussions on a wide range of issues relating to the current political and security situation as well as development in the country.
The new UN envoy, who arrived in the country on Monday, said he felt honoured to take up his new role and assured the President and Premier that the United Nations and African Union mission in Somalia will continue to serve the government and its people to help them recover from the ruinous two decades of civil war.
Keating comes at a time when the country is gearing up for elections in seven months’ time. As largely expected, Somali political leaders failed to reach an agreement on the model of electoral process, during the just concluded four-day conference in the port town of Kismayo. The British national, who replaces his fellow countryman Nicholas Kay, brings to this position extensive experience in supporting political and peacebuilding transitions, as well as leading complex humanitarian and recovery programmes in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa.
Key Headlines
- New UN Envoy Meets Somalia’s President And Prime Minister (Horseed Media)
- Kenya Confirms Al Shabaab Holding An Unspecified Number Of KDF Soldiers (Shabelle News)
- Galmudug VP Asks State Parliament To Pass Pending Bills (Wacaal Media)
- Puntland Education Minister Opens Training For Over 200 Teachers In Garowe (Villa Puntland)
- New SRSG Michael Keating Arrives In Somalia (UNSOM)
- Kenya Flies Home 30 More Injured Soldiers In Somalia Attack (Xinhua)
- Counter-Terrorism Measures Threaten Money Sent Home By Somali Diaspora UN Rights Experts (Relief Web)
- ESPS Victoria Scans The Coast Of Somalia (Naval Today)
- Corruption In Military Defense Spending Could Be Behind Rise In Africa Terror Attacks (The Times)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Kenya Confirms Al Shabaab Holding An Unspecified Number Of KDF Soldiers
18 January – Source: Shabelle News – 384 Words
The Kenyan government has confirmed that Al Shabaab militants are holding an unspecified number of Kenyan soldiers hostage following Friday’s deadly raid on a military base in Somalia. Kenya’s Chief of Defence Forces Samson Mwathethe said the militant group is using the captured officers as human shields.
“It should be noted that this is a delicate operation as we have information to the effect that some soldiers are being used as human shields and we will not allow any further casualties,” he said. The government remained tight-lipped on numbers of casualties arising from the deadly incursion on the base in El Adde in the Gedo region within the semi-autonomous Jubaland administration.The militants claimed they killed at least 100 soldiers and drove away 28 military vehicles. They said the attack was carried out by the Saleh an Nabhan Battalion.
So far, nearly 30 injured officers have been flown to Nairobi for specialised treatment. The initial four arrived on Sunday and were received at Wilson by Defence Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo, CDF Mwathethe, among other top military officials. Sources say there about 12 Kenyans being held by the terror group as prisoners of war (PoW) while 15 others are missing in action (MIA). CS Omamo said search, rescue and recovery operations for the MIA remain “dangerous, volatile and fluid” and soldiers are still at risk.
“Information regarding casualties and the fallen will be availed to affected families directly as the rescue, recovery, verification and consolidation operations continue,” she said. Omamo said the camp hosted a “company size force”. A company normally consists of 80–250 soldiers usually commanded by a major or a captain. She said the terrorists attacked both Somali National Army and KDF camps simultaneously using vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIED) commandeered by suicide bombers.
Galmudug VP Asks State Parliament To Pass Pending Bills
18 January – Source: Wacaal Media – 95 Words
The Vice President of Galmudug state, Mohamed Hashi Abdi, has asked the state Parliament to pass all pending bills and forward the same to the Cabinet sitting in Adaado. Speaking at the official opening of the second session of the local assembly, Hashi said the in tray of the house was full and asked members to expedite adoption of all pending laws. The VP pointed out the anti-corruption, finance, budget control among others, as the important pending bills. Hashi said all these were important bills that will help the newly created state to establish its machineries.
