November 23, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
FIEIT Suspend The Parliamentary Seat Of Jidle Subclan, Assigns Committee To Probe The Dispute
23 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 200 Words
Somalia’s Federal electoral body FIEIT said on Tuesday that it has decided to delay the decision of the parliamentary seat of Jidle subclan following a brief gun battle outside the voting hall between the security guards of the Minister for Youth and Sports Mohamed Abdullah Hussein Nuh and guards loyal to his opponent, Ahmed Sheikh Noor on 18th of this month in Jowhar.
In a statement, the body said that joint committee consisting members from FIET, conflict resolution commission and officials from HirShabelle regional state will be assigned to probe the matter. “Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation Team, FIEIT decided to delay the parliamentary seat of Jidle subclan election and assigned a joint committee to investigate the incident,” FIEIT said. However, the electoral implementing body allowed resumption of elections for other seats in the state.
In addition, the situation was also intervened by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Somalia Michael Keating and the Special Representative of the AU Commission Chairperson (SRCC) Ambassador Francisco Caetano Madeira. So far HirShabelle state has elected 13 MPs out of an allocation of 37 seats in the federal parliament’s House of the People. The state electoral implementing body, SIEIT said they hope to conclude the Lower House elections in the next one week.
Key Headlines
- FIEIT Suspend The Parliamentary Seat Of Jidle Subclan Assigns Committee To Probe The Dispute (Goobjoog News)
- Tough Contest Expected In Lower House Election In Puntland Former Federal Minister Won The First Seat (Garowe Online)
- Somali Religious Council Calls For Aid As Drought Hits Parts Of The Country (Goobjoog News)
- Students Scamper For Safety As Gunmen Storm School And Fire Shots In Kenya (Daily Nation)
- Kismayo Under Pressure As Somali Refugees Return From Kenya (VOA)
- Unicef Awards 13 Year Old Somali Refugee That Speaks 6 Languages (IBNA)
- World’s Biggest Camel Producer Targets Middle East Asia Exports (Bloomberg)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Tough Contest Expected In Lower House Election In Puntland, Former Federal Minister Won The First Seat
23 November – Source: Garowe Online – 294 Words
The third phase of the parliamentary election has commenced today in Garowe city, to vote for candidates that will represent regional clans in the upcoming Lower House chamber of Federal Parliament. Today’s polling will see the election of 3 MPs representing Dulbahante, Majerteen clans, as the delegates are set to cast votes among contenders for the seats.
The security of the venues has been tightened, all the roads that lead to the areas of the election has been blocked, reports said. Tough contests are expected in the ballot sessions, particularly for the Ba’idian sub-clan seat of the Majerteen, as 6 candidates have prepared for to contest the seat. Also, 4 candidates are looking to win the seat for Muse Saleban sub-clan, whereas 2 contestants are running for the Dulbahante seat.
However, early results showed the victory of Daud Mohamed Omar, former Federal Minister of Petroleum and Mineral, over his rival to secure the first seat of the election for the Dulbahnte clan. The ballot resumed in Puntland state after a two week break. Despite Puntland kick starting the process before other regional states, only 19 MPs out of a total of 39 have been elected.
Early this week, Chairman of Puntland’s State-Level Indirect Electoral Implementation team (SIEIT) has cited “financial reasons” for the recurrent delays in the parliamentary elections in Puntland region. According to the schedule of the elections, the Lower House election was set to be completed on the 10th of November.
Somali Religious Council Calls For Aid As Drought Hits Parts Of The Country
23 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 244 Words
The Somali religious council has appealed to Somali traders to provide humanitarian assistance to people affected by severe drought which is ravaging the Horn of Africa nation. Sheikh Bashir Ahmed, the chairman of the council said several parts of Somalia has been affected by drought. He said the drought has widely affected the country, worsening in some areas and called on Somalis spread across the world to do everything they can to aid their brothers and sisters suffering from severe drought.
“We appeal to Somali people especially the traders to immediately come to the aid of their brothers and sisters in the affected areas before the situation gets worse, it is time that aid is delivered very urgently in particular drought stricken areas of the country,” Ahmed said. Ahmed said the most urgent needs include access to water, food, cash relief, emergency livelihood support, nutrition and health services to reduce morbidity and mortality.
A food crisis in the Horn of Africa, caused by both drought and rising food prices has been deemed a famine in six regions of Somalia, include areas that are under the control of Al-Shabaab. Pastoralist families are facing a serious shortage of water and pastures after several water points dried up the last few months. Thousands of Somalis have fled the countryside in search of food and water, trekking for days under scorching sun toward camps in major towns.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Students Scamper For Safety As Gunmen Storm School And Fire Shots In Kenya
23 November – Source: Daily Nation – 183 Words
Armed gunmen stormed a school on Tuesday in a Kenyan province bordering Somalia, spraying bullets but not injuring anyone, official sources said, without confirming whether they were Shabaab group militants. The gunmen stormed a room where secondary school students were taking an exam and exchanged fire with police officers guarding the campus before fleeing, they said.
“Students scampered for safety when the gunmen stormed the school and fired shots,” a senior police officer from Wajir told AFP. Six policemen were guarding the examination centre at the time, regional governor Mohamud Saleh said. It was not immediately clear if the shooting was linked to the al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab group, which regularly carries out attacks in Kenya, including a massacre at Garissa University in April 2015 in which 148 people were killed.
