July 20, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Concerns Grow Over Electoral Process Delay
20 July 2016 – Source: Puntlandi.com– 209 Words
The fate of the much anticipated 2016 elections hangs on a thread wire as Somali political leaders run out of time to meet over the electoral deadlines, Puntland has reliably established.
According to reliable sources privy to the National Leadership Forum (NLF), the electoral timetable seems unrealistic due to a number of major stumbling blocks. These may force the deadline to be postponed in order to redress some outstanding issues deemed a prerequisite for the successful implementation of electoral process.
NFL talks to address the contentious issues have failed to make a significant breakthrough. This has stalled the consultative process on several occasions, thus further shifting the already bleak chances of meeting the election deadline. The parliamentary and presidential elections were earmarked to take place between August and September this year.
According to the sources, key factors believed to be contributing to the current political stalemate include:
1) Banadir region’s representation in the Upper House of the Federal Parliament.
2) The election venue
3) Somaliland clan distribution in the Upper House representatives.
4) Hiiraan clans’ claims that their MPs were sabotaged.
The Federal Government, on the other hand, insists that the elections will be held according to their respective deadlines. This is despite concerns of availability of adequate funds.
Key Headlines
- Concerns Grow Over Electoral Process Delay (Puntlandi.com)
- Federal MP Claims Elections Being Deliberately Delayed (Goobjoog News)
- Troops Cordoned Off Deva Hospital Linked To Failed Turkish Coup (Shabelle News)
- Burundian Battalions Conclude Successful Year-long Tour Of Duty In Somalia (AMISOM)
- 34 Kenyans Secretly Abducted By Police In Hunt For Terrorists – Human Rights Watch (The Star)
- IOM Opens Youth Job Centre In Borama Somaliland (IOM)
- Somali Migrant Returns Home After Losing Hope In Europe (Radio Ergo)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Federal MP Claims Elections Being Deliberately Delayed
20 July 2016 – Source: Goobjoog News– 161 Words
Somali lawmaker Abdisamed Moalim Mohamud has accused the government election panel of intentionally delaying the electoral process as reports of possible extension of the mandate of the government emerge.
The surprise claim by the lawmaker adds to the uncertainty of holding what has so far been an indirect election: “The government has been delaying this process intentionally only for reasons that we can speculate about. By this time in 2012 (when the last elections were held), for instance, campaigns were in top gear in the capital and across the country.”
The politician’s sentiments come at a time when Somalia is approaching a critical period of going to the polls this August to elect a President and parliamentary representatives. In April this year, over thirty MPs asked Somali government and international partners to give enough attention to the polls in order that they are conducted on the scheduled time. He warned that any delay could lead to political instability in the country.
Soldiers Deployed At Deva Hospital To ‘Prevent looting’
20 July 2016 – Source: Shabelle News– 161 Words
Somali government has sent security forces to Deva hospital, which is run by the Turkish Nile Organization, to prevent possible looting from members of the public.
Somalia’s Health Ministry officials said the step was taken to guard against possible looting of the facility’s equipment following the government’s announcement to suspend the operations of the Nile organization, associated with the recent coup attempt in Turkey. Deva is among very few hospitals in the capital that provide quality medical healthcare to well-to-do people as it levies high for its medical services.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Burundian Battalions Conclude Successful Year-long Tour Of Duty In Somalia
20 July 2016 – Source: AMISOM – 247 Words
Burundian troops from the 32nd and 33rd battalions are returning home after a year in Somalia, under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). The first batch of 1,891 officers left Somalia for home on last Thursday. Others will leave the country in the course of this week.
“Our relationship with the Somali National Army has been good because we shared information about the enemy – Al-Shabaab. Also, during reconnaissance patrols, we were together. And it was the Somali National Army helping us because of the language barrier. It was them who told us the names of the localities, helped us with information and taught us how to communicate with the Somali populations,” said the commander of the 32nd Battalion Major John Manirakiza.
Major Richard Nikoyagize, the commander of the 33rd Battalion attributed the success of the Burundian troops to high discipline and a good working relationship with the Somali National Army. Burundi is one of the troop-contributing countries to AMISOM, mandated to support the Federal Government of Somalia in defeating the militant group Al-Shabaab. Other troop contributing countries are Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.
The Burundi National Defence Forces are responsible for keeping security in Sector 5, which comprises areas such as El Baraf, Mahaaday, Balcad, Helman, Walshiq and Quorolow. The troops are also present in sector Kismayo as part of a multinational military deployment. The troops participated in various projects in liberated areas, including providing medical services and safe drinking water to vulnerable communities.
34 Kenyans Secretly Abducted By Police In Hunt For Terrorists – Human Rights Watch
20 July 2016 – Source: The Star– 402 Words
Kenyan security officers have secretly abducted at least 34 people in the last two years during abusive counterterrorism operations, a report has found. The Human Rights Watch report, which will be officially releasedon Wednesday, stated the disappearances were mostly in Nairobi and North Eastern.
The report, titled ‘Deaths and Disappearances: Abuses in Counter terrorism Operations in Nairobi and in Northeastern Kenya’, says persons are reported missing but that the government takes no action. “In months, and in some cases over a year later, suspects have not been charged with any crimes and families cannot locate them,” it reads in part.
It adds that authorities do not inform families of the detainees’ whereabouts and do not properly investigate allegations of abuse. It documents 34 instances of multi-agency security operations in which the military was actively involved in raiding homes and compounds to arrest people allegedly suspected of links with Al-Shabaab.
Some of the individuals interviewed by the Human Rights Watch recounted their ordeals. “My brother Omar Yusuf was picked by two men from the Anti-Terror police unit. That was the last day that he was seen,” a respondent, Adan, said. He said his brother was picked on April 26, 2016.