Puntland Education Minister Opens Training For Over 200 Teachers In Garowe
18 January – Source: Villa Puntland – 113 Words
More than two hundred and eighty teachers are attending a teachers’ training course in Garowe, Puntland Administration’s capital, as part of efforts to improve the quality of education in the state. The Puntland Minister for Education, Abshir Aw Yusuf Isse, opened the training for the teachers, assembled from different schools across Puntland region.The teachers are expected to take two-week training exercise at Puntland’s teacher Training college in Garowe, Nugal region. Addressing the teachers during the opening ceremony, the minister expressed his ministry’s intention to improve the standards of education in the region.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
New SRSG Michael Keating Arrives In Somalia
18 January – Source: UNSOM – 363 Words
The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Somalia Michael Keating arrived in Mogadishu today to formally take up his duties following his appointment on 23 November 2015. Mr. Keating succeeds Nicholas Kay, whose two-and-a-half-year tenure ended on 29 December 2015.
The SRSG was received at Aden Abdulle International Airport by Somalia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Investment Promotion Abdusalam H. Omer, senior United Nations officials based in Somalia, among them, the Deputy SRSG for Somalia and UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Peter de Clercq, the Director of Mission Support at the United Nations Support Office in Somalia Amadu Kamara; and senior officials of the African Union Mission in Somalia.
In a welcoming ceremony held at the airport, Minister Omer highlighted the significance of SRSG Keating’s position. “The expectation is high, the job is big and the problems are numerous. Not as much as they used to be, but still it’s a challenge. So we wish him good luck and I will be working with him every way I can and the Somali Government will work with him in every way we can to help him succeed,” stated the minister.
“I definitely see my job as helping Somalis fulfil their own vision but also to help maintain international coherence and support in the times ahead,” said the SRSG in his brief remarks. “I am really looking forward to meeting you and your colleagues in Government, but also civil society in Somalia, as well as getting to know UN colleagues, working with all of you and supporting your work, as well as our colleagues in the military, as well as the broader diplomatic community.”
SRSG Keating has extensive experience in supporting political and peacebuilding transitions and leading humanitarian and recovery programmes in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa. Appointed Associate Director of the London-based independent policy institute Chatham House in 2012, he concurrently served as Senior Adviser to the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Syria. He was Deputy SRSG and United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Afghanistan from 2010 until 2012. He also served as Executive Director of the Africa Progress Panel, a policy group chaired by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Kenya Flies Home 30 More Injured Soldiers In Somalia Attack
18 January – Source: Xinhua News – 138 Words
Kenya on Monday airlifted 30 more soldiers injured in an Al-Shabaab attack in Somalia back to the capital Nairobi for treatment.The soldiers are part of the African Union force battling Islamist group Al-Shabaab. Their camp in El-Adde, southern Somalia was attacked by the militants last Friday. Four injured soldiers were flown back on Sunday. The authorities have set up 24-hour helplines for the families and friends of the injured soldiers.
Defence Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo who received the soldiers said Kenyan soldiers would not be withdrawn from Somalia “until they defeat Al-Shabaab”. Al-Shabaab claims to have killed 100 Kenyan soldiers in the attack. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta confirmed his country lost soldiers but the official figures are yet to be released. Omamo said the first batch of the soldiers’ remains would be flown back in the evening.
Counter-Terrorism Measures Threaten Money Sent Home By Somali Diaspora, UN Rights Experts
18 January – Source: ReliefWeb – 796 Words
The vital flow of remittances from diaspora countries into Somalia is under threat as a result of necessary, but inadequately thought-through counter-terrorism measures. United Nations human rights experts have warned that the measures risk severely affecting the human rights of the people of Somalia, and have urged the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Somalia to ensure that such remittances continue to flow.
There have been many recent reports of Somali diaspora having difficulties in sending remittances back home, in part because commercial banks in sending countries are closing the bank accounts of Somali money transfer operators (MTOs), in response to important, but stringent domestic and international regulations to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
“Remittances are an essential lifeline for Somalis and the closure of MTO bank accounts risks further impoverishing an already desperate population,” the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty, Philip Alston, said. “Somalis living abroad have little option but to use MTOs to transfer money home in the absence of a formal banking system in Somalia.”