But the area where Tuesday’s incident occurred is also the scene of regular inter-clan violence related to border disputes between Wajir and Garissa counties. Saleh did not immediately comment on who was behind the attack, saying that an investigation was under way and that officials had “intensified security in the area.”
Kismayo Under Pressure As Somali Refugees Return From Kenya
23 November – Source: VOA – 528 Words
Some 18,000 former refugees have poured into the Somali city of Kismayo this year, with most struggling to find adequate shelter, food, healthcare and jobs. Abdullahi Mohamed, a former refugee in his 20s, is hoping he can buck the trend. Unlike most other youths, he’s received training with a local mechanic at a Kismayo garage. “At least here I have got something to learn and do,” he says. “Back in Dadaab camp [in Kenya], I was not able to get an opportunity like this one I have here today.” His training, originally scheduled to end in a month, has been extended through February.
A U.S.-based non-governmental organization, the American Refugee Council, is sponsoring job training for returnees like Mohamed so they can get the skills they need to support themselves and help Somali society. Just as important, the ARC and local authorities want to keep youngsters away from Islamist militant groups that continue to operate in the still unstable country.
“Some of the youths who are returning are high school graduates, with the science knowledge they have, al-Shabab may take advantage of them and use them and teach them how to make explosives,” says Abdi Ibrahim Abdi Barre, the deputy mayor of Kismayo. “Young people are vulnerable. If they are not provided with the skills, education and materials they need to pursue their goals, then people will take advantage of them.”
According to the United Nations refugee agency, at least 34,000 Somalis have returned home since the repatriation process began. Most came back to nothing, complaining of a lack of essential services. ARC works with business owners in Kismayo to provide returnees with job skills needed in the market.
Unicef Awards 13 Year Old Somali Refugee That Speaks 6 Languages
23 November – Source: Independent Balkan News Agency – 191
On the occasion of the International Day of Children’s Rights, UNICEF awarded personalities and organisations in Greece that promote children’s rights as well as schools collaborating in a Greek Education Ministry educational programme promoting the rights of children. Among the award winners is thirteen year old Mohammed, a refugee from Somalia, who speaks six languages and has become the “right hand” of volunteers at the Eleonas ‘hot spot’ since he informally acts as an interpreter.
Mohammed managed to learn the foreign languages, by listening to volunteers and other refugees carefully. He learned Greek in four months. His first learning exercise was a Greek children’s song called ”I clap my two hands, happily” Unicef awarded Mohammed with the “Lambros Kanellopoulos’ award for both his talent and assistance.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“The livestock trade makes up 40 percent of Somalia’s GDP, a proportion that may rise to 50 percent in the coming year, according to the commerce chamber.”
World’s Biggest Camel Producer Targets Middle East, Asia Exports
23 November – Source: Bloomberg – 503 Words
Somalia, home to a third of the world’s camels, is targeting new export markets as it looks to boost foreign-exchange earnings from its livestock trade. The Horn of Africa nation has expanded its port facilities for shipping live camels, cattle and goats, begun supplying Egypt and will soon start exports to Malaysia in a bid to boost revenue that reached $384 million in 2015, the most in two decades. Somalia has already sold 5.5 million animals in 2016, according to Mohamed Omar, director-general of the Ministry of Livestock.
“Hopes are high” that demand from the new countries and traditional buyers Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Kuwait will raise that figure further in the next 12 months, Omar said in an interview in the capital, Mogadishu. Traditional “organic” methods used by Somali herders ensure their animals’ meat has “a unique taste,” which the ministry is trying to market to more countries, according to Omar.
Somalia, which is emerging from more than two decades of civil war and scheduled to choose a president this month, is trying to use recent improvements in security to attract investors and rebuild the economy. More than half the country’s approximately 10.5 million population rely on livestock for their food and income, according to the Somali Chamber of Commerce.
TOP TWEETS
@doorashada2016 : The House of the People elections ongoing in Jowhar, Baidoa, Garowe & Kismayo. Galmudug to resume it tomorrow #Doorashada2016 #Somalia
@Daudoo : #US Africa Command (#AFRICOM) denies SFC Zachary Bannister killed by #AlShabaab in #Somalia, says his death in #Kenya was non-combat related
@Cidilibaax : people are very disappointed the results of this election #FIEIT has let-down the #Somali people@US2SOMALIA @EU_in_Somalia #Somalia
@Vatescorp: #Somalia: Human trafficking investigation techniques presented at UNODC course in Puntlandhttp://ow.ly/w9F4306rB4O
@USAIDSomalia : Congrats to #Somalia youth Feisal Hussein Ibrahim and Imadi Abdiaziz Mohamed for winning #YALIscholarships @USAID @US2SOMALIA @YALIRLCEA
@Vatescorp : #Somalia: Presidential candidate warns of possible poll delay expected Nov 30 due to slow pace of Lower House vote http://ow.ly/vasD306ryFI
@BashiirMohamud1 : #Jubaland electoral commission to finalize today the selection of lower house mps, #2016elections,#Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Somalia is on the road to recovery and the nation is rebuilding its institutions with UN support.
Photo: UNSOM