March 29, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
Mogadishu-Nairobi Direct Flights Resume
29 March – Source : The Eastafrican – 176 Words
Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Kheyre has launched direct flights between Mogadishu and Nairobi. The ceremony was held Wednesday March 29, at Mogadishu’s Aden Abdulle International Airport. Government officials witnessed the African Express Airways plane take off from the seafront runway to the Kenyan capital. The resumption of direct flights follows an agreement between the leaders of the two countries last week.
Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta agreed to revive collaborations in areas of mutual interests last weekend in Nairobi . In 2006, Kenya introduced a stopover at Wajir International Airport in northeastern Kenya for all flights coming from Somalia and destined for Nairobi. “The stopover at Wajir will be removed within a couple of weeks,” announced President Kenyatta while hosting his Somali counterpart at State House Nairobi. Kenya has always insisted that the stopover was needed for security reasons despite travellers from Somalia complaining about inconveniences. According to reports, flights from other towns in Somalia such as Hargeisa, Bossaso and Galkayo will have to transit in Mogadishu before proceeding to Nairobi.
Key Headlines
- Mogadishu-Nairobi Direct Flights Resume (The Eastafrican)
- Somalia’s Federal Parliament Approves New Cabinet (Garowe Online)
- A Military Officer Killed In Mogadishu (Goobjoog News)
- Somali PM Visits IDP Camps Outside Mogadishu (Shabelle News)
- Somalia Holds High-Level Conference On Social Inclusion (AMISOM)
- Somalia Faces Major Cholera Outbreak (Al Jazeera)
- Toronto TV Host Finds Resilience In Drought-Stricken Remote Areas Of Somalia (CBC News)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia’s Federal Parliament Approves New Cabinet
29 March – Source : Garowe Online – 168 Words
The Federal Parliament of Somalia has endorsed the new cabinet appointed by the Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre last week after days of gridlock. Wednesday’s Parliament approval set a new beginning for the new PM who is facing key challenges including worsening drought conditions, fighting militant group Al Shabaab and tackling corruption. The deputy Parliament Speaker Abdiweli Ibrahim Mudey chaired the session, as the Federal MPs cast their votes for the new cabinet. Following the poll, Mudey announced the result and stated that 224 MPs voted in favor of the cabinet while 15 voted against and 2 abstained.
Subsequently, the new Ministers were sworn into their respective posts after winning the vote of confidence from the Parliament, ending stalemate that could was fear to cripple the new administration. Last week, Somali Prime Minister Khaire has appointed a 26-member cabinet but was strongly opposed by members of the Federal Parliament and the Speaker who order Khayre to change the lineup because it didn’t conform to the clans’ power-sharing formula.
A Military Officer Killed In Mogadishu
29 March – Source : Goobjoog News – 83 Words
Suspected Al Shabaab assassins have shot and killed a senior Somali army officer in Mogadishu on Tuesdaynight, witnesses said. Unknown men armed with pistols have attacked the military officer in Waberi district. No information on the killers who reportedly escaped the scene after the murder. The police arrived the crime scene and launched a probe into the killing. Meanwhile sporadic attacks against Somali government soldiers in Mogadishu have been carried out by suspected insurgents using ambush tactics to kill the government soldiers.
Somali PM Visits IDP Camps Outside Mogadishu
28 March – Source : Shabelle News – 116 Words
The Prime Minister of the Federal Government of Somalia HE Hassan Ali Khaire has paid a visit to the IDP camps outside Mogadishu, to assess the situation of the displaced families. The PM, along with Somali Police and Intelligence chiefs and high-ranking officials inspected the IDP camps, feeding centre and displaced families in line at food distribution area. Speaking to the reporters, Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire has called on Somalis to help the drought affected people who are currently on the brink of a looming famine. Mogadishu mayor Yusuf Hussein Jimale, who accompanied the PM said 10,000 people fled the drought-stricken areas in Somalia arrived at the area in the past few days.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Holds High-Level Conference On Social Inclusion
28 March – Source : AMISOM – 544 Words
A high-level conference to discuss ways of promoting the inclusion of minorities in the affairs of the country to help foster lasting peace and stability commenced today in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. About 100 participants are attending the three-day conference. Funded by the Danish government, the conference is organized by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in partnership with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
The meeting was attended by the Speaker of the Federal Parliament of Somalia, Mohamed Osman Jawari, the Deputy Special Representative of the Chairperson of African Union Commission (DSRCC) for Somalia, Lydia Wanyoto, cabinet ministers, members of parliament, academics, traditional elders, and representatives of minority groups and civil society organizations. It discussed issues of social inclusion, poverty alleviation and minority rights.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Speaker Jawari, denounced discrimination, terming it a chronic problem that has no place in religion, tradition and culture. He blamed the vice on ignorance and urged Somalis to be proactive in striving for inclusion to help foster peace and stability. “You the people don’t have to wait for government to take action. It is you the people to ask the government and tell us what to do,” Speaker Jawari stated at the function and urged the civil society to pressure parliament to come up with strategies that foster inclusion and denounce discrimination.
