October 11, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report

Two Killed In Clashes Between Puntland And Galmudug In Central Somalia

11 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 279 Words

At least two people have been killed and five others wounded after clashes flared up between Puntland and Galmudug troops in Galkayo. A temporary ceasefire between warring parties in the central Somali collapsed Monday evening as two sides resumed fighting in the town. Earlier Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud asked the leaders of Puntland and its neighboring regional State Galmudug to stop the clashes which again displaced hundreds of residents from their homes. Medics in the town reported the death of two combatants and injury of five others as the two sides exchanged mortar shells and anti aircraft missiles in the town. The wounded were admitted to hospitals in Galkayo. The two sides accused each other of violating the ceasefire deal and initiating the fighting. Galmudug administration said the fighting broke out in an argument over land. “Puntland administration deployed forces at a disputed construction site last night and the fighting erupted this morning.

It stopped now but six people from the two sides were killed during the clashes”, Mohamed Hassan Sahal, a spokesman for the Galmudug administration said. Puntland authorities in a statement accused Galmudug forces of attacking them “to retaliate” for the US strike. “The state of Puntland notes that it will defend its people and territories from the invasion waged by Al-Shabaab terrorists and their Galmudug allies.” said Puntland in a statement. The relation between Puntland and Galmudug soared last month after Galmudug said a US strike aimed at Al Shabaab militants had in fact killed 13 of its soldiers. Galkayo is divided into two zones, where the northern portion forms part of Puntland state, while its southern part is governed by the Galmudug administration.

Key Headlines

Two Killed In Clashes Between Puntland And Galmudug In Central Somalia (Goobjoog News)
International Community Raises Red Flag Over Candidates Lists Delay (Goobjoog News)
Hiiraan State To Be Formed In Beledweyne (Jowhar.com)
International Lobby Wants Kenya To Remove Deadline For Dadaab Closure (Daily Nation)
AU Mission Mulls Compensation For Civilian Harms In Somalia ( (Xinhua)
“With Dadaab Closing We have No Option But Return To Somalia” (Equal Times)

NATIONAL MEDIA

International Community Raises Red Flag Over Candidates Lists Delay

11 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 339 Words

The international community have warned regional states against any further delays in the revision and submissions of lists of candidates to the Upper House noting failure to meet the deadlines would result in a further postponement of the poll process. In a statement Monday, the international partners which include the UN, African Union and the UK among others said the 48 hour deadline set by the Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation Team (FIEIT) which expires today must be met to “enable the respective federal member states elect members of the Upper House without delay”. The FIEIT returned lists for Galmudug, Puntland and Jubbaland states Sunday citing violation of the 30% quota as set out in the National Leadership Forum September which indicated that 30% of seats should be contested exclusively by women.

The international partners however lauded the South West state for meeting the threshold. In its lists submittedSunday, South West nominated 16 candidates five of whom were women and set aside seats to be contested by women only. The remarks come in the wake of failure by the regional states to meet the 2 days extended deadline which lapsed on October 7th. The 135 elders were also supposed to submit lists of delegates who will elect members of the Lower House but had not wholly done so by end of day Monday which was the stipulated deadline. In a statement September 26th, FIEIT issued new timelines but did not indicate dates for election of members of the Upper House. However an official reached by Goobjoog News said the miss was an oversight and that elections were to be concluded by October 10. Election of members of the Lower House is set to run from October 23 to November 10 to pave way for presidential elections November 30. The electoral body announced last month the polls would be delayed for a month citing financial, political and security challenges. They also mentioned delay by elders and regional administrations to submit lists of delegates and candidates in time for the polls.

Hiiraan State To Be Formed In Beledweyne

11 October – Source: Jowhar.com – 169 Words

A section of politicians from Hiiraan region have revealed that plans to establish a state for the region of Hiiraan is at advanced stage. This administration will be independent from the HirShabelle state whose formation process is currently in its final stage in Jowhar. MP, Abdullahi Goodax Bare who is one of the politicians leading the process to form a state for the region says the leadership of the new state will be named soon. “ It was a historic days for the establishment of Hiiraan State, the constitution has been approved , the MPs will be assembled soon and the parliament will be made up of 37 members and it will elect the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and a President,” said Abdullahi Godax Bare. According to Godax, the capital of the new state will be Bullo Burde. He added they are opposed to the state formation process in Jowhar as the process is one that is been driven by people with selfish interest and the main aim is to use it for the elections

