January 7, 2014 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Puntland Presidential Candidates address parliament ahead of polls
07 Jan- Source: Radio Dalsan/Radio Garowe/RBC/Hiiraan Online- 107 words
Presidential candidates in the northeastern region of Somalia have Tuesday addressed the regional parliament in a bid to gain parliamentary vote ahead of Wednesday’s elections. Members of the region’s 66 lawmakers will vote on January 8th to elect the region’s president.
On Monday afternoon, the Interim Election Committee announced a shortlist of 11 candidates running for the presidency while 10 other candidates are running for the state’s Vice president. Security was beefed up in all the entire towns of the state during the elections as the movement of the vehicles were banned to avoid attacks by the militants in the region.
Key Headlines
- Puntland Presidential Candidates address parliament ahead of polls (Radio Dalsan/Radio Garowe/RBC/Hiiraan Online)
- 140 families resettled in their homes in Middle Shabelle region (Radio Bar-kulan)
- Somali security officer murdered by his wife in Mogadishu (Radio Shabelle)
- Internal displaced families in Lower Shabelle face lack of shelter (Radio Dalsan)
- Kenya: Police unit to investigate Coast Muslim extremists (Star-Kenya)
- Dialogue religious seminars crucial to ending youth radicalisation in Kenya (Sabahi Online)
- New Nigerian police unit assume duties in Somalia (AFP)
PRESS RELEASE
AMISOM donates Medical items to Iman Relief Development Organisation
06 Jan- Source: AMISOM-434 Words
AMISOM supplied cartons of medical items ranging from scissors, syringes, IV fluids, sterile gloves and antibiotics to Iman Relief Development Organization (IRDO). IRDO is a local NGO that links activities of International Humanitarian Agencies with local medical centers, Internally Displaced Peoples’ Camps and other donor agencies. It is a professional organization competent in providing consultancy services in medical and health care to mothers and children, mental health patients, psycho-traumatic cases, epilepsy and sexual gender based violence victims.
“These medical facilities will go a long-way in alleviating endemic problems affecting our mothers. We sincerely appreciate AMISOM for the quick response to our calls,” Mohammed Ali Adam, the in-charge Iman Relief and Development Organization said.
Baidoa Regional Referral Hospital, like any other healthcare infrastructure in Somalia, suffered the brunt of civil war, as it became a makeshift shelter for Internally Displaced Peoples. The hospital medical workforce was almost wiped out. The Regional referral hospital only has one doctor on site, who receives an average of 60 patients a day. Although the hospital is meant to have a main theater, casualty wing, laboratory, pharmacy and infants’ unit, the doctor can only attend to common ailments such as malaria, typhoid and salmonella. Most serious cases are often referred to AMISOM doctors at the Baidoa base. The lack of access to clinical services has had a devastating effect such as high maternal mortality rates, hundreds of infants dying each year from easily preventable conditions like pneumonia, diarrhea, malnutrition and measles.
Capt. Dr. Patrick Kyambadde, the doctor in-charge of Uganda Battle Group 12 in Baidoa says that his team is faced with the challenge of providing medical care to hundreds of civilians who come to the outpatients department (OPD) on Mondays and Thursdays. He says most of the patients suffer from chest infections, peptic ulcers, STIs, malnutrition, pneumonia and poor hygiene related complications.
From fresh trauma wounds to malaria and water borne diseases, the AMISOM OPD treats a wide range of conditions at no charge. One elder Mohammed Deri Ali Abdulee, a clan leader from Horsay village was all in praise of AMISOM. He said that AMISOM hospital (OPD) has saved his people dying from curable diseases. “We are diagnosed well and the medicine provided is quite enough. The medical personnel are hospitable although they don’t understand our language.” Mohammed had come to the OPD suffering pains from knee joints, stomach infections and general body pains.
The African Union troops working in all sectors of Somalia have not only improved security, but also their field hospitals and medical personnel continue to offer the much needed medical services to Somali population.
