July 12, 2016 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

Somalia Mulls Maritime Law To Ensure Safety, Curb Pollution

11 July – Source: Xinhua – 435 Words

Somalia on Monday launched a draft policy paper aimed at revamping the maritime sector to help ensure marine safety and curb pollution. The Somali Maritime Code received backing from the country’s key maritime stakeholders and development partners after its launch in Mogadishu.

Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed Omar Arteh, who presided over the launch, said the revised Maritime Code will cover matters pertaining to maritime safety, maritime pollution and maritime commercial laws. “Somalia is faced with great opportunities but also with great challenges. We are positioning ourselves to take full advantage of our position as a littoral country,” Arteh said in a statement released by the Africa Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

“We also expect International Maritime Organization (IMO) to help us to take advantage of those opportunities while also helping us meet the challenges of capacity,” the minister added. A follow-up technical forum to flesh out issues on the proposed draft policy, which has been under development for four years, will be held in Kigali, Rwanda from July 12-15.

Key Headlines

Somalia Mulls Maritime Law To Ensure Safety Curb Pollution (Xinhua)
One dead Several Injured In Bomb Blast In Mogadishu (Shabelle News)
Former Galkayo Deputy Mayor Appears In Puntland Court (Garowe Online)
Death Toll From Somalia Military Base Attack Rises To 7 (Xinhua)
African Union Pre-election Assessment Team Arrives In Mogadishu (AMISOM)
World Bank IGAD Sign $5 Million Grant For East Africa (Al Jazeera)

NATIONAL MEDIA

One dead, Several Injured In Bomb Blast In Mogadishu

11 July – Source: Shabelle News – 89 Words

A bomb blast at a Somali army checkpoint in Somalia’s conflict-riddled capital, Mogadishu left at least 1 person dead, and several others wounded on Monday. Assailants, thought to be the terrorist group Al-Shabaab have attacked an army checkpoint at Howlwadag intersection with grenade bombs, according to an Eyewitness.

No group or individual has so far claimed credit for the grenade attack, but the Al Qaeda affiliated Al-Shabaab has been staging similar attacks in the past few weeks. Somali security forces have cordoned off the scene of the bomb explosion, and kicked off a comb-out manhunt operations for the attackers, reports said.

Former Galkayo Deputy Mayor Appears In Puntland Court

11 July – Source: Garowe Online – 152 Words

Former Deputy Mayor of Galkayo city Yaqub Mohamed Abdale has been arraigned in Nugal’s first degree courton Sunday on charges of defamation. Regional prosecutor has accused Abdale of insulting the President during a news conference widely covered by the members of media last week. The court heard the oral argument in which Abdale’s lawyers subdued defamation suit filed against the defendant as “extremely natural”.
Lawyers said, Abdale expressed his views in the confines of free speech. Seated vis-à-vis the dock, journalists were listening to the proceedings adjourned until Tuesday. The case is the first that names Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali as plaintiff since the state’s inception in 1998. Former Deputy Mayor of Galkayo criticized Puntland President for opting for cronyism and naked tribalism in the appointment of state officials. The dissolution by Ali of Galkayo city council stirred discontents among clans in Galkayo’s vast north earlier in July.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Death Toll From Somalia Military Base Attack Rises To 7

11 July – Source: Xinhua – 169 Words

At least seven soldiers were killed on Monday in a raid on a military base in southern Somalia by the militant group Al-Shabaab, police have confirmed. Senior police officer Omar Abdullahi confirmed to Xinhua the death of the soldiers. “We have established the death of seven soldiers during the military ambush this morning. Our soldiers fought bravely and inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy,” said Omar.

The militants attacked the base at around 1:30 a.m. Monday local time, killing the soldiers and seizing weapons and military trucks. The attack began with a suicide car bomb at the main entrance of the base, followed by massive attack by hundreds of heavily armed militants. Earlier, Lower Shabelle mayor told Xinhua at least five soldiers were killed in the morning raid at Lanta-Bure military base in Lower Shabelle region. Omar said there were more military reinforcements in the region to push the militants. Lanta-Bure in Lower Shabelle region Somalia is about 40 Km SW of the Somali capital Mogadishu.

