November 24, 2016 | Morning Headlines
FIEIT Suspends The Parliamentary Seat Of Jidle Subclan, Assigns Committee To Probe The Dispute
23 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 209 Words
Somalia’s Federal electoral body FIEIT said 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 Suspends The Parliamentary Seat Of Jidle Subclan Assigns Committee To Probe The Dispute (Goobjoog News)
- Sixteen More MPs Elected To Lower House From Four Regional States In Somalia (Goobjoog News)
- Suspected Member Of Al-Shabaab Arrested At Border (Shabelle News)
- AMISOM In Need Of 4000 More Troops To Fight Al-Shabaab (The EastAfrican)
- Somali-Born German Arrested For Smuggling Migrants Out Of Italy (European Balkan Latest News)
- 289 Refugee Candidates Miss Out On National Exams Due To Repatriation (The Star)
- Somali National Television Interviews Ambassador Michael Keating (SNTV)
- With A week To Go Can Somalia Beat Yet Another Electoral Deadline? (Goobjoog News)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Sixteen More MPs Elected To Lower House From Four Regional States In Somalia
23 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 556 Words
A total of 16 members of parliament (MPs) were elected to the House of the People in voting across the country today, bringing the number of elected lawmakers in the lower chamber of Somalia’s federal parliament to 131, or nearly half the total of 275 seats. Voting resumed in Jowhar, the administrative capital of HirShabelle state today, after a temporary suspension, following a shooting incident between the bodyguards of two rival candidates on 18 November. Five MPs were elected to the House of the People in today’s voting which was held under tight security. “We are moving well and we hope to finish the process on time,” HirShabelle State-Level Indirect Electoral Implementation Team (SIEIT) spokesperson Osman Bareey said. Among the MPs elected was Samira Hassan Abdulle, an incumbent lawmaker who ran for a seat reserved for only women candidates. She garnered the votes of all 51 electoral college delegates who cast ballots for the seat. “We’ve come from far and we are progressing well,” she said. HirShabelle has to date elected 14 members to the House of the People out of an allocation of 37 seats. Speaking in Kismaayo, Somali Police Force (SPF) Commissioner Maj. Gen. Mohamud Sheikh Hassan Hamud confirmed that two suspects had been arrested in connection with last Friday’s shooting incident in Jowhar. “The case has to go to court for further action. We have arrested two individuals who are currently in custody in Jowhar as investigations continue,” Gen. Mohamud stated.
On Sunday, the SPF Commissioner and the head of the National Intelligence Security Agency (NISA) Gen. Abdullahi Gafow Mohamud visited Jowhar, where the Special Representatives of the UN Secretary-General and the African Union Commission Chairperson for Somalia had gone to intervene in the conflict between the two rival candidates. The federal Attorney General has opened an investigation into the incident. In Baidoa, the administrative capital of South West state, seven candidates, all of whom are incumbent MPs, were elected to the House of the People. Delegates who voted today came from Lower Shabelle region with the logistical assistance of the United Nations. “The UN has wholeheartedly supported us in this process,” said elder Ugas Warsame Ali Suley. “They continue to support our country on so many levels so Somalia can prosper.”
Among those elected was 27-year-old Ahmed Omar Islow, an incumbent MP from the Wacdan clan who took over his father’s seat in the federal parliament two years ago when the latter passed away. “We hope to make the new parliament a very efficient one,” said Mr. Islow. South West state has an allocation of 69 seats, the largest of any state in the House of the People. To date, 38 seats have been filled and the SIEIT hopes to conclude elections for the remaining seats within the next seven days. In Galmudug state, three candidates were elected to the House of the People, two of whom are newcomers to politics. “I promise to deliver on my campaign pledges,” MP-elect Abdikarim Khalif Abdi told journalists. Today’s voting in the state capital of Cadaado raised the number of MPs elected to the lower chamber from Galmudug to 21 out of an allocation of 36 seats. One election also took place in Kismayo, the capital of Jubbaland state, and the seat was won by Ali Osman Hirsi, a political newcomer from the Dir-Mandaluug clan.
Suspected Member Of Al-Shabaab Arrested At Border
23 November – Source: Shabelle News – 119 Words
A man suspected to be involved in terrorism activities attached to the Somali militant group Alshabaab has been intercepted by security operatives at Busia border. Mohamed Abdi Ali was arrested at the immigration offices after the security alert system in their computer signaled that he was one of the suspects attached to the Alshabaab. Nelson Nahabwe the Busia district police commander said the suspect was crossing from Kenya on his way to Kampala where he would allegedly connect to South Africa. Nahabwe says Abdi will be transferred to Kampala counter terrorism headquarters for further investigations.
Mohamed Ali Abdi, who holds a Kenyan identity had his name highlighted by the Uganda security on 21 June 2014, as an Alshabaab operative.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
AMISOM In Need Of 4,000 More Troops To Fight Al-Shabaab
23 November – Source: The EastAfrican – 417 Words
The African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) will need additional 4,000 troops to liberate the Al-Shabaab controlled areas in the Juba Valley, Bakool, Hiraan and along the some coastal areas. The Amisom spokesperson, Col Joseph Kibet, told the The EastAfrican in Mogadishu that although the force needs a maximum of 49,000 soldiers to fully secure the remaining areas, the recent meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council recommended additional 4,000 troops, who can be sourced from the Troop Contributing Countries (TCC) or from fresh volunteers.