SOMALI MEDIA
Puntland Presidential Candidates address parliament ahead of polls
07 Jan- Source: Radio Dalsan/Radio Garowe/RBC/Hiiraan Online- 107 words
Presidential candidates in the northeastern region of Somalia have Tuesday addressed the regional parliament in a bid to gain parliamentary vote ahead of Wednesday’s elections. Members of the region’s 66 lawmakers will vote on January 8th to elect the region’s president.
On Monday afternoon, the Interim Election Committee announced a shortlist of 11 candidates running for the presidency while 10 other candidates are running for the state’s Vice president. Security was beefed up in major towns of the state during the elections as the movement of the vehicles were banned to avoid attacks by the militants in the region.
140 families resettled in their homes in Middle Shabelle region
07 Jan- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 170 words
Middle Shabelle Administration in collaboration with Jowhar district officials have started to resettle hundreds of families who were internally displaced by recent conflicts in Middle Shabelee region back to their homes. More than 140 families have on Monday been resettled in Sabun area two months after they sought shelter in a makeshift camp near Jowhar airport.
Ahmed Mohamud Abdulle, an official from Sabun area said that the resettlement program is jointly being conducted by Middle Shabelle Administration, Jowhar district officials and Middle Shabelle Disaster Management Committee. Abdulle asked the officials to speed up the process of relocating the remaining families who previously fled from Sabun area back to their homes.
The head of the Middle Shabelle Disaster Management Committee, Osman Mohamed Mukhtar said that this is the first phase of a vast scheme to resettle all the IDP families to their villages. Some of the recently resettled families who spoke to the local media expressed their satisfaction with the program and thanked the authorities in the region for their work.
Somali security officer murdered by his wife in Mogadishu
07 Jan Source: Radio Shabelle- 99 words
A Somali security official was last night murdered by his wife in Waberi district in Banadir region. The official who was identified only as Cade had an argument with his wife moments before going to bed. The angry wife grabbed an AK-47 rifle belonging to the deceased husband and shot at him several times leading to his death. The reason behind the killing of the official is said to be jealousy. The wife of the deceased official is now under the police custody at a station located in Waaberi district.
Internal displaced families in Lower Shabelle face lack of shelter
07 Jan- Source: Radio Dalsan- 178 words
Displaced families in Somalia’s Lower Shabelle region face lack of shelter amid hardships, local NGOs said. Maryam Hassan, a member of Lower Shabelle Women Association told Radio Dalsan that hundreds of families who were displaced by the recent clan-based conflict in the region still face hard life in the camps.
“People who fled from the violence are scattered in different locations in the region,” Maryan told Radio Dalsan in an interview. She said that among those affected are women and children who lost their beloved ones in the clan-based violence that has recently sparked across many districts of the Lower Shabelle region.
“They need proper shelter, they need to be relocated,” she added. “If proper reconciliation is not found as well as the armed militias are not disarmed it won’t be any relocation to these families who already suffered a hostile situation in their homes,” Mrs Hassan said.
Hundreds of internal displace families have fled to different towns including Marka, the region’s capital following a fierce clashes between clan-based militia in last October and November.
1 person died as quarry collapse near Jowhar
06 Jan- Source: Radio Bar-kulan- 112 words
At least one person has died while another was injured after a quarry collapsed near Shabelle River in the outskirts of Jowhar, Middle Shabelle region. The man who was injured in the incident spoke to the media and said that the quarry collapsed on them while digging sand for construction purposes which killed one of his colleagues. He added that four more others were rescued from the tragic incident by his colleagues. The quarry which lies near Shabelle River is often parked with a large number of casual workers trying to make a living for their families from the construction businesses in Jowhar.
Federal Parliament fails to approve new draft bill on fishing and sea resources
06 Jan- Source: Radio Dalsan- 158 words
Members of Somalia Federal Parliament failed to approve the new draft bill on the fishing and sea resources amid tough debate. Legislators on Monday started to discuss the new draft bill on fishing and sea resources submitted and approved by the former cabinet after hot debate on the bill. Monday’s debate was the third round of reviewing the same draft bill in the parliament.