African Union Pre-election Assessment Team Arrives In Mogadishu

11 July – Source: AMISOM – 340 WOrds

A delegation from the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa arrived in Mogadishu, Somalia today, on a pre-election assessment mission, ahead of the elections, scheduled for August and September 2016. The four-member delegation is in the country to gauge elections preparedness and identify areas for further support.

“We are here to actually listen to all stakeholders, including colleagues in AMISOM as well as partners, particularly the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia. In this regard, we want to look at what is needed, then go back and look at how best the rest of the Commission can support the work of AMISOM, particularly with regards to the electoral process that is forthcoming,” Mr Olabisi Dare, the leader of the delegation said.

The team met with the AU Special Representative for Somalia Ambassador Francisco Caetano Madeira and other senior officials at AMISOM, including the Deputy SRCC Hon. Lydia Wanyoto, and Acting Force Commander Maj. General Nakibus Lakara. The delegation has also met with the Somali Deputy Prime Minister H.E Mohamed Omar Arte and other senior officials of the Federal Government of Somalia, who commended the African Union for the continued support to Somalia. Hon.

World Bank, IGAD Sign $5 Million Grant For East Africa

11 July – Source: Anadolu Agency – 426 Words

The World Bank and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) on Monday in Nairobi signed a $5 million agreement to help mitigate the impact of forced displacement on communities hosting refugee populations in East Africa. The World Bank and IGAD on Monday signed a $5 million International Development Association (IDA) financing grant at the World Bank Offices in Nairobi to help improve economic opportunities, environmental management and social services.

According to the World Bank, the $5 million funding was approved by the World Bank Executive Board of Directors on May 31,2016. The $5 million is part of a larger sum approved for East African countries such as $100 million to Ethiopia, $50 million to Uganda, $20 million to Djibouti.

Speaking during the agreement signing ceremony Ahmadou Moustapha Ndiaye,Coordinating Director for Regional Integration for Central, East and Southern Africa for World Bank emphasized the project aims to provide a development response to the impact of displacements in the Horn of Africa.

“One of the main issues today that require an adequate response is the ever-increasing number of refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) on the continent and its negative impact on the social, economic, political and human development,” Moustapha said.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

“I am happy here, security is good and business is good too. But repatriation is going to end all this and force us to a place where there is war.”

Somali Refugees In Kenya Fear Being Repatriated

11 July – Source: Al Jazeera – 1,100 Words

All of Deck Yusuf Mohamed’s childhood memories begin and end within the confines of the world’s largest refugee camp. Deck, 25, fondly reminisces about playing football with his friends as a child in the dusty grounds at Ifo, one of the camps at Dadaab, unaware that he was even a refugee.

When war broke out in Somalia, Deck’s parents were among the first to arrive at Dadaab in 1991. “My parents have told me that I was just one year old when we came. But they haven’t even told me the name of the village we came from in Somalia,” Deck says.

At the camp, his family lived in poverty and depended on food rations to survive. His mother struggled to make their lives better by selling firewood. She later opened a small clothes shop at the camp’s market. Life got better and Deck and his siblings attended school. For Deck, the camp has always been his home, a peaceful place from which he has never ventured.

Upon finishing primary school in 2008, he started working in the family business. He now spends his days at his family’s shop, selling men’s shirts, trousers and shoes. The shop his mother started through the proceeds from selling firewood has grown and can now comfortably provide for their family. It now has stock worth approximately $850, he estimates.

But Deck’s life may soon change if Kenya makes good on its plan to repatriate the Somali refugees from Dadaab. Joseph Nkaisserry, Kenya’s cabinet secretary for interior, first made the announcement in May. He said the camp was a threat to security and had been used to plan attacks within the country. The government expects to close it by November.