July 18, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
Puntland Parliament Sends Home Cabinet In Majority No Confidence Vote
18 July – Source: Goobjoog News – 202 Words
Puntland Parliament has passed unanimous vote to send home the government of President Abdiweli Gaas barely a year left before the end of its term, as the state prepares to celebrate 19 years of its establishment. The parliament in Garowe endorsed the no confidence motion on the government Tuesday with a majority (47) voting in favour of the motion, only one member voted to save the Cabinet, while the other nine members abstained from the vote.
The circumstances surrounding the introduction of the motion are not yet clear. Business owners have in the last one week boycotted business in many parts of Puntland mainly due to the fake currency circulation which has adversely affected business. Article 67 of Puntland’s constitution bestows upon the House of Representatives powers to relieve the cabinet or individual minister from office. In the event of such a vote, the President will have to table a new cabinet within 21 days for approval. Article 67 (7) reads: If a no confidence vote is passed against the entire Cabinet, the President shall propose a new Cabinet to the House of Representatives within no more than twenty-one (21) days from the day of the vote of no confidence is passed.
Key Headlines
- Puntland Parliament Sends Home Cabinet In Majority No Confidence Vote (Goobjoog News)
- Government of Somalia Issues New Guidelines Following Loss of Millions in Internet Outage (Radio Dalsan)
- Jubbaland Police Seizes Car With Explosives Heading To Kenya (Shabelle News)
- Drought Triggers Mass Displacements In Somalia (CAJ Africa)
- A Look Inside The Unfolding Nightmare In Somalia (Washington Post)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Government of Somalia Issues New Guidelines Following Loss of Millions in Internet Outage
17 July – Source: Radio Dalsan – 241 Words
The Federal Government of Somalia in collaboration with the owner of the fiber-optic cable has successfully restored Internet and data services to South and Central Somalia. The loss of Internet and data services for nearly three weeks caused considerable economic damage to many sectors of the Somali economic, such as commerce, education, healthcare, and the delivery of Government services. The Ministry of Post, Telecommunications and Technology put enormous focus and spared no efforts in trying to minimize the damage to the nation’s economy by assisting the owner of the fiber-optic cable to expedite the restoration of the services and by providing permits and security protection to the repair ship.
Recognizing the enormity of the negative economic impact this incident had on the country’s economy and public services, the Ministry is committed to work with all public and private stakeholders to ensure an outage of this magnitude and length does not occur again. The following measures are needed to prevent similar future incidents: There is greater need than ever for the Parliament to pass the National Communication Law that has been submitted to the Parliament on 10 July 2017 after the Cabinet approved it on 22 June 2017. The Law would have protected the interests of consumers, telecommunication companies, other companies as well as the public sector who would have clear legal recourse through the Law to recover damages and/or levy fines on telecommunication companies who didn’t meet their legal commitment.
Jubbaland Police Seizes Car With Explosives Heading To Kenya
17 July – Source: Shabelle News – 171 Words
The police forces of Somalia’s Jubbaland state in southern Somalia have managed to capture a vehicle loaded with assembled explosives and bomb-making materials near Kenyan border. After a tip-off from local residents, the police in Dhobleey, located a car driven by two Somali-Kenyan men near the border packed with the IEDs before crossing into Kenya on Monday.
Heybe Ahmed, the chief of Jubbaland Police in the town, told Radio Shabelle via the phone that they took the two men to a detention centre for inquiry. Ahmed stated the Al Qaeda linked Al- Shabaab group sent the two men to carry out a car bomb attack in somewhere in Kenya during the forthcoming vote for the next Presidential elections.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Drought Triggers Mass Displacements In Somalia
18 July – Source: CAJ Africa – 242 Words
Severe drought has displaced some 662 000 Somalis in the crisis-torn country since the beginning of the year. The situation is projected to worsen towards the end of the year after rains ended months before June, when they normally cease, in most of the East African country. As a result of insufficient rains, pest infestation and reduced area cultivated, overall cereal production will be 50-60 percent of average, humanitarian agencies said. The continuous arrival of newly displaced populations has contributed to the worsening of food security and nutrition in refugee settlements such as Baidoa and the capital Mogadishu. Malnutrition is rife in nine of the 12 refugee settlements. Livestock herd sizes have reduced substantially due to the impact of the prolonged drought and recovery is expected to take at least two consecutive seasons of good rainfall.Access to humanitarian assistance remains a challenge in many rural parts of central and southern Somalia.
