July 13, 2017 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

Somali President Urges the Two Chambers of the Parliament to Cooperate for Constitutional Review

12 July – Source: Somaliupdate – 257 Words

President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has opened the second parliamentary session of the Upper House of the Somali Federal Parliament. In his constitutional address, the president called upon the two houses of parliament to cooperate in the ongoing process of reviewing Somalia’s provisional constitution. “The two chambers of the federal parliament must cooperate in the important duty of the process of reviewing our provisional constitution”

President Farmaajo urged members of the Upper House to take the lead in ensuring delivery of services aimed at achieving development goals and plans. “You must ensure in all you do that it should only be in the interest of the nation, and avoid personal, groups or clan interest,” The president in his address also underscored the key objectives that the house must prioritize in this parliamentary session including political dialogues and consultations, as well as defining the sharing of powers and responsibilities between the central government and the federal states. The president further urged both houses of parliament to strengthen their relations and cooperate as stipulated in article 56 of the provisional constitution.

Speaker of the Upper House, Abdi Hashi Abdullahi has noted the agenda of the current session of the House which include a joint meetings of the Members of the Lower and Upper Houses for the Constitution Review and launching consultative forums with the help of Federal Member States. “We also wish the joint Permanent Committees of the two chambers to address critically the status of the Capital City as our people want this issue be resolved.” Mr. Abdullahi added.

Key Headlines

Somali President Urges the Two Chambers of the Parliament to Cooperate for Constitutional Review (Somali Update)
Assailants Kill 2 In Mogadishu Including A Tax Collector – Witnesses (Horn Observer)
Lack of Internet Resulted In Economic Decline Says Travel Agencies (Goobjoog News)
Suicide Car Bomber Attacks Government Checkpoint Outside Mogadishu Kill At least 3 (Horn Observer)
Somali School Teachers Arrested For ‘Al-Shabab Meetings’ (BBC News)
The Return To Somalia: Home Sweet Home? (Amnesty International )

NATIONAL MEDIA

Assailants Kill 2 In Mogadishu Including A Tax Collector

12 July – Source: Horn Observer – 132 Words

At least two people among them a taxman and 14 year old girl were killed and 3 others were wounded in Mogadishu on Wednesday, after assailants on car opened fire, witnesses said. Witnesses said that armed militias on a car opened fire at a tax collector at Fagah road junction in Mogadishu’s Yaqshid district, leaving the taxman and 14 old girl dead. “The gunmen opened fire aiming at the taxman and immediately fled the area,” Abdi Muhumad, a witness said. Tax collection business, which is one of the government’s revenue collection sources has been increasingly becoming dangerous. Several taxmen had already been assassinated in this way. The spokesperson for the Benadir region, Abdifatah Omar Halane told reporters in Mogadishu that the matter is being investigated and that authorities are pursuing the attackers.

Lack of Internet Resulted In Economic Decline Says Travel Agencies

12 July – Source: Goobjoog News – 153 Words

The internet outage for the last two weeks has adversely affected local travel agencies in Somalia and resulted economic loss in the sector. Some officials in the travel agency business mentioned the decline of flight customers they used to serve due to lack of quick communication through the internet. Turkish Flight office in Mogadishu cited the lack of facilitation of its clients due to the lack of internet service “We used to serve at least 10-15 clients within an hour during the presence of internet connection but due to lack or weak internet service, we do only for 2 clients in the same period” said a Turkish Airline agent in Mogadishu. Flight passengers in the country are given printed ticket copies from neighbouring countries. Disruption of internet service was felt in Somalia from the 24th June 2017 till today and citizens are feeling the pinch of not being able to get into online.

Suicide Car Bomber Attacks Government Checkpoint Outside Mogadishu Kill At least 3

12 July – Source: Horn Observer – 133 Words

At least three people were confirmed dead after a suicide car bomber targeted a government checkpoint outside Mogadishu on wednesday, officials said. Witnesses said a car loaded with explosives believed to be heading to Mogadishu arrived at the Siinka Dheer checkpoint and the driver detonated his explosives at the checkpoint killing at least three people. The spokesperson of Benadir regional administration, Abdifatah Omar Halane told the media that, “the car was heading to Mogadishu and the attack was foiled by security forces.” Al-Shabaab claimed the responsibility for the attack in a message published by pro-Al-Shabaab websites, saying that, “the group targeted a military convoy that was carrying supplies to Balidoogle airport, a base for the African Union mission to Somalia and the US military. There are no independent sources verifying the group’s claim.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somali School Teachers Arrested For ‘Al-Shabab Meetings’

12 July – Source: BBC News – 178 Words

Somali authorities have arrested seven head teachers who they accuse of meeting Al-Shabaab militants. They are said to have discussed changing the curriculum at private schools to favour the Islamist group’s ideology. Each of the principals is responsible for around 1,000 students, ranging in age from seven to 15. Al-Shabab has been waging a war against Somalia’s federal government for the last 10 years.

Mahad Hassan Osman, the information minister for the central Hir-Shabelle region, told the BBC’s Somali service that the teachers had been intercepted and arrested near the town of Jowhar. ”We arrested them 15km outside the town. “They were attempting to change the school’s curriculum to suit what the group believes in, which is the implementation of strict Islamic law.” The minister has said the teachers will be taken to court once an investigation has taken place. Al-Shabaab, which is affiliated to al-Qaeda, has been pushed out of Somalia’s main towns but still controls many rural areas. The militant group launched its own curriculum in April, and produces school textbooks reflecting its Islamist agenda.

OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE

“Interviewing returnees in Baidoa and Kismayu is a nerve-racking experience. They shared personal stories that are haunting and resulted in nightmares many days after the interviews. It is more agonising for the returnees because it often revives painful memories,”

The Return To Somalia: Home Sweet Home?

12 July – Source: Amnesty International – 854 Words

Ubaax (pronounced as Ubah), originally from Dinsoor district, looked at me, then bent her head as tears rolled down her thin, shiny cheeks. I looked out of the window as I absorbed what she had just said. By mid-2011, Ubaax, her husband and their 11 children were facing a desperate dilemma: either wait for famine to kill them in Dinsoor; or walk the long distance to Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. She chose the latter. But the distance of more than 600 kilometres was too much for her five youngest children. The thought of anyone walking for 600 kilometres in search of food and dying of hunger along the way is heart-wrenching.

That this happened to children under five years of age is devastating.“They died of hunger, cholera and exhaustion from the long walk,” she told me. The thought of anyone walking for 600 kilometres in search of food and dying of hunger along the way is heart-wrenching. That this happened to children under five years of age is devastating.

I interviewed Ubaax on 25 April 2017 in Baidoa town in Somalia. She was among the many Somali refugee returnees that I interviewed in Baidoa and Kismayu towns from 23 April to 4 May 2017. I found their stories emotionally draining. From time-to-time, I would pause to let people who had broken down re-compose themselves.Ubaax lived in Dadaab for five years and returned to Somalia in August 2016. “We bought a small piece of land with the money the [United Nations High Commission for Refugees] UNHCR gave us. The Norwegian Refugee Council [NRC] came and built us a one-room house where we now live,” she revealed.

ADDITIONAL SOMALIA NEWS WILL APPEAR IN THE AFTERNOON REPORT

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