July 20, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
Over 700,000 Displaced By Drought Since November In Somalia – UN
18 July – Source: Goobjoog News – 369 Words
At least 760,000 people were displaced by the ongoing drought between November last year and late June this year while 3.2 million people are facing a food crisis and emergency, the UN has said warning its call for increased funding still falls short by more than half. In its humanitarian briefing this month, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said an elevated risk of famine persists in Somalia due to severe food consumption gaps, high acute malnutrition and high disease burden. Bay region in south western Somalia experienced the highest levels of human displacement in the said periods with 182,061 people being forced to leave their homes in search of humanitarian help.
Banaadir region which encompasses the capital Mogadishu recorded the second highest number of displacements (161,856) while the Middle Shabelle registered the lowest (1,874). OCHA further notes 363,000 children under the age of five remain acutely malnourished even as cases of cholera and acute watery diarrhea continue to be reported in many parts of the country with an upward trend every month. “The case-fatality rate of 1.5 per cent remains above the emergency threshold of 1 per cent. In addition, over 10,000 suspected cases of measles have been reported since January,” OCHA says.
Key Headlines
- Over 700,000 Displaced By Drought Since November In Somalia – UN (Goobjoog News)
- Puntland Auditor General Freezes Bank Accounts Of Ousted Cabinet (RBC Radio)
- President Farmaajo’s Planned Visit To Puntland Postponed (Garowe Online)
- Kenyan Soldiers Kill Al-Shabaab Chief In Southern Somalia (Daily Nation)
- KS Relief Repatriates 316 Stranded Somalis (Asharq-Al-Awsat)
- The Somali Pirates Are Back – SPOILER ALERT: They Never Really Left (Irinnews)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Puntland Auditor General Freezes Bank Accounts Of Ousted Cabinet
20 July – Source: RBC Radio – 204 Words
The Auditor General of Puntland State of Somalia Jama Mohamed Osman has ordered all bank accounts used by the state’s ousted Cabinet frozen until further notice. An official communication by Mr. Osman to the Puntland State Bank and the privately-owned banks and local hawalas in the region, the Auditor General instructed that no transactions made on behalf of the ousted ministers.The ministers are also ordered not to release any payments pending further instructions from the Auditor General’s Office.“Referring the constitutional power and the Law Nr. 15/2000, the Auditor General of Puntland State of Somalia instructs Puntland State Bank and all privately-owned remittances to suspend withdrawals from all bank accounts related to Puntland Ministries.” the letter sent to the banks seen by Raxanreeb noted.“This order is effective from 19th July, 2017.” the letter added.
The instructions from the state’s Auditor General comes following the decision by Puntland’s House of Representatives on Tuesday which voted to oust the cabinet of the ministers putting the region in unprecedented political chaos since the establishment of Somalia’s northeastern semi-autonomous state in 1998. President Abdiweli Ali Gaas has on Tuesday welcomed the vote of no confidence against his Cabinet and promised to form a new Cabinet.
President Farmaajo’s Planned Visit To Puntland Postponed
20 July – Source: Garowe Online – 218 Words
A scheduled visit by President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed ‘Farmaajo’ to the northeastern regional administration of Puntland has been postponed indefinitely, Villa Somalia sources said.This came after Puntland asked President Farmaajo to postpone his planned visit to the region due to the ‘political crisis’ in the region after the recent sacking of the region’s Cabinet with no-confidence majority vote by the state’s assembly. The visit was scheduled to take place this week.Reports say that some of the sacked ministers were members of a committee tasked with the reception of the federal president to Garowe.
They have requested to be removed from the committee after their dismissal. This has caused the Puntland presidency to send a request to President Farmajo asking to postpone his visit until the political tension in the region was resolved. President Farmaajo is believed to have accepted the request. A senior Puntland presidency official, who requested to be anonymous said president Abdiweli Gaas is facing a lot of pressure to immediately form a new government. Preparations to mark the 19th anniversary of the establishment of Puntland to be observed on August 1 are also underway. President Farmajo’s expected visit to Puntland was delayed several times in the past. Since his assumption of office, he visited several regional states capitals including Baidoa, Kismayo and Adado.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Kenyan Soldiers Kill Al-Shabaab Chief In Southern Somalia
20 July – Source: Daily Nation – 330 Words
The Kenya Defence Forces says it has killed a senior Al-Shabaab commander. Hassan Issack Ibrahim alias Beila, who was in charge of Gelef area in Somalia was killed together with two bodyguards during an operation jointly carried out with Jubaland security forces, said the KDF. Hassan is believed to have been the force behind the hijacking of miraa vehicles on the Kenya-Somalia border at Diff, Hamey and Dhobley.He is also said to have led a number of attacks on police posts. An AK-47 rifle, a grenade and a mobile phone were found on the commander’s body, which was displayed to the public in Dhobley town on Wednesday. At the same time, there are reports of Al-Shabaab terrorists in Somalia amassing at Lakta belt near Boni Forest, with the aim of entering the woodland ahead of an operation ordered by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Police on Wednesday said five Al-Shabaab militants of Kenyan origin had been dispatched from Somalia to lead fresh attacks. Authorities said they believed some of the terrorists’ relatives were involved in helping them sneak into the country.Police circulated photos of five suspected militants and appealed to the public to volunteer information on their whereabouts. Police also offered Sh2 million for information that would lead to the arrest of Abdikadir Mohamed aka Ikrima, Mohammed Tajir Ali, Suleiman Irungu Mwangi and brothers Salad Tari Gufu and Gufu Tari Gufu. Suleiman, police said, has other aliases, including Habib, Maalim Zakariya and Jureij.
