May 19, 2016 | Morning Headlines
UN Security Council Set To Visit Mogadishu As Election Nears
18 May – Source: Hiiraan Online – 217 Words
Few months before Somalia holds presidential elections, top diplomats from the United Nations Security Council will visit Somalia’s capital on Thursday in a high-level visit to the horn of Africa nation, which is recovering from decades of war.
The visit by the UN envoys comes as concerns grow over the protracted process by Parliament to approve the 2016 electoral model, submitted by the government in April. During their one-day trip, the UN diplomats are expected to hold talks with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and other Somali political leaders. According to a newspaper report in Kenya’s Daily Nation, the team from the UN will also meet officials from the African Union forces to discuss about the forthcoming presidential election and the fight against the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab group, which continues to stage deadly guerrilla attacks across large parts in south and central Somalia.
According to Somalia’s Provisional Federal Constitution, adopted in 2012, the mandates of the Somali Federal Parliament and of the government will come to an end in August and September 2016, respectively. The international community, which is spearheading efforts aimed at restoring peace and order into the Somalia, mandated the current government to lead the country into this year’s general elections. This followed the election of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, a new Parliament and the adoption of a new constitution in 2012.
Key Headlines
- UN Security Council Set To Visit Mogadishu As Election Nears (Hiiraan Online)
- Mogadishu Elders Oppose Election Model (Shabelle News)
- Somali DPM Chairs Development And Reconstruction Meeting In Mogadishu (Radio Mogadishu)
- Somali Immigrants On Hunger Strike In US Detention Center (Goobjoog News)
- Somali Forces Shoot Dead Al-Shabaab Fighter In Capital (Xinhua News)
- UN Security Council Coming To Kenya To Press Uhuru On Refugees (Daily Nation)
- High-Level Panel Deliberates On Sexual Offences Bill for Somalia (AMISOM)
- Somaliland Wants World Recognition Of Its Independence (Associated Press)
- The Somaliland Question And Why It Has Not Materialised (Goobjoog News)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Mogadishu Elders Oppose Election Model
18 May – Source: Shabelle News – 154 Words
Mogadishu clan elders have strongly opposed the country’s election model, expressing concern that the city’s residents estimated about three million may miss their slots in the country’s political leadership. In a meeting held in Mogadishu, the elders jointly voiced concern over the power-sharing deal, in which they say disregards local residents’ representation. .
Imam Mohamud Yusuf, a local elder who attended the meeting, has accused the Federal government of paying no attention to Mogadishu’s rights in Somalia’s clan-based power-sharing model. The elders’ remarks come as debate over an allocation of seven MPs for Banadir region in the next Parliament has hit a deadlock in the Federal Parliament.
The Federal government and its member states agreed recently to hold an election that is based on 4.5, a clan-based power-sharing formula, despite its rejection in some quarters.The current clan-based formula, will apply in choosing the next President and Parliament in August, but will be scrapped and replaced by the one-person, one-vote electoral principle in the 2020 polls.
Somali DPM Chairs Development And Reconstruction Meeting In Mogadishu
18 May – Source: Radio Mogadishu – 166 Words
Deputy Prime Minister, Mohamed Omar Arte has hailed the country’s road to recovery after chairing the Somalia Development and Reconstruction Facility (SDRF) meeting held in the Somali capital on Wednesday.
The meeting brought together the SDRF-member Cabinet ministers of the Federal Government of Somalia, representatives from Puntland, Interim Jubbaland Administration, Interim South West Administration, Galmudug and Banadir regional administrations, as well as envoys representing Somalia’s international development partners and diplomats in the country.
Speaking at the end of the monthly meeting, the Somali DPM briefed the participants on the latest developments in the country, including plans to devise national gender and internally displaced persons’ policies in progress. On security, the DPM Arte noted that his recent visits to Baidoa and Adaado where he held discussions with ISWA and Galmudug authorities respectively, were fruitful. He observed that substantial progress had been made in formulating cohesive national security strategy. On governance, Mr. Arte acknowledged that the Federal government equally succeeded to implement a robust constitutional review process in an effort to federate the country.
