November 18, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
AU Special Representative For Somalia Commends Somalia’s Peaceful Polls, Role Of AMISOM And Somali National Security Forces
18 November – Source: AMISOM – 395 Words
The Special Representative of the AU Commission Chairperson (SRCC) and Head of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), on Thursday praised Somalia’s ongoing electoral process for its “encouraging path to a fully-fledged democratic franchise,” while at the same time commending the role played by AMISOM and Somali security forces, in ensuring a smooth and orderly process. In his remarks made during a media briefing in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, Ambassador Madeira said the ongoing electoral process had received tremendous support and goodwill from the ordinary Somali public, even in areas outside AMISOM’s jurisdiction.
The meeting, attended by representatives of local and international media houses, is one of regular media events organised by AMISOM to apprise media of its activities and mandate. “AMISOM is proud to be part of this historic event, which will usher in a new chapter for the country. The African Union remains heavily involved in the electoral process,” Amb. Madeira affirmed. Somalia’s 2016 electoral process began in October 2016 with elections for the newly created Upper House of the federal parliament. So far, 43 out of 54 Senate seats have been filled.
Key Headlines
- AU Special Representative For Somalia Commends Somalia’s Peaceful Polls Role Of AMISOM And Somali National Security Forces (AMISOM)
- Galmudug Leaders Accused Of Fueling Abudwak Unrest (Shabelle News)
- UAE’s Somalia Envoy Sets Up Base In Nairobi Kenya (Jowhar.com)
- Somalis Positive Hopeful Of Female Presidential Candidate (CCTV)
- African Union-backed Amisom Troops To Start Exiting Somalia In 2018 (Daily Nation)
- A Rare Ray Of Light From Somalia (The Economist)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Galmudug Leaders Accused Of Fueling Abudwak Unrest
18 November – Source: Shabelle News – 131 Words
The president and vice president of Galmudug have been blamed for fuelling the rising tensions in the central city of Abudwak located in the Galguduud region. Aden Egal Hafa, a Somali elder accused President Abdikarim Hussein Guled and Vice President Mohamed Hashi Abdi of being behind the conflict. At least 6 people were killed, more than 10 others wounded in the clan clashes in Abudwak city this week. Galmudug troops and Ahlu Sunna militiamen are said to have clashed several times in the town, as they support separately the two warring sides in Abudwak. Galmudug state has recently deployed troops to the town, sparking tension with its rival Ahlu Sunna fighters who have been occupying the area over the past few weeks.
UAE’s Somalia Envoy Sets Up Base In Nairobi, Kenya
18 November – Source: Jowhar.com – 198 Words
The United Arab Emirates’ envoy to Somalia Mohamed Ahmed Osman has set up office in Nairobi, Kenya from where he is expected to closely monitor the ongoing Somalia elections. Sources indicate the envoy has held meetings with several presidential candidates as well as Kenyan officials. It is believed that UAE is supporting other candidates with whom they were now working with to take over from the incumbent President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
The UAE envoy has recently came under fire from top Somali government officials who accused him of overstepping his mandate and indulging on Somalia’s internal matters. Presidential candidate Omar Abdirashid, Abdirahman Abdishakur Sharif Hassan, among other candidates recently met in Dubai but could not agree on a single candidate as per the wishes of the host country. The leaders are expected to meet in Nairobi once again. The UAE has been one of Somalia’s key development partners and have sponsored the construction of Sheikh Zayed hospital. Somali officials however decried corruption and embezzlement in the project among others sponsored by the UAE. UAE first named its envoy to Somalia in 2014.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalis Positive, Hopeful Of Female Presidential Candidate
18 November – Source: CCTV – Video: 02:45 Minutes
Mr David Concar has been appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Somalia
18 November – Source: Foreign & Commonwealth Office, U.K – 56 Words
Mr David Concar has been appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Somalia in succession to Ms Harriet Mathews OBE, who will be transferring to another Diplomatic Service appointment. Mr Concar will take up his appointment during January 2017.
African Union-backed Amisom Troops To Start Exiting Somalia In 2018
18 November – Source: Daily Nation – 673 Words
The African Union troops serving in Somalia will leave the country starting in 2018. The AU mission has trained at least 20,000 Somali soldiers ahead of the planned exit, the head of the mission has said. AU Special Representative to Somalia Francisco Caetano Jose Madeira said the exit strategy depended on the number of trained Somali soldiers to take over from them, credible 2016 elections, and a successful de-radicalization drive among the youth.