KS Relief Repatriates 316 Stranded Somalis
20 July – Source: Asharq-Al-Awsat – 242 Words
King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid (KS Relief) has continued to repatriate stranded Somalis to their country, the Saudi Press Agency reported.The 11th batch, representing 316 stranded Somalis, left Yemen on Wednesday heading for Somalia, under a direct supervision of the International Organization for Migration and the Somali Consulate in Yemen, SPA said.
The agency also said Wednesday that KS Relief has distributed 45 tons of medicines, medical supplies and equipment to government hospitals in Aden, Taiz, Marib, Jouf and Sayoun in the presence of Yemeni Minister of Public Health and Population Dr. Nasser Baoum. Dr. Baoum said in a press statement that the medical assistance will contribute to the rehabilitation of government hospitals and support medical efforts in the eradication of cholera in Yemen, praising the great role being played by King Salman Center in supporting the health sector.
For his part, the director of the office of KS Relief in Aden said that the distribution of medical and therapeutic assistance consisting of medical equipment and supplies to the government hospitals will improve medical and health conditions in these hospitals.It is noteworthy that in the holy month of Ramadan, the Center provided 550 tons of medicines and medical supplies for cholera control, while allocating $8 million for the same purpose and $66.7 million under the directive of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, to support efforts for combating cholera in Yemen.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Most local businessmen now oppose them. One of them is 32-year-old Ahmed Jama Jowle who earned his money selling used cars and office furniture. Three years ago he opened Classic Stadium, an astroturfed arena. “I wanted to give youngsters an alternative to joining up with the pirates,” he explains. It’s evening and the floodlights illuminate a Ramadan Cup game.”
The Somali Pirates Are Back – SPOILER ALERT: They Never Really Left
19 July – Source: Irinews – 2271 Words
A pirate with a full beard makes an ironic salute as I walk towards him across the red gravel of the prison yard in Garowe, the capital of the Somali region of Puntland. His fellow prisoners turn away in disgust or yell curses at me through the bars. “We hate you. It’s your fault that we are sitting here like animals in a cage. It’s humiliating that white men always come and take photos of us and repeat the same stupid questions,” scoffs the pirates’ spokesman, Abdi Mahad. There are 47 ex-pirates locked up in Garowe, most of them serving decades-long sentences. According to the prison warden, only the lowest ranking pirates are doing time in the EU-funded facility, along with soldiers from the jihadist insurgent group al-Shabab, petty cattle thieves, and domestic abusers.
This is what the flagship of Western engagement looks like up close: 47 luckless men behind bars on a rocky plateau in a country tested by drought and instability. But the fight against piracy has produced results. To protect the shipping lanes through the Gulf of Aden, the international powers sent warships and the EU trained the Somali coast guard. At piracy’s peak in 2010-13, more than 100 ships were being hijacked per year and millions of dollars paid in ransom. In 2015 and most of 2016 there were no successful hijackings. The EU’s Operation Atalanta is still patrolling the Gulf of Aden alongside the Indian, Russian, and Chinese navies. But NATO’s vessels left for other hot spots in December last year, and the pressure on the pirates has decreased considerably.
As a result, the attacks have begun again. At least five ships have been hijacked off the coast of Somalia this year, among them the oil tanker Aris 13 and a fishing vessel, which was transformed into a so-called mother ship from where new hijackings can be orchestrated. Puntland, a rugged province at the tip of the Horn of Africa, is where piracy began; it’s also from here that several of the recent attacks have been launched. Puntland is an autonomous region, slightly better off than the rest of Somalia, but it still suffers from chronic poverty and insecurity. It is where so-called Islamic State has established a toehold, and is also a base for al-Shabab. Every week there are assassinations, ambushes, and suicide attacks.
TOP TWEETS
@Goobjoognews:Survivors of Al Hudaydah attack among 316 Somalis evacuated from Yemen this week –
@Somalia: #Somali security forces are making utmost efforts to achieve #security, #peace and #stability inside and outside the capital, #Mogadishu.
@HarunMaruf: Reports: Shabab’s shadow governor for Galgudud Hassan Yaqub who comes from same area as Abu Mansour tasked to “lead” possible attack on Aba.
@Somalia: #Somalia‘s Deputy PM has launched a project to expand the broadcast range of #RadioMogadishu to include five provinces near the capital.
@MofaSomalia: President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed bids farewell to outgoing #Swedish Ambassador to #Somalia, Mikael Lindvall.
#Somali #Mogadishu #Sweden
@HarunMaruf: Asli Hassan Abade, the first female Somali pilot flew her 1st flight in 1976. She returns to Mogadishu this week after 25+ years: @DalsanFM
@AbdulBillowAli: #Kenya steps up terror war with new copters. Meanwhile, Al-Shabaab remains active in Coast & NE Kenya.#KDF #Somalia
@TC_Mogadishu: Under able leadership of Speaker Jawari, Federal Parliament will establish necessary legal framework for state building process this year.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Outgoing Swedish Ambassador to Somalia, Mikael Lindvall receives farewell gift from President Farmajo.
PHOTO: @engyarisow