NATIONAL MEDIA
17 October – Source: Halbeeg – 133 Words
Somali Security Forces have raided online forex centres in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. According to sources, the forces directed the staff at the centres to stop operations and close it. The soldiers raided three centres belonged to Camel Online Forex Institute in Zobe, Suq-Ba’ad and Makka al-mukarama. It is not yet clear the motive behind the closure of the centres. Trading is conducted over the ‘interbank market’. The online channel through which currencies are traded 24 hours a day, five days a week. Forex is one of the largest trading markets, with a global daily turnover estimated to exceed US$5 trillion. Different forex platforms operating as centres for foreign money exchange are downloadable on Google Play and Apple App Store, and aggressively market themselves through social media, promising huge and instant returns.
16 October – Source: Somaliland.com – 269 Words
The Vice President H.E Abdirahman Abdillahi Ismail “Saylic” today officially opened the two days Somaliland Women Conference in the western town of Borama in Awdal region. The theme of Somaliland Women Conference is “An Equitable and inclusive elections for all is an integral part of the democratization process in Somaliland.” The Ministry of Employment, Social Affairs and Family along with NAGAAD Network and recently-established parliamentary committee for the advancement of women & gender equality in politics and leadership have organized this conference which is focusing on Critical challenges of women’s political participation and representation in the decision-making process and leadership for inclusivity and equality for all. The civil societies and communities at large, including women, are participating in the event in Borama which is promoting gender equality and sustainable development in politics and leadership for all with a clear statement and declaration of Somaliland women’s quota enactment and application……
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
16 October – Source: Daily Nation – 240 Words
Hippocrates, the father of western medicine said: “He who wishes to be a surgeon should go to war.” Lessons learnt from the ongoing military operation in Somalia and Boni forest have led to the setting up of the Kenya Defence Forces Rehabilitation Centre. KDF will adopt the Trauma Risk Management (TRiM), a novel system of post-incident management used by the UK marines following the Iraq and Afghanistan missions, at the centre. TRiM is a non-medical procedure that has been successfully used to treat war veterans.
MURDER TRIAL
The lead proponent of the process is Prof Neil Greenberg, a military psychiatrist who famously testified in the murder trial of Sergeant Alexander Blackman, the soldier convicted of murder on a foreign battlefield. The sergeant was found guilty of killing a dying insurgent with a single shot in 2011 in Helmand province, Afghanistan, while manning a checkpoint, but during his appeal, three top psychiatrists testified that he was suffering from “adjustment disorder” which “impaired his ability to make rational decisions”.
COMBAT STRESS
The court heard: “There isn’t any such thing as a Rambo-type, Arnold Schwarzenegger soldier who can face all sorts of stressors and appear to be invulnerable. That sort of person only exists in the cinema.” Dr Greenberg’s research forms part of the treatment that KDF is employing in dealing with combat stress. Common combat stress signs include cognitive distortion or low mood, hyper-vigilant, numbness or avoidance, irritability, re-experiencing, nightmares or flashbacks.
16 October – Source: Daily Nation – 456 Words
Security agencies in Lamu are on high alert after reports of a planned Al-Shabaab attack went round in the region. According to the reports, a group of the Shabaab terrorists was this week spotted advancing towards Kiunga while another cell was seen near Mararani which is inside the dense Boni Forest where a multi-agency Operation Linda Boni has been ongoing for the past five years. The reports going round also indicated that Al-Shabaab militants were sighted crossing into Kenya at Astani, which is between Ras Kamboni and Kolbio on the border of Garissa-Lamu with Somalia between October 13 and 15. The militants were said to have crossed into Kenya with donkeys which could be carrying ammunition and other supplies, raising suspicion of a planned terrorist attack in Lamu targeting security forces involved in the Linda Boni security operation.
PROPAGANDA
Speaking to the Nation on Wednesday, Lamu County Commissioner Irungu Macharia confirmed having received the reports but termed them as “fake news”. While countering the reports, Mr Macharia said that the border of Lamu with Somalia is fully secured, further insisting that security agencies are well-prepared for any eventualities. The county security boss asked residents to “desist from listening to rumours from a few propagandists” who are bound to create unnecessary fear. He appealed to the public to be calm and vigilant and also be ready to provide information to the security agencies whenever they spot suspicious incidents or individuals. “We’ve indeed heard about those reports of Al-Shabaab militants and cells spotted. I advise residents to ignore those baseless rumours. We’re on top of things,” said Mr Macharia. He added, “We must get cooperation from residents to address all security concerns. Let people know that Lamu is secure and there’s no cause for alarm. We’re alert.”
SHORT-LIVED PEACE
The reports come at a time when Lamu is enjoying peace and stability after years of terror by Al-Shabaab militants in various parts of the region between 2014 and 2017 which left hundreds of people, including security officers and civilians, dead and property worth millions of shillings destroyed. Residents in Lamu have lauded the Linda Boni operation for bringing down the many cases of Al-Shabaab attacks, attempts and subsequent killings. In November 2017, security officers taking part in the operation in Boni Forest discovered and destroyed six Al-Shabaab transit camps which had been established inside the forest by the militants. An assortment of weapons among them several AK-47 rifles, grenade making paraphernalia, foodstuffs and drugs were discovered at the camps. An undisclosed number of Al-Shabaab terrorists were killed during the ambush and there was the subsequent bombing of their hideouts by the security agencies. In September 2018, officers in the multi-agency security operation discovered and destroyed another Al-Shabaab hideout.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Hodan Abdirahman Ali, with a family of six, lost more than 100 goats to the drought in the rural areas of Tuareg. When she came to the camp, she had to ask relatives for help. Her sewing machine is now her lifeline. “I make $10-15 a day, although there are days when I get nothing, as there are plenty of sewing machine operators,” Hodan said.”
17 October – Source: Radio Ergo – 568 Words
In Radio Ergo’s IDP Camps series, our reporter in Lasanod finds destitute pastoralist women who are using their new-found skills at the sewing machine to better their lives and get out of camps.
“This job has changed my life, it has changed a great deal,” declared Hibo Abdirahman, a mother of four, and one of 25 former pastoralist women from a camp near Lasanod, in northern Somalia’s Sool region, trained in tailoring as a new source of income. For the past three months, she has been earning money from her sewing machine, given to her after a four-month training course provided by international NGO, ADRA. “I am earning 150,000-200,000 Somali shillings a day,” Hibo said proudly. “Before this, I had nothing, but today I am a self-employed person earning from her skills”
Hibo came to Kalbardale camp, on the outskirts of Ariaddeye, 32 km from Lasanod, two years ago when her family’s herd of 80 goats was wiped out in the drought. Her husband is jobless. She has opened a stall where she sews men’s and women’s clothing. Hibo told Radio Ergo the family can now afford three meals a day on her income, and she has enrolled three of her children, aged between six and nine, into a school in the town for the first time, at fees of $5 per child. She is so confident now that she has moved the family out of the camp into a rented two-room house in the town, paying $30 a month. “I used to live in a hut in the camp, and I used to fear that my children would be eaten by wolves. But today, I don’t fear any of that,” she said.
Kalbardale camp is home to 450 former pastoralist families and is one of four camps in Ariaddeye. According to Bashe Anshur, one of the camp leaders, services in these camps are extremely limited. The last food distribution people recall was in July. Some of the camp residents depend on help from their relatives living in the cities and abroad. A few families have a male member working in the town. There are no schools in the camps, and the nearest health centre serving IDPs and host community with free services is in Ariaddeye town. Some water tanker deliveries are paid for by diaspora funders….. |