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

International Lobby Wants Kenya To Remove Deadline For Dadaab Closure

11 October – Source: Daily Nation – 549 Words

An international NGO has urged Kenya to remove the November deadline imposed by the government for the closure of the Dadaab camps even as it faulted the repatriation process as no longer “being voluntary, safe or dignified.” Kenya, which hosts as many as 600,000 refugees mainly from neighbouring Somalia, said in May it would close down its two biggest refugee camps because of the “very heavy” economic, security and environmental costs.“The government of the Republic of Kenya, having taken into consideration its national security interests, has decided that hosting of refugees has to come to an end,” the Interior ministry said then.
But in a new report titled Dadaab’s Broken Promise,the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) says that the decision by the Government of Kenya to close the Dadaab refugee camps in November has led to a situation where the voluntary returns process does not meet international standards, and breaks the agreement that Somalis would be assisted to return home safely and voluntarily. It says return should be viewed as a process of “rehabilitation, restructuring and rebuilding, not as a project with an end date in mind.”It adds the Kenyan government should return to the process of organised and planned returns, to “ensure a safe, dignified, sustainable and voluntary return process.”“We are willing and able to enable voluntary return, but the pressure to push more than 280,000 registered refugees from Dadaab camp has led to chaotic and disorganised returns.

AU Mission Mulls Compensation For Civilian Harms In Somalia

11 October – Source: Xinhua – 197 Words

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) said on Monday that it has started the process of compensation of civilians who suffer harms as a direct result of its operations in the country. According to Jide Okeke, head of Policy Development Unit at the Peace Support Operations Division, the African Union Commission (AUC), the move would help strengthen relations between AMISOM and the local population.”This is part of our efforts to win the hearts and minds of the local communities, which is an important dimension for defeating the Al-Shabaab,” Okeke said in a statement issued in Mogadishu. The move, the first of its kind in Africa, may see victims paid for damages caused by AMISOM personnel.This follows the drafting of Standard Operating Procedures (SoP) at a meeting which will standardize approach and coordination among various AMISOM departments.The workshop on Oct. 6-7 agreed that a final document will be delivered to the AUC headquarters in Addis Ababa for approval within the next few weeks.In the proposed SoP, AMISOM will investigate all incidents of probable civilian harm and make amends in cases where there is credible evidence that the harm was occasioned by its personnel.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

“According to Duke Mwancha, a spokesperson for UNHCR Kenya, close to 25, 500 refugees have been voluntarily relocated to the 12 regions in Somalia since June 2016, where the Somali government, UNHCR and other NGOs, have been providing them with support,”

“With Dadaab Closing, We have No Option But Return To Somalia”

11 October – Source: Equal Times – 888 Words

University students Abdirehman Abdi and Sahro Mohamed Ibrahim first came to Kenya as refugees from Somalia in the early 1990s, and have spent most of their lives in Dadaab, the world’s biggest refugee complex in Garissa County in eastern Kenya. Today, they should be looking forward to a bright future, but uncertainty rules their lives as the closure of Dadaab looms ahead. In November 2013, following a bloody terrorist attack on Nairobi’s Westgate Mall, the Foreign Ministries of Somalia and Kenya along with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) agreed to facilitate the repatriation of all Somalia nationals living in Dadaab, citing Kenya’s concerns over national security.

Following the Garissa University attack in April 2015, in which al-Shabaab brutally killed 148 students, the government’s resolve to take action hardened. Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto likened the atrocity to 9/11, while announcing that all remaining refugees in Dadaab would have to be repatriated by that September.Although this deadline came and went, and the Kenyan government has since admitted it will be too difficult to evacuate the camps by November 2016 as later promised, the spectre of Dadaab’s closure still hangs over the remaining 260,00-odd Somali refugees living in its five camps.
Abdirehman, a 28-year-old third year computer science student at the Kenya Methodist University in Nairobi, moved to the camp as a five-year-old in 1991 – the year it was set up as a temporary solution to house 90,000 people fleeing civil war in Somalia. He completed his schooling in Dadaab before passing his exams to go to university.“I have refugee relatives who resettled abroad who are paying for my university studies,” Abdi tells Equal Times. “My hope now is to get a job with an NGO in Somalia after my studies so that I can help my people back at home because the camp is being closed and the Kenyan government does not give us work permits to work here.”

TOP TWEETS

@UNODC_MCP: UNODC-MCP helps in repatriation of 9 Somali persons who were serving their sentence in Kenya #Somalia #UNODC #MCP

@SomaliaNewsroom:Breakaway administration “Hiiraan State” (rival to Hir-Shabelle state) announces new regional constitution.#Somalia #Federalism

@Daudo: BREAKING: #Ethiopia forces withdrew from El-Ali town in central#Somalia this morning, #AlShabaab fighters immediately retakes it – Witness.

‏@Dahirkulane:Lets support & #empower our future leaders to peace in#Somalia ” our daughters our future “ #DayoftheGirl #IDG2016 #education #endfgm

@UKinSomalia: #UKaid committed to putting girls & women at the heart of development assistance to help transform their lives#InternationalDayoftheGirl
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IMAGE OF THE DAY

The Somali consul to Kenya, Ali Mohamed made a visit to Somali prisoners in Nairobi.

Photo: Radio Muqdisho