October 17, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Election For HirShabelle President To Be Held Today
17 October – Source: Dhacdo.com – 119 Words
The elections for the President of the newly formed HirShabelle state is set to be held in Jowhar today. This follows after candidates for the seat of the President addressed the regional assembly. Those who are vying for the presidency of HirShabelle state include ; Mohamed Abdi Ware, Ali Abdullahi Osoble and Ali Mohamed Aarale.The three candidates are all said to have huge financial assets. It is not easy to predict who will win the election but all the three candidates have outlined their vision for the new state yesterday.Security has been tightened in the city of Jowhar . The AMISOM force commander and other officials arrived in the city yesterday to assess the security situation of Jowhar.
Key Headlines
- Election For HirShabelle President To Be Held Today (Dhacdo.com)
- Puntland Announces Revised Upper House Candidates List (Garowe Online)
- Galkayo Religious Leaders Call For Cessation Of Hostilities (Goobjoog News)
- Galmudug Shrugs Off UN’s Call To Remove Senator’s Name Over Questionable Record (Goobjoog News)
- Somalia Is Obama’s Latest Victim As US Expands Army Presence (telesurtv.net)
- Reject A President And Parliament Elected Through Bribe And Nepotism (Hiiraan Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Puntland Announces Revised Upper House Candidates List
17 October – Source: Garowe Online – 330 Words
After women’s group has denounced Puntland government for not observing women quota in the original list of Upper House candidates, and mounting pressure from Somalia’s electoral body and UN for women representation in the process, Puntland government has announced on Sunday the amended list of Upper House candidates. The new list saw Puntland President nominating women candidates in accordance to the National Leadership Forum (NLF) agreement to commit to 30-percent quota for women in the ongoing electoral process. On the other hand, Puntland President has axed Second Deputy Speaker of Federal Parliament Mahad Abdalla Awad and MP Yasin Abdi Saed from the new list.
However, early report by Garowe Online has indicated that Puntland President is re-nominating the candidates and opted to allocate women candidates for seat representation of Mudug and Sool regions. But close sources told Garowe Online that Puntland Vice President has opposed Puntland President decision to select women candidates for Sool region, a matter which flared up disagreement between Puntland leadership. Puntland President whose in overseas trip to UAE, has nominated the new candidates for the Upper House chamber of Federal Parliament amid ongoing differences with Vice President over the selection of candidates.
The move has prompted the Vice President to call Puntland Parliament to suspend the scheduled ballot, which could have threatened the ongoing electoral process, but state parliamentarians intervened and held talks with Vice President to resolve the differences before degenerating into deadlock over the nomination process. However, the ballot for candidates representing Puntland state in the Upper House chamber is expected to take place in Puntland Parliament this week, over 22 candidates will compete for the 11 seats quota. Somalia’s Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation team (FIEIT) has previously extended the deadline for Upper House nomination till October 10, after failure of regional leaders to meet deadline in October 5. Somalia is in race of time as the country is preparing to hold parliamentary and presidential elections that is scheduled to conclude inNovember 30.
Galkayo Religious Leaders Call For Cessation Of Hostilities
16 October – Source:Goobjoog News – 142 Words
A number of prominent religious scholars called on Sunday, Galmudug and Puntland States to cease the fighting in Galkayo and to help displaced civilians return to their homes. The body urged immediate and unconditional cessation of the hostilities. “We hereby to call upon these two states to cease the hostility; we know you command the fighting soldiers and without your knowledge they won’t engage in fighting” said Sheikh Mohammed Shaybe.
The scholars said Islam prohibited any form of infighting between Muslims and therefore called state leaders to observer Islamic teaching. “Islam has prohibited infighting between Muslim brothers. We ask you to end the fight and help families which have fled to return to their homes” added Sheikh Shayba. According to the UNHCR 50,000 people have fled the town since the fight between two state forces started close to a month now.
Galmudug Shrugs Off UN’s Call To Remove Senator’s Name Over Questionable Record
17 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 302 Words
Galmudug has dismissed calls by the UN to drop the name of Abdi Qeybdiid from the list of senators elected from the state assembly terming the demand a violation of the rights of the people of Galmudug. The State Assembly speaker Ali Ga’alo Aseyr told reporters in Adado the international community must respect the will of the people. “We call upon the UN to respect the wishes of Galmudug people and support those who were elected by the people,” said Aseyr. Aseyr also raised issue with the timing of the letter saying it ‘came in late when the state assembly was finalizing the electoral processes’.