Somali Immigrants On Hunger Strike In US Detention Center
18 May – Source: Goobjoog News – 236 Words
Dozens of Somali immigrants are on hunger strike in a US detention centre to protest the threat of repatriation and lengthy detention, a detainee told Goobjoog News. Adan Sheikh Noor, who is among dozens of other detainees in Florida detention centre after entering US illegally, told Goobjoog News on phone that at least 45 Somali asylum seekers went on hunger strike after Somali embassy in that country asked US government to return the asylum seekers to Somalia.
“We are 45 here in this detention centre and we will continue our hunger strike until we are granted our rights,” said Noor. Noor noted they are fighting against extended detention without a possible direction on the way forward. Noor said he started his perilous journey from South Africa and spent over $ 20, 000 dollars to reach the US soil via Mexico.
“I have been struggling to reach the United States in order to build my future because we know the situation of insecurity, joblessness and a dysfunctional government back home. These cannot enable us to have any better living,” noted Noor. Attempts made by Goobjoog news to reach Somalia’s ambassador to the US, Ahmed Issa Awad, for comment did not bear fruit. Every year, tens of thousands of African migrants risk their lives to try and enter Europe on unseaworthy boats in search for a better life opportunities. At least 500 Somalis died last month in the Mediterranean heading to Greece from Egypt.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somali Forces Shoot Dead Al-Shabaab Fighter In Capital
18 May – Source: Xinhua News – 176 Words
Somali security forces on Tuesday night shot dead an Al-Shabaab militant in Heliwa district of capital Mogadishu, officials said on Wednesday. Local government spokesman Abdifitah Omar Halane told reporters that the security forces from the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) ordered the militants to lie down and surrender, but they failed to obey the directive, prompting security officers to shoot one of the insurgents dead.
“The security forces shot down an Al-Shabaab militant. The militant had killed a civilian and wounded young girl as he tried to resist arrest by the security forces when they tried to disarm him,” Halane said. He said the Al-Shabaab militant was armed with a pistol and bombs, which were recovered by the security forces.
The local government spokesman added that security forces are committed to take actions against culprits and terrorists who commit such crimes on the spot. The latest incident comes amid increased joint security operations by African Union peacekeeping mission (AMISOM) and Somali security forces to flush out the insurgents out of the Horn of Africa nation.
UN Security Council Coming To Kenya To Press Uhuru On Refugees
18 May – Source: Daily Nation – 449 Words
United Nations Security Council members left New York on Tuesday night for a four-day visit to Kenya, Somalia and Egypt. The exact itinerary for the trip had not been released as of Wednesday morning in New York due to security considerations. Diplomats from the Security Council’s 15 member states are scheduled to hold talks in Nairobi with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Kenya’s announced intention to evict Somali refugees from the Dadaab refugee camp are “likely to feature prominently” in those discussions, according to the Security Council Report, an online publication covering the UN’s key decision-making body. The move to close the refugee camp has been met with criticism by a section of international humanitarian communities. Ashley Wolfington of the International Rescue Committee says she is sceptical that Kenya will actually close the Dadaab camp.
She said: “It isn’t a good idea that they want to close the biggest refugee camp in the world. Instead of planning to close it, they need to address the issues that are not working to have the camp open.” “Sending refugees back to where they fled from, especially women and girls have an implication to their health and safety. There might be need to come up with models and discussions as evidence of why closing the camps is not a good idea and the possible scenarios of what happens when the camps close,” the reproductive health expert added.
She spoke on Wednesday in Copenhagen, Denmark, during the fourth Women Deliver Global Conference. The four-day meeting ends on Thursday, May 19. The security threats posed by Al-Shabaab in Kenya will also be on the agenda, as will Kenya Defence Forces’ participation in the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom).
High-Level Panel Deliberates On Sexual Offences Bill for Somalia
18 May – Source: AMISOM – 645 Words
A proposed new law on Sexual Offences in Somalia has received a nod from the country’s key development partners.
A discussion forum attended by different stakeholders and interest groups and moderated by a high-level panel comprising of the AU Special Representative for Somalia Ambassador Francisco Madeira, the Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (DSRSG) for Somalia Peter De Clercq, Somali Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed Omar Arteh and the Somali Minister of Women and Human Rights Development Sahra Mohamed Ali Samatar, fleshed out issues in the Sexual Offences Bill, prior to its tabling before parliament.