Meanwhile, an outbreak of cholera reported earlier this year is worsening with 795 deaths recorded across the country from more than 53 000 cases of the water borne disease. Apart from the worst drought in years, Somalia is enduring a civil war spanning over two decades and the insurgency by the Al-Shabaab terror group. “If current level of humanitarian assistance is scaled back and rising levels of morbidity and disease outbreaks are not controlled, famine is possible in the worst affected areas,” the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit warned.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“It is difficult to describe the scale of Somali suffering — a quarter of the population wrestling with hunger and despair. These people require more than a flash of empathy. They need empathy and action as sustained and implacable as the drought itself,”
A Look Inside The Unfolding Nightmare In Somalia
17 July – Source: Washington Post – 774 Words
This town was liberated from the control of Al-Shabaab (an Islamist insurgent group) five years ago. But “liberated” is a relative term. The security bubble created by the presence of U.N. and Ethiopian military forces reaches less than 10 miles outside of town, leaving just a short hike to terrorist land. Women I met in line at a clinic had come from Al-Shabaab-occupied territory that morning. The insurgency forbids medical treatment from the government, so women must sneak in and out of town for prenatal care. If they are caught with their blue medical-record cards, Al-Shabaab imposes fines or worse.
In sophisticated propaganda videos, the Islamist insurgency claims to have a working, parallel government, with schools and medical facilities. When I mentioned this to Somalis, they laughed. Al-Shabab is best at taxing movement and businesses, conducting targeted assassinations, and importing al-Qaeda bomb experts. Last year, a double bombing in Baidoa killed more than 30 people. In 2015, fighters wearing Somali army uniforms breached the Baidoa green zone and killed several people across from the compound where I wrote this column.Most of the men you encounter in the street are armed, and travel outside of town requires a small platoon of guards. The periodic gunshots you hear are disconcerting but usually indicate weddings and other celebrations. “It means someone is happy,” I was told. The relative stability of the town attracts IDPs (internally displaced persons) fleeing from famine-like conditions caused by three years of inadequate rains, further complicated by conflict. More than 700,000 Somalis — well over half of them children — have left their homes due to the drought. At one IDP camp, I spoke with a woman who had all her food and money confiscated at al-Shabab checkpoints. I spoke with a woman who started her trek with six children and ended with four — the other two taken by cholera, which can kill within hours.
Somalia generally gets bad press, focused on starvation, terrorism or piracy. But it’s not a country composed mainly of hungry Islamist pirates. It is a country in the midst of re-founding itself. It recently elected a promising new president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who has Somali/American dual citizenship and once worked for the New York State Department of Transportation in Buffalo. But Mohamed is now under considerable pressure to produce tangible social and military results.
TOP TWEETS
@AhmedKosar1:BREAKING: #AlShabaab militants attack GSU camp in Lamu county hours after Pres. Kenyatta ordered for their killing. No casualties reported.
@NUSOJofficial: #StopDraconianMediaLaw. No Curbs to Freedom of Expression in #Somalia
@Magdashi3: Replying to @Magdashi3 @UKenyatta. Kenyatta has called for the evacuation of residents in insecure parts of Lamu to safer areas and vowed vengeance against #AlShabaabterrorists
@Goobjoognews: #Galmudug and #Puntland create joint security force in #Galkaayo #Mudug #Somalia
@HarunMaruf: One person was killed following barrage of mortar attack by Al-Shabaab on Bardhere town last night.
@JeanNteziman: Jean-Pierre Nteziman Retweeted DNS. The inflation rate in #Somalia in June 2017 was 1.7%. @mpfsomalia@mudane_abdirahm. Well done @DNS_MoPIED with regular#CPI releases
@HarunMaruf: BREAKING: Somali regional parliament passes a motion of no confidence against all cabinet ministers of Puntland: reports
@GaroweBookFair: “The main aim of #GIBF2017 is to promote a reading and writing culture among youth” @sahro
@DeeqAfrika: My first time at #Garowe Book Fair, really enjoying mingling & learning more about the young writers & future deconstructors #GIBF2017
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Puntland President, Abdiweli Mohamed hands over a certificate to a soldier who took part in a training held in Puntland.