The Deputy Speaker of the Federal Parliament Jeylani Nur Ikar, who was the chair wrapped up the session after the legislators brought many unanswered questions on the draft bill. The parliament debate on draft bill came two days after the new Prime Minister Abdiwali Sheikh Ahmed appealed for the suspension of all ongoing draft bills presented to the parliament.
The Prime Minister suggested that the upcoming council of ministers will review the draft bills brought by the former government which the Parliament ousted in early December.
REGIONAL MEDIA
Kenya: Police unit to investigate Coast Muslim extremists
07 Jan- Source: Star- Kenya- 472 words
A special unit has been set up to investigate leaders suspected to be funding extremist Muslim youths implicated in several terror attacks in Kenya. Reliable sources told the Star that the team of officers from the Special Crime Prevention Unit has been dispatched to probe prominent businessmen in Mombasa suspected of funding and recruiting the Muslim youths who are later radicalised. The team was formed after a directive from the government following a spate of recruitment of mainly new Muslim converts to the al Shabaab militant group.
Dialogue, religious seminars crucial to ending youth radicalisation in Kenya
06 Jan- Source: Sabahi Online- 416 words
The alarming rate at which Kenyan youths are being lured in by terrorist groups necessitates a willingness by stakeholders to begin outreach programmes and religious seminars in order to stem extremism and radicalisation in the country, authorities and rights activists say.
Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo said the rising number of cases involving youth radicalisation poses a serious security challenge to the country.
“The youths are enticed with monetary benefits to join the Somalia-based al Shabaab group,” he told Sabahi. “Previously al Shabaab recruiters centred on North-Eastern and Coast regions, but they have shifted to Eastern, Western, Central and Nyanza regions and recruited hundreds.”
Somali refugees fear returning home
06 Jan- Source: Star- Kenya- 348 words
AS the Kenyan government prepares to repatriate about a million Somalis, refugees in the Dadaab camps are confused as to what their future holds in 2014. Their fears are pegged on what the process will involve as state and humanitarian agencies plan the ‘inevitable’ repatriation process that is expected to start ‘anytime soon’. Although it is not yet clear as to when the actual repatriation will begin. Aid agencies and volunteers in the camps have already started sensitising potential returnees and are encouraging them as they prepare to go back home.
In November, Interior Security Secretary Joseph ole Lenku ordered the closure of refugee camps in the country. He said the initial group of returnees are expected to be back home in a six month pilot phase that may start this month following a Tripartite Agreement, signed on November 10 between Kenya, Somalia and the UN Refugee agency.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
New Nigerian police unit assume duties in Somalia
06 Jan- Source: AFP- 00:59 sec
A new Nigerian Formed Police Unit serving under the African Union in Somalia assumed duties on Monday as the previous group of 70 men and women completed their tour of duty.
Khat producers left high and dry after UK ban
06 Jan- Source: Channel 4-697 Words
Somali campaigners against the herbal stimulant khat are celebrating on Tuesday, writes Jamal Osman. They have invited some Conservative MPs who supported them in their fight to ban it. The ban is expected to come into force in the next few months. But anti-khat activists have been holding victory parades since the home secretary announced khat is to be banned. By making such decisions, Theresa May defied government scientists and some of her fellow MPs. But she became an unlikely hero of the Somali community.
Because of the income of miraa, I will not be able to become a doctor because I will not be able to continue my education. Dainah Murathi, daughter of a Kenyan khat farmer Khat is used by an estimated 90,000 people in the UK, mainly Somalis. A mild stimulant, it’s blamed by many for family breakdown, unemployment and mental illness. It’s already banned in most of the west, which has led to the UK becoming a hub for illegal trading to Europe and America.
