January 20, 2017 | Morning Headlines
UN Alarm That Most Of Al-Shabab’s Force In Somalia Are Kids
19 January – Source: Associated Press – 132 Words
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he is alarmed at reports that children may constitute a large part of the force recruited and used by al-Shabab Islamic extremists in Somalia. Guterres said it’s estimated over half its force are children, noting that at least 60 percent of al-Shabab “elements” captured in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region in March 2016 were youngsters.
In a report to the U.N. Security Council circulated this week, he said children were used in combat, with 9-year-olds reportedly taught to use weapons and sent to front lines. Children were also used in operations with explosive devices, as spies, and for carrying ammunition or performing domestic chores, he said. While al-Shabab was the main perpetrator, the report said the Somali army and other groups also recruited and used children.
Key Headlines
- UN Alarm That Most Of Al-Shabab’s Force In Somalia Are Kids (Associated Press)
- Three More MPs Elected From Somaliland As Poll Nears Close (Goobjoog News)
- Allied Forces Carry Out Security Sweep In Burhakaba Arrest Dozens (Garowe Online)
- Burundian Peacekeepers Serving In Somalia To Get Salary Arrears: AU Official (Xinhua)
- Fears Missing Passenger In Somalia Flight May Have Been A Wanted Fugitive And Sneaked Into Kenya (Nep Journal)
- Kenya Third Most Represented Country In The Newly Elected Parliament Of Somalia (Nep Journal)
- 5 Key Takeaways On The Gaalkacyo Conflict And Galmudug Crisis (Messenger Africa)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Three More MPs Elected From Somaliland As Poll Nears Close
19 January – Source: Goobjoog News – 172 Words
Deputy defence minister Mohamed Ali Hagaa has been elected MP in the ongoing Lower House elections for Somaliland as the exercise comes to its penultimate end. Hagaa garnered 50 votes while his only opponent Mohamed Idle Kheyre got one vote. In another seat, former lawmaker Zainab Mohamed Amir got a ticket back to the House after taking up 48 votes out of the possible 51 in a women only seat while her rival Zainab Ahmed Boqore managed 3 votes.
In the third and last seat of the day, Mohamed Abdullahi Kamil was elected MP with 50 votes while the only other candidate Jibril Sa’ad Muse was left to battle for the remaining one vote. Today’s elections bring to a near close Lower House elections for Somaliland region after it ran into several challenges before kicking off in December. The last seat will be contested from tomorrow concluding all the 46 seats allocated for sub-clans from Somaliland. For the Upper House, two seats remain for contest out of 11 allocated to Somaliland.
Allied Forces Carry Out Security Sweep In Burhakaba, Arrest Dozens
19 January – Source: Garowe Online – 179 Words
Somali forces, along with African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) soldiers have carried out a joint security sweep in Burhakaba district in Baay region on Thursday. According to local administration officials, the allied soldiers conducted house-to-house operations in the town, arresting close to dozens of people linked with the terror group Al-Shabaab.
Somali National Army (SNA) soldiers and AU peacekeepers could be seen deployed in some of the main street junctions in the district, searching vehicles and people during the dawn security operations.
Col Mohamed Isack, a senior police officer in the town said the detained suspects are currently held at a police station for interrogation and will be brought before a court immediately when probes conclude.
Isack added the sweep was aimed at ensuring peace and security in the city by flushing out the Al-Shabaab elements following the killing of two top officials, including a district commissioner in bomb attacks.
Burhakaba has seen an increase of attacks, including targeted assassinations over the past couple of months, as the militant group Al-Shabaab increased raids to disrupt the ongoing elections.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Burundian Peacekeepers Serving In Somalia To Get Salary Arrears: AU Official
20 January – Source: Xinhua – 413 Words
Burundian soldiers of the African Mission in Somalia are to get their salaries after spending almost 12 months without payment, a senior African Union official said here Thursday while concluding a two-day visit in Burundi. “We want to respect Burundi’s sovereignty. We have signed a new memorandum of understanding whereby we (the AU) agreed to transfer salaries of Burundian troops of the African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to the benefit of the Burundian National Defense Force (FDN),” the Commissioner for Peace and Security for the African Union, Smail Chergui, told a press briefing at Bujumbura International Airport before departure. According to him, money will be released “very soon.”
Chergui said, “We believe that this is a good thing that will allow troops to work in serenity as they work in a delicate environment at this very moment when we are preparing a strong attack against al Shabaab terrorists.” He indicated that both the European Union (EU) — which is the AU’s partner — and the Burundian government are both satisfied about the new memorandum of understanding linking Burundi to the AU. Chergui held the press briefing after meeting with Burundian First Vice-President Gaston Sindimwo.