Somalia Faces Major Cholera Outbreak
29 March – Source : Al Jazeera – Video – 2:06 Minutes
The United Nations has raised alarm over a major outbreak of cholera in southern Somalia. Aid groups are already scrambling to help people suffering from severe drought and mass malnutrition. The UN is urging immediate action and aid to avert the crisis. Al Jazeera got access to a hospital in Baidoa in the badly-hit southern region.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“The nomads, who used to sell their livestock including camels and goats to survive, cannot resell any food to feed their families and cannot get water for themselves, she said. In one video, she interviews a mother who lost her four-year-old child to measles after water in the area became contaminated.”
Toronto TV Host Finds Resilience In Drought-Stricken Remote Areas Of Somalia
28 March – Source : CBC News – 565 Words
A Toronto-area host of a weekly television talk show for Somali viewers says people in Somalia are showing resilience despite severe drought. Hodan Nalayeh, founder and host of Integration TV on OMNI TV, travelled to remote areas in Somalia for about 10 days earlier this month to see how the drought is affecting people there and to raise awareness of the situation. “People basically have not seen rain for the past two years. The results have basically showed up now where it’s near famine conditions. Somalis are basically starving from just their land and lack of food and lack of water. A lot of them have lost their livestock.” Nalayeh, a resident of Vaughan, Ont. and a mother of two, said her video stories, posted to Integration TV’s Facebook page, focused on Somali nomads, who she said represent “authentic Somali culture.”
The nomads, who used to sell their livestock including camels and goats to survive, cannot resell any food to feed their families and cannot get water for themselves, she said. In one video, she interviews a mother who lost her four-year-old child to measles after water in the area became contaminated. The mother, also a nomad, was “so grateful” to be alive and that her other children were still alive, she said. “Despite the harsh conditions they’re in and the weather they’re facing, they’re still such faithful people. Life goes on,” she said.
Nalayeh said their resilience comes having faith, living off the environment, expecting hardship but enduring it, she said. “They know that suffering is a part of life but tomorrow is a new day,” she said. According to the United Nations, about six million Somalis are in need of humanitarian assistance and three million are in need of urgent life-saving measures. An international appeal is underway to raise funds for Somalia and other nations suffering drought.
For its part, the Canadian government recently pledged to provide $119.25 million for four drought-ravaged Middle Eastern and African countries, including $21 million specifically for Somalia. Two years ago, Nalayeh became interested in discovering Somalia, learning about her past and returning to the small town there where she was born. “I just fell in love with the culture, the people, the way they think, and the way of life,” she said. “It’s a lot different than what the media portrays.”
TOP TWEETS
@AU_PSD: Commissioner @AU_Chergui received Amb. @NicholasK111, UK Sp.Envoy for Horn of Africa. They discussed preps for London Conference on #Somalia
@AnalystSomalia: Flying 2 #Nairobi today with 1st direct flight from #Mogadishu with outgoing ambassador @AmbGamal, Prof. Ibbi of African ExpressISMAIL Osman
@qcharity: Famine, drought, and deadly diseases are running rampant in #Somalia, acclaiming thousands of lives. #Save_Somalia
@RadioErgo: Weak pastoralist children suffering from measles in remote parts of northeastern #Somalia http://bit.ly/2o9FuBJ … http://fb.me/8tRLPQd0C
@engyarisow: Jubbaland President and EU Ambassador 2 #Somalia @VLorenzoEU launch job opportunities program in Kismayo
@yhassan_: #Mogadishu–#Nairobi direct flights begin. Federal MPs prepare to vote on PM’s new Cabinet. I hope MPs approve, so #Somalia can move forward
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Mohamed Sheikh Osman Jawari, the Speaker of the Federal Parliament of Somalia, speaks at the High-Level National Conference on Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction of Somali Minorities held in Mogadishu.
Photo: AMISOM/Omar Abdisalan