November 10, 2017 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

Somali National Army Kills 3 Al-Shabaab Terrorist Militants, Wounds 4 In An Operation

09 November – Source: Somali National News Agency (SONNA) – 108 Words

Somali National Army has on Thursday killed three Al-Shabaab terrorist fighters and wounded four others at an area near Basra in middle Shabelle region, SNA Commander told Somal National News Agency (SONNA). Gen. Abdulahi Ali Anod, Somali National Army Commander told Somali National News Agency (SONNA) that on-going military operations at the border between the two Shabelle regions intended to root out the terrorist militants from all areas under their control at moment. ”

Three terrorist fighters were killed and four others wounded in today’s operation near Basro location in middle Shabelle region”, Mr. Anod told SONNA. The Somali National Army made progress during the military operation that started this week so far.

Key Headlines

Somali National Army Kills 3 Al-Shabaab Terrorist Militants Wounds 4 In An Operation (SONNA)
Roadside Bomb Wounds Two Civilians In Mogadishu (Shabelle News)
Traffic Police Head Ali Mohamud Ali Passes On (Goobjoog News)
Uganda Says Ready To Deploy 5000 Troops In Somalia Outside AU UN Mandate (Xinhuanet)
The Desperate Survival Of Local NGOs In Somalia (Goobjoog News)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Roadside Bomb Wounds Two Civilians In Mogadishu

09 November – Source: Shabelle News – 100 Words

At least two civilians were reported to have been wounded in a roadside bomb blast in the Somali capital, Mogadishu on Thursday morning. The blast has resulted from an improvised explosive device (IED) planted on the industrial road in the seaside capital, which was targeting a military vehicle passing in the area.

In the aftermath of the explosion, Somali security forces sealed off the scene and launched an investigation into the incident, but no arrest has been reported. The wounded have been taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. No group has yet claimed responsibility for Thursday’s bombing in Mogadishu.

Traffic Police Head, Ali Mohamud Ali Passes On

09 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 118 Words

Traffic Police Chief, Ali Mohamud Ali passed away last night in his office which also serves as a residential place, family sources have said.The traffic chief is said to have been undergoing medical treatment before his death Wednesday night.

The death was confirmed by his family and the body is expected to be interred today in Mogadishu, Banadir state. The departed officer recently returned to the country from India where he went for further medical treatment. Federal Minister for Information and Tourism, Abdirahman Omar Yarisow passed his condolence to his family on behalf of the Somali public. The deceased is said to have handed unofficially the leadership a fortnight ago to his deputy in acting role capacity.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Uganda Says Ready To Deploy 5,000 Troops In Somalia Outside AU, UN Mandate

09 November – Source: Xinhuanet – 261 Words

The Ugandan military on Thursday said it is ready to deploy 5,000 troops in Somalia outside the African Union (AU) and United Nations (UN) mandate for an all-out offensive operations against the Al-Shabaab militants. Brig. Richard Karemire, the military and defense spokesperson, told Xinhua that Uganda as a Pan-Africanist country is ready to send the troops as long as the international community commits resources for the operation. “We are always ready to deploy such a number and even more as a country and Pan-Africanists. We need some support somewhere,” said Karemire.

Karemire said there are many rules to operate under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) which sometimes may hinder the elimination of the militants. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is reported to have told Donald Yamamoto, acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs in September that Uganda is ready to deploy additional 5,000 troops to strengthen the military operations of the AMISOM.

Museveni told Yamamoto that the east African country would only send more troops to Somalia if the international community commits to regular funding, donates military equipment, force enablers and multipliers such as attack helicopters for the operations against the insurgents. The comments by the Ugandan military come shortly after the Special Representative of the African Union Chairperson for Somalia, Francisco Madeira announced on Tuesday that some 1,000 soldiers from the 22,000 strong force will be withdrawn from Somalia by Dec. 31. AMISOM is comprised of troops drawn from Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. Uganda provides the bulk of the force.

OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE

“Being programme implementers for their international counterparts means that these local actors are in the field and directly undertake programs to support the communities. They relay information and data in the form of reports to the international ones for onward submission to the donors. In most cases these local organizations and their implementing role is neither mentioned in the final reports to the donor nor do they appear in the websites of the international agencies whom they do the implementation on their behalf.”

The Desperate Survival Of Local NGOs In Somalia

09 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 1699 Words

They are often times referred to as Local Non-Governmental Organizations or National Non-Governmental Organizations. These are the indigenous and homegrown organizations formed and operate within a country, however, few extend their operations beyond the boundaries of their countries to neighboring countries. In Somalia, most of these local organizations sprung up immediately after the civil war in 1991 in response to the emergency humanitarian needs and the need to fill the gaps in basic service provision. Ever since these NGOs’ contributions have been felt across the country. Together with their international counterparts, they try to fill in the vacuum created by the absence of government in respect to provision of basic lifesaving goods and services such as food, water, health, education and nutritional support to malnourished children, pregnant/lactating mothers and other vulnerable groups like the elderly. It is during humanitarian emergencies brought by conflicts and perennial droughts that their aid delivery response role is highly felt and they become an invaluable asset in the humanitarian response structure.

From the external public view, many think that these local NGOs and their executives are having it easy and swim in swamps of funds, opportunities, abundance and comfort. However, this popular belief of their easy life and the reality in which these organizations operate in, are as different as a chalk is to a cheese. A microscopic analysis of their operational world will reveal to you that, in fact they are on a survival mode and desperately struggle to make ends meet. Why am I saying this? Please allow me to take you through the myriad of challenges they face just to remain afloat. In Somalia almost all the local organizations act as implementers for international organizations and UN bodies. In this article, I’ll use the term international agencies to refer to both the UN bodies and the other international organizations. In most cases the international agencies engage the local NGOs as mere sub-contractors or vendors- meaning they don’t even qualify to be partners.

They don’t get direct funding from donors, save for few who get from UN’s country pool funding. Simply put, they implement programs on behalf of the international agencies. Because of this chain, they end up getting meagre operational budgets to undertake programs, finding it difficult to meet basic running costs such as salaries for support personnel, office rent, car hire, utilities etc. This is despite the fact that they bear all the risks of implementing the programs on behalf of the international ones amidst the numerous security and accessibility challenges in the country. Negotiations with the international agencies to jerk up the operational budgets often end up in futility. Same encounter with the second, third, fourth international agency – bound by unwritten rules, sort of – and executives of the local NGOs leave the negotiation tables with their heads down; disturbed by the thoughts of how to sustain the organizations in the next 1, 2 or 3 months.

These organizations have got only today, and not tomorrow. If any, their tomorrow is bleak, freak and full of uncertainties. It is like taking a step into the night not knowing what the darkness holds for you. This is compounded by delayed project funds by the international agencies which compels local organizations to pre-finance project activities and receive a reimbursement after a wait that can take years- yes, I mean years! Don’t forget, delayed funds mean delayed salaries for staff and reputational risks! They normally commit local traders to undertake the unfinanced activities with a pledge of late payments which is mostly indefinite. And this reinforces the reputational risks confronting them. For a minute, let us just imagine the morale of personnel working in these broke, debt-ridden local organizations with uncertain future; staff that experience rampant salary delays (delays of up to even 6 months!), have no medical insurance, no life insurance, no gratuity/pension schemes, no festive bonuses (like Eid & end year) and no any support scheme. A staff working with a local organization lacking all the above rights and benefits probably has a former university classmate/friend working with an international agency in the next office block who enjoys all of the above benefits including a timely-paid salary of a greater scale.

ADDITIONAL SOMALIA NEWS WILL APPEAR IN THE AFTERNOON REPORT

The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of AMISOM, and neither does their inclusion in the bulletin/website constitute an endorsement by AMISOM.

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Email: amisommediacentre@gmail.com or amisommediacentre@africa-union.org

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