May 2, 2017 | Daily Monitoring Report
Acute Malnutrition Surges In Somalia Children -UNICEF
02 May – Source: Reuters – 107 Words
This year 1.4 million children in drought-hit Somalia are projected to suffer acute malnutrition 50 percent more than estimated in January, the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday. The new figure includes more than 275,000 children potentially facing a life-threatening severe acute form of malnutrition, who are nine times more likely to die of cholera or measles, UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado said. “The combination is deadly for children,” she told a news briefing.UNICEF has treated 56,000 Somali children for the most severe form of malnutrition since the beginning of year, an increase of 88 percent over last year, she added.
Key Headlines
- Acute Malnutrition Surges In Somalia Children -UNICEF(Reuters)
- Prosecutor General Accuses PM Of Violating Law In Management Of Public Finance (Goobjoog News)
- Al-Shabaab Engages Government Forces In A Fierce Battle (Jowhar.com)
- President Farmaajo Defend His Foreign Trips (Dhacdo.com)
- Lamu Al-Shabaab Recruits Suspected To Be Spies Murdered In Somalia (The Star Kenya)
- Dutch Police Arrest Suspected Member Of Al-Shabaab Network (Associated Press)
- People Are Looking Death In The Face While We Turn The Other Cheek (Huffington Post)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Prosecutor General Accuses PM Of Violating Law In Management Of Public Finance
02 May – Source : Goobjoog News – 257 Words
Prosecutor General, Osman Guled has denounced the Prime Minister for what he termed as co-management of the budget against the law. In a memo addressed to the PM Sunday and copied to parliament among other organs of the state, Guled said the Prime Minister’s hand in the management of the national budget not only went against the constitution but his job description. “Article 100 of the Constitution sets out clearly the roles of the Prime Minister. Besides this is the principle of collective responsibility among other offices such as that of the President, Ministers and Parliament,” said Guled.
Without alluding to any cases, the Prosecutor General said interference on the budget management process amounted to corruption. “If corruption is circumventing the law, interference and working against the law is also corruption,” the prosecutor observed. Parliament approved a $267 million national budget in April allocating the Prime Minister’s office $5,593,199. Guled called on all government institutions to work within the law noting failure to respect the law has been Somalia’s major challenge over the years.
In a report last month, the Financial Governance Committee called for prudent fiscal management of public finances to avoid wastage and pilferage while promoting best governance practices. “FGS needs to place much stronger controls on the payroll, as otherwise gains made in increasing revenue and reducing funds leakage will be fully absorbed by a rising wage bill,” the report recommends. It also called for strengthening of the Public Finance Management bill to ensure sufficient and effective controls in management of public finances.
Al-Shabaab Engages Government Forces In A Fierce Battle
02 May – Source : Jowhar.com – 90 Words
A fierce battle pitting Al-Shabaab fighters and the Somali National Army has taken place in an area between Kilometer 50 and Merca. The fighting which started yesterday afternoon lasted for several hours. The fighting started after Al-Shabaab fighters attacked a government army base near Kilometer 50.The area district commissioner, Abdullahi Wafow, accused Al-Shabaab of setting fire on residential houses. He added that government troops killed several Al-Shabaab fighters in the attack. Calm has now returned to the area and it’s reported that Al-Shabaab have retreated back to their bases.
President Farmaajo Defend His Foreign Trips
02 May – Source : Dhacdo.com – 128 Words
President, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo has defended his trips abroad since he was elected. The President has visited Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kenya , UAE and recently Turkey. The President was responding to his critics who have been very critical about the trips.He was speaking during an event to mark the end of the first session of the Federal Parliament. The President argued that his trips abroad have been very fruitful. The President explained that the trips were as a result of the goodwill of Somalia’s friends who were impressed with the recent elections in Somalia. “ Some are saying the man, Mohamed Abdullahi who did not like trips seem to be enjoying himself and has seen the comfort of chartered planes and his trips are many,” The President said.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Lamu Al-Shabaab Recruits Suspected To Be Spies, Murdered In Somalia
02 May – Source : The Star, Kenya- 245 Words
At least six Al-Shabaab recruits from Lamu have been murdered in Somalia in the last two months on suspicion that they were government spies.James Seriani, Linda Boni operations director, said on Sunday that this number were killed between March and April alone.“You can imagine how many face the same fate in a year,” he said, adding the fate of many others was unknown.”For some reason, the militia seem not to trust recruits from Lamu. That’s why we are warning youths here against joining Al-Shabaab.”
Seriani said the operation to flush out the terrorists has been successful and that peace and calm have been restored in the county.“For instance, we have been able to seal routes the militants were using to cross into and hide in Lamu, especially in Boni forest. We have eliminated all terror elements. We can confidently say things are fine again,” he said.