In a letter dated October 14, UN Special envoy to Somalia Michael Keating called on Galmudug President Abdikarim Guled to remove the name of Qeybdiid from the list of candidates for the senatorial race arguing Qeybdiid’s past was ridden with gross human rights violations and that his election would return Somalia ‘to dark days of warlordism’. “Given Abdi Qeybdiid’s past history, in particular his role during Somalia’s civil wars, his inclusion in the list of Upper House candidates is a matter of serious concern. His candidature and the potential election of any individual with such a history represents a regressive step,” said Keating.
In a media statement Sunday, the international community reaffirmed its earlier position calling for efforts to end endorsement of candidates with questionable record. “A rejection of parliamentary candidates who have been implicated in some of the country’s worst human rights abuses will reaffirm Somalia’s commitment to end the culture of impunity in the eyes of its own citizens and the world at large,” said Keating. The UN also issued letters to Jubbaland and Puntland over names of former warlords Abdifatah Mohamed Ali and Mohamed Hersi Morgan respectively who are also contesting for Senatorial seats.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Is Obama’s Latest Victim As US Expands Army Presence
16 October – Source: telesurtv.net- 433 Words
Hundreds of raids and airstrikes are being secretly carried out by the U.S. in the country as Obama prepares to leave office.Despite his repeated public statements opposing “American boots on the ground,” President Barack Obama—just shy of the end of his time in office— has been expanding U.S. military presence in war-torn Somalia as the Pentagon has deployed up to 300 U.S. special forces and increased airstrikes in the African country, the New York Times reported Sunday.
U.S. special operation troops have been “heavily involved” with Somali and African troops, U.S. and African officials told the newspaper, as part of operation “Somalia Campaign” which Obama has quietly and secretly spearheaded in a bid to fight the al-Qaida-aligned Shabab group.
The special forces are carrying out, along with other local troops, more than six raids a month against what they claim are extremist group positions.Officials told the newspaper that the U.S. troops get to interrogate alleged militants first before they are passed on to local Somali authorities, which brings to mind the countless accounts of torture and brutal interrogation methods carried out by U.S. agents and soldiers in the past.
What’s more troubling is that information about the airstrikes—where hundreds of people are being killed—are not being made public.One of the deadliest airstrikes by the U.S. in the county came in March when the Pentagon said its military jets killed more than 150 alleged Shabab fighters at what military officials called a “graduation ceremony.”Another airstrike last month killed more than a dozen Somali government soldiers, who are supposedly U.S. allies against the Shabab, Somali officials told the New York Times.Meanwhile, the Pentagon admits to very few of the hundreds of operations taking place in Somalia, labeling them as “self-defense strikes.”
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“The best course of action is that we wake up from our deep sleep and reclaim our nation, after-all, this is our God given country – we are the sons and daughters of this forgotten land. We have to rise above the divisions and mistrust among us; it’s about time we mobilize and demonstrate for the liberation of our land from the outside enemies and the enemies within,”
Reject A President And Parliament Elected Through Bribe And Nepotism
15 October – Source: Hiiraan Online -622 Words
It is incomprehensible to our human mind in this era that a President of a re-emerging post-conflict society is elected by paying bribes to so-called elected officials in a broad day light. Back-door handling and corruption is the norm; it’s done without feeling any remorse. The Last presidential election in 2012 is a perfect example of this phenomenon, the bribes were distributed in the same premises where the election was held.
What can a President elected in this manner accomplish; one thing is for sure “he doesn’t have the interest of the Somali people at heart” and most likely he is either an agent of a foreign Government or a crook. Don’t elect a president who wants to use the meager resources of the poor women and children, who suffered a quarter of century of violence and displacement for travel abroad and stay in comfortable hotels or misappropriate the tax revenue for his own ends – this leader will put Somalia up for sale.
He will sell the nation for few thousand dollars when many of our youngsters are lost in high seas in search of better lives. Never accept a Presidential aspirant taking orders from the neighboring states (Ethiopia and Kenya) or one who makes a claim that he is backed by America, the European community and United Nations or a guy who carries a big suitcase full of American Dollars provided by Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
TOP TWEETS
@AJENews: More than 30,000 Somalis from Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp return to Somalia as part of repatriation programme http://aje.io/578p
@AlinurSalad: International community expresses concern over parliamentary candidates with a history of violence and criminality #Somalia2016Elections
@SomaliLG:#Puntland Vice President Abdihakim Omer named#JPLG most successful programme on local governance & peacebuilding
@doorashada2016: #FIEIT congratulates #Galmudug State on the successful election of Upper House representatives:http://bit.ly/2e6g01s #doorashada #Somalia
@HassanIstiila: #BREAKING Faiza Ibrahim, a female working for Mogadishu airport was shot and killed in #Mogadishu’s Dharkeyley district. #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
AMISOM Police conduct capacity building training for Somali Police officer on the on going election process.
Photo: AMISOM