The additional troops will boost the current 21,129 from Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Burundi who were currently on high alert to secure the ongoing elections. Col Kibet said that although the recent withdrawal of non-Amisom Ethiopian troops from Hiraan region has seen Al-Shabaab recapture six towns in Central Somalia where they had been routed, it had not affected the operations significantly. “The last three attempts by the Al-Shabaab to attack election centres in the last one month have been thwarted so they have resorted to insurgency and assassinations. We need more troops to capture the improvised explosive devices and take the battle to them because the more we wait, the more they will surprise us,” said Col Kibet. While the United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) has revealed that funds were available to support additional 4,000 troops, there have been no volunteers since the decision was taken two months ago.
Somali-Born German Arrested For Smuggling Migrants Out Of Italy
23 November – Source: European Balkan Latest News – 211 Words
A Somali-born German was arrested Wednesday in Germany for allegedly heading a 13-man smuggling ring that helped migrants travel from Italy to northern Europe, Italian police said. With the help of two aides based in Milan, and a network throughout Italy, Maodi Abdisalan Kalif would provide Somali migrants with fake documents and train tickets to Germany, France or Scandinavian countries, police said. “Kalif was the head of this criminal group,” Tommaso Niglio, a police officer from the southern Italian city of Salerno who led the investigations.
The suspect lived in Karlsruhe, the south-western German city where he was nabbed on the basis of a European arrest warrant, Niglio added. Police first got wind of the ring in April 2015 after interviewing a group of Somalis who were taken to Salerno by the Italian Navy after a Mediterranean Sea rescue. Ten suspects, including Kalif and his Milan-based accomplices, were remanded in custody, while three were to be placed under house arrest, Niglio said. Police had not yet completed arrest operations in Florence, Brescia, Bergamo, Catania and Bari, he added. Members of the smuggling ring were charged with participation in a criminal association aimed at abetting illegal migration, and face up to 10 years’ imprisonment if convicted, the police officer said.
289 Refugee Candidates Miss Out On National Exams Due To Repatriation
23 November – Source: The Star- 526 Words
Some 289 refugee candidates failed to sit for this year’s KCSE and KCPE exams. One hundred and sixty-nine of those who missed the exams due to the ongoing voluntarily repatriation exercise were KCSE candidates. “Those who are still sitting for the exams are just doing it for the sake [of finishing it]. They do not have any morale because they know once they finish the exam they are going home because the camp will be closed in the next six months.” Ali Buthul, chief education Officer, Dadaab Sub County told the Star. Most of the KCSE candidates who did not sit for the exams were in Hagadera camp (74), while in Dagahaley camp, 61 KCPE candidates missed the exams.
Thirty-four elderly persons also missed the exam. “As educationists we are worried about fate of these children when they go back to Somalia [since it] does not have a unified curriculum,” Buthul said. “We fear that that they won’t be able to complete their education. There might be a break in their norm which will interfere in their education,” he added. Those who managed to sit for the exams were grateful for getting the opportunity to learn and have a certificate with their names on it. “When I came to the camp in 2011 I only knew Somali, but now I can speak in English and Kiswahili. I have also learnt a lot of things in school that I was not able to learn back home in Somalia,” Samiro Duale said. “If the time comes for me to leave the camp I will go as a happy child because I finally have one document with my name,” Naji Mohammed said.
Somali National Television Interviews Ambassador Michael Keating
22 November – Source: SNTV – Video: 31:30 Minutes
UN Special Envoy for Somalia, Michael Keating has on Tuesday gave an exclusive interview to the state owned media and spoke on the fight against Al-Shabaab, elections, Galkacyo conflict, the drought and much more.
OPINION , CULTURE & ANALYSIS
“Majority of the MPs have not been elected and this is going to be difficult to achieve before end of the month. It is highly unlikely a new President will be elected on November 30,”
With A week To Go, Can Somalia Beat Yet Another Electoral Deadline?
23 November – Source: Goobjoog News – 945 Words
A revised schedule issued by the Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation Team, FIEIT in September following a failed deadline, indicated the Presidential elections would be held November 30 while Federal House members were to be sworn in today. Exactly a week into Presidential vote, 131 members of the Lower House have so far been elected while four out of five states have successfully elected senators save for Somaliland which is yet to start the process. In total therefore, there are 43 Senators out of the constitutionally mandated 54. Despite significant progress, the 30% quota for women still remains elusive with a total of 20 women having been elected thus far representing 7.3% of the full house-275 members and 15.3% of all the MPs elected to date.
Midnight oil: Voting for the Lower House members started November 5 and with one week to go to the presidential elections, the electoral bodies and all stakeholders will have to burn the midnight oil to elect the remaining 144 MPs while at the same time settle the Somaliland question. Analysts however see this a tall order and the possibility of another delay is not a matter of if but when. Abdirashid Hashi, the director of the Mogadishu based think tank Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, HIPS says a spill over into December is now a reality. “Majority of the MPs have not been elected and this is going to be difficult to achieve before end of the month. It is highly unlikely a new President will be elected on November 30,” observes Hashi. Hashi notes the promise by politicians to deliver on elections is just on paper and in the process they create obstacles to make the deadlines unattainable.
The elections will have to spill to December, the HIPS director adds. In a strongly worded letter this past week, the US embassy castigated what it termed as voter bribery, intimidation, use of state resources and collusion of electoral officials at state and federal level to compromise the electoral process in Galmudug. “Galmudug’s process thus far has been marred by more reports of overt interference than any other state. These examples have captured Washington’s attention and they are just a few of many examples we have received,” the letter addressed to Galmudug President Abdikarim Guled reads in part.