Somalia has a large diaspora living in foreign countries after decades of chaos and civil strife in the country. The Somali diaspora is estimated to send at least USD 1.2 billion per year in remittances to family members and friends in Somalia. That represents at least 20% of the country’s GDP and is more than the total amount of foreign aid that Somalia receives.“A decrease in remittances to Somalia may severely affect the human rights of people living in the country,” Mr. Alston said, noting that most of the money is used by families to cover basic household expenses, such as food, clothing, education, and medical care, according to a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
“The human rights to adequate food, to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and even the right to life could be at stake, as remittances decrease,” he warned. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the United States and other countries strengthened their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism regulations and their enforcement. While such regulations are clearly necessary according to the UN experts, their perhaps unintended consequence has been that various commercial banks have responded to the increased regulatory risks and burdens of the regulations by refusing to do business with Somali MTOs altogether because they are considered too high-risk.
ESPS Victoria Scans The Coast Of Somalia
18 January – Source: Naval Today – 152 Words
The Spanish Navy frigate ESPS Victoria, currently deployed in operation Atalanta, visited a total of 30 craft off the coast of Somalia during the second week of January. These endeavors were part of the European Union mission, and are intended to ascertain that piracy in the area is fully under control. During the seven days that the warship was on patrol, several craft were visited in order to draw life patterns of local fishermen and gather valuable information. The ship’s VBSS (visit, board, search and seizure) squad was tasked with this mission. Abiding by the established procedures, the VBSS squad conducted friendly approaches to the dhows. The SH-60B helicopter provided the necessary support and conducted several training activities with the German Navy corvette Erfurt (F 262), also integrated into EUNAVFOR. This collaboration served to certify the interoperability of European units and marked the first time an SH-60B landed on a K130-class warship.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“One of the biggest problems, according to the report, is how such corruption can decrease morale among soldiers, especially when commanding officers pocket salaries meant for those in the lower ranks”.
Corruption In Military Defense Spending Could Be Behind Rise In Africa Terror Attacks
19 January – Source: The Times – 1,170 Words
From Somalia in the east to the Western Sahel, Africa’s hotspots started getting hotter over the past week with a series of terror attacks that have raised fears of a new wave of extremist violence. Terrorism analysts have posited that al-Qaeda is vying for attention and territory with upstart ISIS in a region rife with instability. But as much as terrorist groups thrive on government weakness, military corruption also plays an important role, according to a new report on corruption in military defense spending in Africa.
Transparency International, a U.K.-based research organization that tracks corruption and perceptions of corruption worldwide, gave every single African country surveyed (47 out of 54) a failing or near-failing grade when it comes to preventing graft in their defense sectors. Defense spending is on the rise across the continent, notes the report, but without better tracking on how that money is spent, there is little to ensure that it will go to the areas that need it most in a new era of terror attacks, namely counter-terror and security programs.
“With such limited oversight on military spending, there are many opportunities for corruption and graft that can in turn contribute to rising insecurity in the region,” says Leah Wawro, Transparency International’s program manager for conflict and insecurity. Corruption, adds co-author Eléonore Vidal de la Blache, the Africa project manager, can lead to black-market arms sales to terror groups, or, in some cases, bolster funding for those groups.
The report’s release on Monday capped a week of back-to-back attacks across Africa. Even as scenes of a devastating suicide bomb and grenade attack on a pair of luxury hotels and a café popular with foreigners unfurled in Burkina Faso, killing at least 29 people from nine different countries, reports started coming in of the kidnapping of an Australian couple in the country’s north, then an ambush on an aid convoy in neighboring Mali that killed two soldiers. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the attack in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, and the group, or its affiliates, is thought to have been behind the kidnapping and the assault in Mali.
Meanwhile, Al-Shabaab militants affiliated with al-Qaeda claimed to have killed more than 100 Kenyan soldiers in a Friday attack on a remote base in Somalia’s southwest, where the African Union is trying to bring peace. And on Jan. 13, two female suicide bombers attacked a mosque in a town near Cameroon’s border with Nigeria during morning prayers, killing 10 in the latest of a series of suicide bombings attributed to the ISIS-affiliated Boko Haram terror group, which is based in Nigeria.