“Our exit should be judged on us having invested in Somalia to take over from us. There is an effort, but there is a huge logistical challenge,” said Mr Madeira in a media briefing at a Nairobi hotel. “We need to give guns to these people, because a soldier is prepared to fight. We should capacitate the Somalia army and they should be well prepared to take over from us.”
The African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) previously trained 10,900 Somali soldiers, with the additional 20,000 troops coming as the mission prepares to exit. The exit strategy formulated by the AU’s Peace and Security Council calls for the staggered withdrawal of 22,000 Amisom troops, including Kenya’s, beginning in October 2018 and be completed by the end of 2020.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Piracy has almost stopped. Al-Shabaab controls much less territory, there is oil offshore, a flourishing livestock industry, and a talented and wealthy diaspora. And yet the politics are still dangerously messy, fuelled by the greed of unaccountable politicians. This may no longer be a ‘failed state’, but the jigsaw is still in pieces.”
A Rare Ray Of Light From Somalia
18 November – Source: The Economist – 691 Words
The brutal term “failed state” was almost invented for Somalia. Since 1991, when its military dictator was overthrown, it has had no government that fully controls the country and no election worthy of the name. A fanatical jihadist movement known as Al-Shabaab (“the Youth”) still dominates much of the countryside and regularly murders bigwigs and blows up hotels and restaurants in Mogadishu, the seaside capital that was once an Italian colonial jewel. Famine, terrorism, corruption and clan factionalism have prevailed. A swathe of Somalia’s people—2m out of 12m, some say—has fled abroad.
Amid this remorseless gloom, however, Andrew Harding, one of the BBC’s most intrepid and empathetic journalists, who has been visiting the country since 2000, has chronicled the extraordinarily uplifting life of one Somali, Mohamud Nur, nicknamed Tarzan. Dumped as a child in an orphanage in Mogadishu, he later made good in Saudi Arabia and then London, and returned to Somalia in 2010 to become the capital’s dynamic mayor. According to Mr Harding, Tarzan’s courage, inventiveness and resilience typify the finest qualities of the Somali people. It would be wrong, he insists, to give up hope.
Yet it is hard, despite the best efforts of Tarzan and his BBC booster, to be optimistic. Perhaps the biggest reason for despair is the Somali clan imbroglio, which has long been a recipe for internecine division. Mr Harding quotes an old Somali proverb:Me and my clan against the world; Me and my family against my clan; Me and my brother against my family; Me against my brother. In Tarzan’s case, though he hails from a tiny sprig of one of the big four clans, he was endlessly tripped up by envious rivals, often stirred up by a sense of clannish competition. Somalis as a whole are homogenous, speaking the same language and sharing one religion and culture. Yet the extraordinarily intricate web of clans can lethally “divide and destroy.”
TOP TWEETS
@amisomsomalia : Watch Hiil Walaal to keep up with #AMISOM in Action. Stay informed about the work of AMISOM in #Somalia. Episode 1
@OCHASom : Consequences of Drought in #Somalia: About 150k ppl directly affected in Puntland
@raqueltobajas : The #Daesh Threat in #Somalia’s Puntland State https://www.crisisgroup.org/
@raqueltobajas : The #Daesh Threat in #Somalia’s Puntland State https://www.crisisgroup.org/
@HawaHMohamed : The second anniversary of South West State inaugurated in Baydhaba #somalia
@HassanIstiila : #UPDATE The hard Game between #Elam FC vs #Heegan FC will kicks off at 15.45pm in the #Konis stadium in#Mogadishu. #Somalia
@PhilipOgola : The giant ship arrives in the #Mogadishuseaport. It is another sign of the flourishing business in #Somalia
@DailyKhilafa : New #transistor manufacturing plant opens in#Somalia as demand for high quality technical fabrication grows.
IMAGE OF THE DAY
The Head of AMISOM, SRCC Ambassador Madeira Francisco Caetano, met with journalists in Nairobi Friday to share and discuss ideas regarding current developments in Somalia.
Photo: AMISOM