“We are glad that our soldiers are going to get their payment. The AU did a great job by negotiating salaries of our soldiers of the AMISOM,” Sindimwo said after meeting with Chergui. During his two-day visit in the east African nation, Chergui also met AU human rights observers and military experts. Upon landing at Bujumbura International Airport on Wednesday afternoon, Chergui visited Mpanda cemetery, 12km west of the Burundian capital Bujumbura where he paid tribute to peacekeepers who were killed while serving in the AMISOM.
Fears Missing Passenger In Somalia Flight May Have Been A Wanted Fugitive And Sneaked Into Kenya
19 January – Source: Nep Journal – 186 Words
A passenger who could not be accounted for in a flight from Somalia on transit in Wajir on Wednesday may have been a wanted fugitive, reports indicate. The missing passenger is said to have gone missing at Wajir airport despite the passenger manifest indicating he boarded the Fly 540 flight from Mogadishu’s Aden Abdulle International Airport. Kenya police launched a manhunt for the suspect delaying the flight by almost four hours but the dragnet bore no fruits. The man is now feared to have sneaked into the country.
Among passengers in the flight inconveniences by the hours of search and interrogation were Somalia’s Deputy Minister for health Osman Mohamed Abdi and State Minister for Presidency Mahad Mohamed Salad. According to a Somali radio station, officials at the Aden Abdulle airport confirmed the man indeed departed from Mogadishu Wednesday morning.
Police are yet to releases more information on the man. Planes from Somalia land in Wajir for security checks before proceeding to Nairobi. Security is normally beefed up at the airport by hawk-eyed police officers at the Wajir airport despite its location within the local military camp.
Kenya, Third Most Represented Country In The Newly Elected Parliament Of Somalia
19 January – Source: Nep Journal – 393 Words
Kenya is the third country with the highest number of MPs in the newly elected Federal parliament of Somalia in terms of nationality. According to a report by Wakiil, a searchable database which allows anyone to discover the 275 current MPs with seats in Parliament and the 135 traditional elders with a key role in the electoral process, 105 members in the 275 member house have foreign citizenship with Britain accounting for 29, America 22 and Kenya 10.
Others were Canada 9, Ethiopia7 while Norway, Sweden and Djibouti each have 5. Australia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland each have one. Although people with dual citizenship are not allowed to hold State offices in the rest of the World, the situation in Somalia was made different by years of anarchy in the country that forced most of its best brains to flee taking up foreign nationalities.
It is not however only members of parliament who hold dual citizenship.
Sources indicate outgoing President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his predecessor Sheikh Shariff Sheikh Ahmed equally hold Kenyan nationalities. According to the Kenyan constitution, a person is eligible to be naturalized as a citizen of Kenya if they satisfy the government that they meet these conditions: has attained the age of 21 years, has ordinarily and lawfully resided in Kenya for the twelve month period immediately preceding their application, has ordinarily and lawfully resided in Kenya for a period of, or for periods amounting in the aggregate to, not less than four years in the seven years immediately preceding the most recent 12 months, is of good character, has an adequate knowledge of the Swahili language and Intends, if naturalized, to continue to reside in Kenya.
OPINION, CULTURE & ANALYSIS
“The political crisis within Galmudug has shifted attentions away from recent progress in halting the Puntland-Galmudug violence and reaching a political settlement. Although Gaalkacyo has been a divided city since 1993, renewed conflict was only triggered in 2015 by implementation of the federal system.”
5 Key Takeaways On The Gaalkacyo Conflict And Galmudug Crisis
19 January – Source: Messenger Africa – 1,049 Words
The divided city of Gaalkacyo witnessed weeks of fighting in October and November last year between fighters of the two feuding Galmudug and Puntland administrations. Now a political crisis within the Galmudug region is further complicating the situation in the central Somalia region. Galmudug and Puntland, autonomous states within the federation of Somalia, each control one half of Gaalkacyo – the northern part of the city is administered by Puntland while the southern is controlled by Galmudug. Scores of people were killed and thousands fled during the recent fighting before an uneasy truce was reached.
Regional officials from Galmudug are not only battling with neighboring Puntland, they are also fighting with each other. Last week the regional parliament voted to oust Regional President Abdikarim Guled from office, citing “incompetent leadership,” but the president rejected the vote saying parliament is still out of session. Federal and regional security forces are at risk of being pulled into the dispute: Three soldiers died Tuesday in fighting between National Intelligence and Security Agency officers and police at the Galmudug Parliament, according to Dalsan Radio. The fight happened after federal security allegedly took over regional parliament buildings in Adado to disrupt a meeting of MPs opposed to Guled, whom some say is a political ally of the federal president.
The regional president, who was in Mogadishu when the no-confidence vote was taken, returned Wednesday to Adado and was received by local forces, suggesting that he still has some support from security elements in the area in spite of losing the confidence of MPs and apparently also some of the police. The regional government’s control has been undermined further by militant groups that hold territory in the state. Al-Shabaab and Ahl Sunna Wa Jamaa hold significant amounts of mostly rural territory – towns Adado and Galkaayo remain under government control.