IOM Opens Youth Job Centre In Borama, Somaliland
19 July 2016 – Source: IOM – 260 Words
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) this week (17/7) opened the first job center in Borama, Somaliland. The center, funded by the Netherlands through Oxfam Novib – the Dutch affiliate of Oxfam – will provide a place where unemployed youth from Borama can acquire marketable skills and career advice in order to improve their chances of finding lawful employment, without having to resort to dangerous irregular migration.
The job center will also provide young people with opportunities to interact with experts from the diaspora and gain entrepreneurial skills to start their own businesses. It will also organize outreach activities, including sports, debates, arts and cultural performances, career advice, and book reading clubs.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Regional Governor of Borama Mohamoud Ali Saleban said: “Youth unemployment is still a problem in Somaliland. Many youth opt for tariib (irregular migration) or criminal activities as a source of income. It is through job centers and other interactive forums that we hope our youth can gain skills and use them in rebuilding the country.”
He urged international organizations and NGOs to work with the Somaliland authorities to build their capacity and provide job opportunities to the young people, who are the future of Somaliland.
IOM has previously supported unemployed youth both in Somalia and Somaliland through provision of paid internships that saw over 245 young people employed in the government and private sector. The scheme was a success with a 72 percent retention rate. IOM has also reported on youth unemployment in Puntland, Somaliland, Mogadishu, Kismayo and Baidoa, focusing on unemployment, irregular migration and skills gaps.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
I thought that life in Europe would be sweeter than in Africa. I expected to get a permanent residence and employment, and a recognised and respected passport so that I can travel around the world. I believed that there was enough wealth in Europe. These dreams were the reason behind my migration to Europe. But when I reached there I discovered that life is not all roses. I didn’t expect that life in Europe would be like that and I lost hope.
Somali Migrant Returns Home After Losing Hope In Europe
19 July 2016 – Source: Radio Ergo – 632 Words
Burhan Jama Mohamed, 25, was in his final year of education studies at college when he migrated from Garowe to Europe a year ago. He said goodbye to his wife, pregnant with their first child, and travelled through Ethiopia and Sudan to Libya and then across the Mediterranean Sea to Italy. He paid $8,500 on the journey that he hoped would lead him to a better life.
But Burhan was hugely disappointed in Europe. After nine months in Switzerland, he made the decision to return home to Somalia. Radio Ergo’s reporter in Garowe, Abdirahman Mohamed Haji, met Burhan and asked him what made him change his mind. The following is a transcript of the interview.
Burhan: I have learnt many lessons while I was in Europe. I didn’t get a better life, nor food, housing and money. I was living in a camp and there was no hope that my asylum application would be accepted. I realized that people wait too long before they are granted asylum and only a few people are accepted and given the legal documents to live in the country. There are many people [i.e. migrants] who are living in despair and have lost hope in this life after their applications were rejected. For example, there was a day we rescued a young Somali man, who was with us in the camp, trying to commit suicide by throwing himself in front of a train. He was regretting about the money he had spent getting to Europe and worried about the treatment he received there. He was also worried about the life of his family back home. He was not alone in that situation – there are many young people who are stressed and confused. I refused to live such a stressful life and that is why I decided to come back, while I am still physically and mentally healthy.
Abdirahman: Why did you migrate in the first place?
Burhan: I thought that life in Europe would be sweeter than in Africa. I expected to get a permanent residence and employment, and a recognised and respected passport so that I can travel around the world. I believed that there was enough wealth in Europe. These dreams were the reason behind my migration to Europe. But when I reached there I discovered that life is not all roses. I didn’t expect that life in Europe would be like that and I lost hope. Feelings of anxiety and distress engulfed me.
Abdirahman: How did you manage to come back to Somalia, since you didn’t have the right documents to travel?
Burhan: The idea came to my mind a few months before I returned home. I contacted the immigration authorities in Switzerland and requested them to return me to Somalia. They asked me a lot of questions, and who was to pay for my ticket. I realized they were wasting my time and I decided to contact IOM and asked them for help. After a collaboration with the Somali Embassy in Geneva, IOM gave me a document that enabled me to travel back home. The organisation also paid my air ticket and gave me $2,500 as money for expenses.
Abdirahman: So now you have returned to Somalia what are your plans?
Burhan: I have been home in the country for less than two months. I went back to resume studies at Garowe Teachers Education College. I started the classes again from where I left off. I re-united with my wife and my young daughter, who was born a month after I left the country. I am working hard to get any type of a job. Previously I used to be too proud to do certain jobs, but now I have learned in Europe that a job is just a job.
TOP TWEETS
@cadow10: This ain’t the Bernabou, nor is it Emirates, This is simply Banadir stadium, Mogadishu, Somalia.https://pbs.twimg.com/media/
@RadioErgo: After a collaboration with the #SomaliaEmbassy in Geneva,@IOM_Somalia gave me a doc that enabled me to travel back http://bit.ly/2a8grpN
@AbdurahmanShar: Formal Banking system is back as 1st Somali Banking Union sets conditions for Banking in #Somaliahttp://www.geeskaafrika.com/
@Aynte: Kudos to @SomaliEmbKenya for organizing#SomFinSymposium today in #Nairobi. Very important event.@MoPIC_Somalia is there to contribute
@Vatescorp: #Somalia: Police in Hargeisa detain SLNtv journalist who was in company of UCID presidential candidatehttp://ow.ly/3g4q302pUQE
@Daudoo: #Egypt donates military vehicles, other weapons to#Somalia govt as part of efforts in rebuilding the Somali army:https://pbs.twimg.com/media/
IMAGE OF THE DAY
The first Somali financial sector symposium organized by the Somali Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.
PHOTO: Radio Muqdisho