The short road to self-employment in Somalia: ICRC vocational training
06 Jan- Source: ICRC-03:56mins
In Somalia, decades of conflict and natural calamities have frustrated the normal coping strategies of its otherwise resilient population. To mitigate the impact of recurrent shocks to Somali livelihoods, the ICRC helps vulnerable groups start small businesses by offering vocational training to improve their skills, and then providing them with the capital investment or tools they need to start the business. This video shows examples of such programmes – training of young men as mechanics, carpenters and electricians and women as tailors.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CULTURE / OPINION / EDITORIAL / ANALYSIS / BLOGS/ DISCUSSION BOARDS
“This is the first installment of our Five Questions series, which will feature experts in their field answering five questions on a topic of current relevance in the world of defense, security, and foreign policy. Well, four of the questions are topical. The fifth is about booze. We are War on the Rocks, after all.”
Five Questions with Peter Neumann on his trip to Mogadishu
06 Jan- Source: War on the Rocks-1060 Words
1. Last week, not long after you left Mogadishu, al-Shabaab claimed credit for a triple suicide bombing targeting a hotel in the city. September saw the group’s audacious attack against the Westgate Mall in Nairobi. Yet Somalia’s government seems anxious to convey a sense of restoration of normalcy. From the people you met with, is there a consensus view about the current security trends in the country?
There’s a general consensus that al Shabaab is on the defensive, having lost many of the areas – especially in the South – that it once considered its heartland. Kismayo and Baidoa, for example, are now firmly in the hands of the Somali government and AMISOM forces. Plenty of al Shabaab members have defected, while others are hiding out in the countryside.
At the same time, no one’s yet celebrating. The situation remains fragile, and that’s for two reasons. First, al Shabaab retains the ability to strike at targets pretty much anywhere in the country, including Mogadishu and other cities that are under the government’s control. That’s what we saw with the Jazeera hotel attack last week.
“They’re not going to win. They might not even score a goal. But that’s not the point. Something very special is happening on the ice in this small Swedish town, which has nothing to with winning or losing. It’s getting two very different communities to talk to each other, and to live together.”
From Somalia to Siberia… on ice… via Sweden
05 Jan- Source: Mary Harper Blog-1066 Words
Somalis are going to Siberia… on ice… via Sweden! They are going to be the first and only African team competing in the World Bandy Championships. I had the good fortune to visit Sweden to report on this amazing story for the BBC. I went to Sweden with two BBC colleagues, Tim Mansel whose idea it was and who was the producer, and Nick Woolley who directed, filmed and edited this wonderful film:
Bandy is not a game many people know. It’s basically ice hockey writ large – played outdoors on a sheet of ice the size of a football pitch. So the countries that win World Championships are generally those from the frozen north – places like Sweden, Finland and Russia. But in this year’s world championships beginning in January there’ll be a new contender. They won’t win many games. But they’re likely to win a lot of new friends. Mary Harper has just been to Sweden to meet the national bandy team of…Somalia.
There, stretching out in front of me is a giant, smooth sheet of ice. It’s the size and shape of a football pitch, with a little net goal at either end. It’s night-time and the sky is pitch black. But the perfect white of the ice seems to glow from the inside, as it’s lit by floodlights which swing above it, stretched across on wires.
Somalia is important to us: Fred Ngoga Gateretse
05 Jan- Source: AMISOM-02:08mins
Why is Somalia important for this region?
Top tweets
@UKinSomalia What infrastructure does #Somalia need? Find out in the Somali Economic Forum’s Infrastructure Report 2014http://www.
@SomaliPM Met with #Sweedish Ambassador Mikael Lindvall at Villa Somalia to discuss the progress & development of#Somalia pic.twitter.com/LeDyjkRBH8
@Omaar_nor After clan conflict and Floods,140 families resettled in their homes in Middle Shabelle region, south#Somalia. pic.twitter.com/QgyMB8jVAn
@SomaliaNewsroom Stage being set for broadcast of#Puntland2014 election in #Garowe #Puntlandpic.twitter.com/1ta59grWBn
@africarenewal #Africa graph – Somali diaspora’s remittances cast a lifeline: Interview with a money transfer chief executivehttp://ow.ly/sjBjC
Image of the day
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohammud welcomes new IGAD Special Envoy for Somalia Mohamed Abdi Afey @TheVillaSomalia in Mogadishu. Photo: @SalahOsman0