March 28, 2017 | Morning Headlines
President Farmajo Asks Parliamentarians To Drop Petition Against Cabinet
27 March – Source : Hiiraan Online – 150 Words
President Farmajo pushed back against Parliamentarians who are petitioning the proposed cabinet on Monday morning, saying that he had full confidence in the new team. Fresh off the heels of a IGAD heads of state summit, the President arrived in Mogadishu to persuade MP’s into dropping the petition – lead by the Speaker of Parliament, that calls for the Prime Minister to go back to the drawing board for his cabinet.
Earlier this week, 105 MP’s signed a petition that rejected the cabinet for a variety of reasons ranging from claims of unqualified cabinet members to not distributing cabinet portfolios along the agreed 4.5 power sharing agreement. A source close to Parliament has told Hiiraan Online that the number has of MP’s who signed the petition has grown since it’s introduction. The Somali constitution stipulates that the proposed cabinet must be approved by Parliament before they can officially take office.
Key Headlines
- President Farmajo Asks Parliamentarians To Drop Petition Against Cabinet (Hiiraan Online)
- Senator Farole Urges Federal Parliament To Endorse New Cabinet (Garowe Online)
- President Returns Home After Historic Visit To Kenya (Shabelle News)
- As Cholera Spreads Somalia Begins Vaccination Campaign (The New York Times)
- When The River Dries Out All Life Disappears (Reliefweb)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Senator Farole Urges Federal Parliament To Endorse New Cabinet
27 March – Source : Garowe Online – 302 Words
Federal Senator and Former Puntland President Abdirahman Mahmoud Farole, has called lawmakers of Somalia’s House of People to swiftly approve the nominated cabinet ministers by Prime Minister. In a special interview with Radio Garowe over the phone from his residence in Australia, Senator Farole highlighted to the importance that Federal Parliament give the vote of confidence to the new cabinet to move forward with the new government’s agenda to tackle Somalia’s challenges including worsening drought conditions and insecurity.
However, he lamented over the recent move by several MPs who showed opposition to the new cabinet nominated by PM Hasan Ali Khayre, and noted it could undermine people’s hope for change in the country. Last Thursday, Somalia’s Parliament Speaker called Khayre to review his proposed cabinet after lawmakers presented a petition calling for amendment. The MPs warned the PM that the cabinet lineup would be rejected if it isn’t changed to allow more power-sharing by Somalia’s powerful clans. The prime minister is expected to present his proposed cabinet to parliament for approval this week.
However, Senator Farole opposed the MPs’ decision and stated the PM is mandated to nominate ministers based on their competence and experience, not by their clan affiliation or clan’s power-sharing agreement according to the constitution. Farole warned the Federal Parliament of installing political turmoil as the new government aiming to assert itself in this long-chaotic country after the election of the new President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed last month. He stated the Upper House is mandated to intervene if deadlock continued to vote for the new cabinet. He appealed to the MPs to firstly assess the new cabinet ministers after endorsement and review their achievements. This coincides following similar call by the Speaker of the Upper House recently who called the Lower House lawmakers to endorse the new cabinet ministers.
President Returns Home After Historic Visit To Kenya
27 March – Source : Shabelle News – 138 Words
Somali President HE Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has returned to the country’s capital Mogadishu Sunday, after paying a historic visit to Kenya last week. During his three days official visit to Kenya, Mr Farmajo has attended extraordinary IGAD heads of state summit on Somali refugees, security and the worsening drought in the horn of Africa.
On Friday, Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo held talks with his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta at the state house in Nairobi, ahead of the IGAD summit. Briefing the Media, President Farmajo highlighted on the outcomes of his Kenyan trip, and said it resulted in bringing development on re-launch of direct flights between the two countries. He said The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has resolved to facilitate the voluntary return of Somali refugees in safety and dignity by addressing the root causes of displacement.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
As Cholera Spreads, Somalia Begins Vaccination Campaign
27 March – Source : The New York Times – 369 Words
Somalia, which has been hit by a series of crises that sound like a page from the Book of Job, is starting a major effort to vaccinate 450,000 people against its latest plague: cholera. The country, in the Horn of Africa, has long suffered from weak central government, fighting among clan warlords and terrorist acts committed by Al Shabab, an Islamic militant group with some factions aligned with Al Qaeda. In 1993, the capital, Mogadishu, was the scene of the “Black Hawk Down” battle between United States Army Rangers and clan militias. American troops sent to protect food aid shipments ended up fighting the warlords who were seizing them.
The world’s largest refugee camp complex in Dadaab, Kenya, contains 260,000 Somali refugees who fled the civil war in the 1990s or subsequent floods and famine. Now about three million people in Somalia face starvation caused by a long drought. Last week, the United Nations said its appeal for $864 million in aid had raised less than a third of that amount. Making matters worse, cholera is spreading, attacking people already weakened by malnutrition. “Ever since the drying up of the Shabelle and Juba Rivers, people have been forced to move out to seek water and food in unfamiliar places,” said Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar, a cholera expert in the World Health Organization’s health emergencies program and leader of the campaign to deploy 900,000 doses of cholera vaccine supplied by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Most families here depend on their livestock but when the drought hits, the animals are the first to succumb to thirst and hunger. The cows are the first to die, then the goats. The donkeys can survive a bit longer. “Now we have nothing” 30-year-old Habiba Abdul had to leave her family behind when she left her village in order to go to Dollow in the hope of finding food for herself and her newborn baby.”
When The River Dries Out All Life Disappears
27 March – Source : Reliefweb – 537 Words
Dollow is a town in southern Somalia. It is peaceful – at least compared to many other areas in the conflict-ridden country. It is located close to the border of Ethiopia and right where two rivers meet – or rather, where they used to meet. There is no longer any water flowing in the rivers, instead the soil is dry and hot and nothing grows here. For the past three years, the rainy seasons have failed leaving Somalia – and several neighboring countries – on close to a humanitarian disaster. More than half of Somalia’s population of 6.2 million people is in urgent need of food and hundreds of thousands of children are malnourished. Without a massive effort the situation will develop into a full scale famine.
The urgency of the situation is evident in Dollow. Every day, people reach the city on foot after having walked for days in search of food. Most are from rural areas where food insecurity is significantly larger than in the cities, because their wells are less deep and therefore dries out faster.
On the side of the road lie corpses of dead animals. Most families here depend on their livestock but when the drought hits, the animals are the first to succumb to thirst and hunger. The cows are the first to die, then the goats. The donkeys can survive a bit longer. “Now we have nothing” 30-year-old Habiba Abdul had to leave her family behind when she left her village in order to go to Dollow in the hope of finding food for herself and her newborn baby. She feared that the child would otherwise not survive. “We were hungry,” she says while pointing to her throat: “All our animals are dead. We had 40 goats, two cows and two donkeys. Now we have nothing. They are all dead. ” She hopes that her husband and their six other children will soon join her. In Dollow it is still possible to find food – and help. She is waiting in line to be registered by the Danish Refugee Council.