The discussants and other participants were unanimous that if enacted into law, the bill would stem rising cases of sexual offences. UK and Swedish ambassadors accredited to Somalia, attended the panel discussion organized jointly organized by the Somali Ministry of Women and Human Rights Development and Legal Action Worldwide (LAW), and which is a follow-up of the first high-level panel discussion held in March 2015, and which focused on sexual violence perpetrated by security forces,
In his contribution to the panel, the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia, Ambassador Francisco Caetano Jose Madeira emphasized AMISOM’s commitment to the safeguarding of human rights and directed AMISOM Force Commander, AMISOM Police Commissioner and other senior officers to fast track the implementation of recommendations of an independent investigation on sexual exploitation and abuse by AMISOM personnel.
“AMISOM has established recreational facilities for AMISOM personnel in order to ensure that the socialization is done in an environment that is more conducive and less prone to abuse and exploitation. AMISOM has moved all shops out of AMISOM base camp to Marine area which lies outside of AMISOM control. And you know that was one of the issues that was raising a lot of concern then, we have done it,” said Ambassador Madeira, as he explained measures being taken to deter such offences within the Mission.
Somalia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Mohamed Omar Arte urged Somalis to discard the retrogressive practices that infringed on fundamental human rights: “Classifying rape as a crime against the state and we want the prosecution to make sure that this is not dealt with in under the traditional resolution mechanism.”
Somaliland Wants World Recognition Of Its Independence
18 May – Source: Associated Press – 123 Words
The semi-autonomous region of Somaliland is renewing calls for international recognition of its self-declared independence from Somalia. Somaliland on Wednesday celebrated 25 years since the region proclaimed independence from Somalia.
Thousands of civilians and military personnel paraded in front of dignitaries in the capital Hargeisa as the government showed off its Soviet-era military arsenal.
Somaliland asserted independence in 1991 after the overthrow of Somali dictator Siad Barre. The region has experienced relative stability and economic prosperity over the years, even though Somalia has been wracked by deadly violence.
Sa’ad Ali Shire, Somaliland’s foreign minister, said it is time for the international community to recognize “the reality that has existed in Somaliland for 25 years.”
Somaliland has a population of approximately 4 million people.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“But Mohammad Farah, a biographer of Somaliland President Ahmed Silanyo rubbishes claims that Somaliland must get international recognition to function. His argument is that Somaliland was once a separate state but acceded to the Act of the Union pact to form Somalia giving it an inherent right to choose to go on its own way if it wasn’t contended.”
The Somaliland Question And Why It Has Not Materialised
18 May – Source: Goobjoog News – 532 Words
The breakaway northern state of Somaliland has just marked 25 years of a protracted quest for self determination in celebrations observed by Somalilanders in various capitals of the world. Despite the quarter century struggle, Somaliland which was a former British colony before joining together with Italian Somaliland under the 1960 Act of the Union to form Somalia is yet to get any international recognition.
Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993 following a plebiscite. The road to independence had been marked by bitter wars, which claimed thousands of lives. South Sudan too charted its own course from Sudan in 2011 after a referendum. The relationship between the north and Southern Sudan had also been punctuated by deadly wars culminating in a divorce.
But why has it taken Somaliland 25 years and seemingly some more years ahead to be recognized among community of nations? Abdullahi Osman Geljir, a former minister in Somaliland and now part of the Somalia-Somaliland negotiation team believes a unilateral action by Somaliland to pursue its own course could be its own greatest undoing. “Unilateral action won’t take Somaliland to recognition. South and north must negotiate and decide whether Somaliland remains part of Somali or breaks away,” says Geljir. He adds Somaliland can only gain international recognition if it negotiates with the larger Somalia to agree on such parameters as a referendum.
“The world is waiting for Somaliland and the larger Somalia to negotiate over the matter and come up with a decision on whether to secede or not just like Eritrea finally did with Ethiopia and South Sudan with Sudan,”said Geljir. He also contends the unipolar state of the world has made things the more difficult for Somaliland. “When we had a bipolar system during the cold war period it was easy to get international support by switching sides but with a unipolar system there are no options to work with,” observes Abdullahi.
Abdikarim Ahmed, a senior politician in Somaliland shares a similar view noting Somaliland can only get international nod if the decision to secede is not seen to be influenced by vested political interests. It should be seen to come from the people and the best way to tell this is through a popular vote, Ahmed says.