Al Shabaab fighters have vowed to continue attacking Kenya in response to the war on them by AMISOM. The peacekeeping force includes troops from Kenya Defence Forces and other countries.The other countries are Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Uganda.The sporadic attacks have been carried out in areas including Nairobi and Mombasa.The director urged residents to continue cooperating with security agencies. He noted al Shabaab returnees have crept back into the county to voluntarily avail themselves for rehabilitation but added that those who do not do so will be treated like suspects and arrested.
Dutch Police Arrest Suspected Member Of Al-Shabaab Network
02 May – Source : Associated Press – 117 Words
Dutch prosecutors say police have arrested a Dutch man with a Somali background on suspicion of “involvement with a terror organization” in Somalia.The National Prosecution Office said in a statement Tuesday that the 22-year-old suspect was detained last Wednesday in the southern town of Sint-Oedenrode based on information from the Netherlands’ General Intelligence and Security Service.
Prosecutors say the man, whose identity was not released, is suspected of playing an active role since last year with extremist group Al-Shabaab in southern Somalia.Prosecution spokesman Wim de Bruin says the suspect is scheduled to appear before an investigating judge Wednesday in Rotterdam. Prosecutors want the judge to extend the suspect’s detention while investigations into his activities continue.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“It is difficult to explain the sense of hope we had in that vision of a future world which would address and prevent widespread human suffering such as that seen in Somalia at the time.Today, 25 years later, have we not learnt some lessons from the past? It seems that the world needs urgent reminding that we can prevent famine. There are solutions. We need to turn our attention firmly towards this crisis, roll up our sleeves and address this head on,”
People Are Looking Death In The Face While We Turn The Other Cheek
02 May – Source : Huffington Post – 777 Words
In 1992, just one generation ago, I witnessed the famine in Somalia where an estimated 220,000 people died. The images of suffering will stay with me forever. As famine raises its ugly head in Africa again I am reminded constantly of how lucky we are to live in a country where most of us don’t know how slow and painful it is to starve to death. Fatima’s face is one of many etched in my memory. We met under the heat of the desert sun in Baidoa, the epicentre of the famine at that time.I asked her what she needed. “White cloth,” she replied. I didn’t understand, and asked her to explain.Fatima said if there was no food and they were to die, she wanted her children to, at the very least, pass away and be buried with dignity.
White cloth is used for simple burials. Fatima told me she did not want to bury her children in the white food sacks brought from overseas as others had been forced to do. It was all they had.The food had come too late to save them, and the irony of burying children in those sacks was not lost on Fatima in a world gone mad with suffering and neglect.So now in 2017, why is it that another generation of families will live through the trauma of seeing family members starve to death or go hungry? Why is it that the international system is failing again?
It can take up to 60 days for a healthy person with access to water to die of starvation. Children do not become severely malnourished overnight. In East Africa, the warning bells have been ringing and in recent months they have reached a deafening chorus.But no sooner than the United Nations recently declared famine in South Sudan, the world looked over with concern and then promptly turned its cheek. In Australia, there was barely a glance from the public, with cursory mentions of the tragedy in news media.
The UN has warned that 20 million people are on the tipping point of unprecedented famine in four countries. Across two continents, from Nigeria, South Sudan and Somalia in Africa east to Yemen in the Middle East, people are staring death in the face. No less than 1.4 million children are at imminent risk of starvation.How has this all come to pass? There has been a perfect but violent superstorm; these countries are all reeling from terrible armed conflicts and vicious drought. Entire communities have been forced from their homes and are on the move in some of the world’s harshest environments.
TOP TWEETS
@RealTimeHack: Acute malnutrition surges in Somalia children – UNICEF http://af.reuters.com/article/
@AbdurahmanShar: Somali Civil Society Leaders received awards all over the world. Time to reward & champion them in #Somalia #NabadIyoNolol #FutureforSomalia
@US2SOMALIA: @US2SOMALIA Amb Schwartz & @USAfricaCommand commander Gen. Waldhauser met with @amisomsomalia SRCC Amb Madeira in #Mogadishu, #Somalia.
@US2SOMALIA: @US2SOMALIA Amb Schwartz shares light moment w/ President @M_Farmaajo b4 discussion with both #Somali & US military/govt reps in #Mogadishu
@Axmed_wali2:#BREAKING :#Somalia :An unidentified armed men this morning assassinated a Somali soldier in wadajir district Mogadishu.
@mhirmoge:@SomaliPM “it’s time for accountability on the millions of $$ spent on #Somalia“
@MOsabrie:#Jubbaland president H.E Ahmed Islam has Appointed Col.Mohamed Guled Hassan as the new #police commissioner of lower juba region.#Somalia
@MunaserMohamed:#Somalia: High-level partnership for London Conference on Somalia.#ForwardSomalia
@SomaliPM:The Government alone cannot achieve anything, we need to cooperate with those whom we work for – ‘the people’! #WaxqabadMuuqda#Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo and SNA generals receive officials from US Africa command’s led by Thomas Waldhauser and Amb Stephen Schwartz in Mogadishu
Photo: @HarunMaruf