NATIONAL MEDIA
23 October – Source: Halbeeg – 205 Words
A delegation led by Somali President, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has arrived in President Farmajo arrives in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi for Russia-Africa summit on Tuesday. The Head of State and his delegation were welcomed by Russia officials upon arrival at Sochi International Airport. The President is accompanied by Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ahmed Isse Awad his Defense counterpart, Hassan Mohamed Amardambe among other senior officials. During his time in Sochi, the President and his delegation are scheduled to conduct sideline meeting with leaders and head of governments from Africa to discuss issues of mutual interests between their nations.
The Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President and African Union Chairman Abdelfattah Al Sisi will co-chair the Russia–Africa Summit which will be held on 23–24 October 2019 at Sirius Park of Science and Art. The summit is the first event of its kind in the history of Russian-African relations to which the head of every African state and the leaders of major regional associations and organizations have been invited. The Summit plenary sessions will look to discuss a wide range of issues on the international agenda and to compare views on pressing issues of vital interest to Russia and Africa.
22 October – Source: MAP – 320 Words
In an unexpected turn-around, Puntland authorities dropped all charges against the former Daljir Radio Director Ahmed Tallman today after admitting to broadcasting an erroneous news story at his former station Radio Daljir alleging that the Puntland Police commissioner Gen. Muhyadin and his security staff for being responsible of an alleged Al-Shabaab prisoner who died as a result of police interrogation. The release of Ahmed Tallman marked an end to seven-weeks of confusion. It also highlighted the difficulties that MAP faced in its advocacy efforts when uninformed publicity-seeking local organizations published misleading and baseless information on Ahmed’s situation to the public. Even worse was when international watch groups fall into the empty nest by citing the same information for their reports.
”We are happy to have Journalist Ahmed free, but it is very important to reflect back on the lessons learnt during the past weeks. He added, we will always seek local and international pressure groups to support us in efforts to speak out against violations committed against the media or journalists but in an informed and objective manner” Said MAP chair. The Media Association of Puntland (MAP) would like to thank the two defence lawyers who have been very important to the process throughout the past weeks. Notably, the Office of the Puntland Human Rights Defender (OPHRD) and Free Press Unlimited (FPU) who provided legal support for the defendant have truly been important to the case, thank you for the support and we look forward to strengthening our cooperation in the future.
22 October – Source: Somaliland.com – 339 Words
Leader of Somaliland’s Waddani Party has accused President Muse Bihi of violations against the political agreement on the electoral commission that was brokered by the international community in July this year. The Chairman of the Party, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi Irro in a press conference at his residence in Hargeisa said his party will withhold the nomination until the government rectifies the violations of the nomination process and the agreement of the political parties brokered by the European Union. Waddani alleges the members nominated by the president to the independent electoral body include people affiliated with political parties. The party also objects the renomination of Kaltun Sheikh, a member of the current electoral commission. Mr Irro accused President Muse Bihi of violations and gross misconduct towards the recent political parties agreement. Mr Irro said President Muse Bihi’s integrity is questionable because he does not keep his words when the stakeholders come to an agreement…..
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
22 October – Source: Xinhua – 270 Words
A senior UN official will visit Somalia next week to discuss the situation of children affected by armed conflict in the Horn of Africa nation, the UN mission said on Tuesday. Virginia Gamba, special representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict will be in Mogadishu on Oct. 29 to sign a roadmap to accelerate the implementation of commitments made in the Children and Armed Conflict action plans with the United Nations in 2012. “She will also launch the Peace Building Fund project supporting the community-based reintegration of children formerly associated with armed forces and groups,” the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) said in a statement issued in Mogadishu. During the visit, Gamba will meet representatives of the Somali government, the United Nations, civil society and the international community. The meetings, according to the UN mission, will assess progress in the implementation of the action plans to end and prevent the recruitment and use, and killing and maiming of children, and to help identify measures to better protect children from grave violations.
The recruitment and use of child soldiers as combatants in armed conflict by militant groups such as al-Shabab remains a key concern in Somalia. According to the UN Security Council Report on Children and Armed Conflict in Somalia, which was published in 2017, a total of 5,933 boys and 230 girls were recruited as child soldiers between April 1, 2010 and July 1, 2016. Statistics showed an improvement between 2012 and 2014, but the figures sharply rise in 2016, where 1,092 children were used as child soldiers, in the first half of 2016.
22 October – Source: Daily Nation – 696 Words
Two terror suspects arrested during the October 1 raid by a multi-agency security team that led to the killing of three suspected militants had planned to attack Mombasa during the Mashujaa Day celebrations. According to intelligence obtained by the detectives, the Somali-based militants had also deployed Bakari Chibonja and Athuman Nyae and their accomplices to attack key government installations on October 20. “It is believed that the suspects are members of Al-Shabaab terrorism group with a wide network of following and is believed to have sent operatives within Mombasa to attack key government installations,” Anti-Terror Police Unit investigator Dickson Indaru said in an affidavit.
POLICE RADAR
The detective said in the affidavit shared with a court that Mr Chibonja is under police radar in the anti-terrorism police database and that it has been revealed he had earlier featured in a terrorism-related incident in Mombasa. Mr Indaru further told the court that the two suspects are believed to have committed a number of other terrorist acts and harboured the militants who have attacked the country in the past. “Intelligence report shows that the accused persons and others who are still at large were planning a major attack during Mashujaa Day in Mombasa using the assorted weapons recovered from their residence in Dudus,” the investigator said.
DEADLY WEAPONS
State Counsel Erick Masila described as weapons of mass destruction the items the detectives recovered in the premises that was under the care of the two accused persons. Mr Chibonja and Mr Nyae have pleaded not guilty to three terror-related charges including harbouring terrorists and being members of the militant group. The charge sheet says that the suspects harboured Swaleh Yusuf, Abdalla, Salama Salim Mohamed and Mkubwa Sadi Ramadhan, who are all now dead, knowing that they were intending to commit a terrorist act. They are further accused of giving support for the commission of a terrorist act. The state says that the suspects provided accommodation to the dead militants with full knowledge that they were preparing to commit a terrorist act. When they appeared before Mombasa Senior Resident Magistrate Rita Amwayi, the two have pleaded not guilty to the offence the State claims they committed on October 1, 2019, in Likoni……
22 October – Source: IOM – 388 Words
Somalia has for almost three decades been in the throes of conflict; now add the most recent drought and the result is displacement and food shortages. There are reports of urgent need for assistance among the most affected regions, such as Baidoa. In the first half of the year, forced displacement in Somalia was primarily due to insecurity, drought and floods, and currently, a total of 2.6 million people remain displaced within the country. Following the declaration of a severe drought in the Horn of Africa region, aid agencies, in collaboration with the Government of Somalia, launched a Drought Impact Response Plan in June.
Of the 15 million people living in Somalia, 5.4 million (about 30%) were estimated to be food insecure with 2.2 million of these in severe acute food insecurity conditions. More than half of the population lives in poverty with the highest poverty rates found in displacement settlements, with affected populations mainly coming from Lower Shabelle, Bakool, Bay and Sanaag and heading towards Middle Shabelle and Banadir. Baidoa, the capital of Bay region, hosts one of the largest IDP populations in Somalia. According to figures compiled by the international community, as of September 2019, Baidoa had 359,994 internally displaced persons, consisting of 51,322 households on 435 sites……
21 October – Souce: Washington Examiner – 589 Words
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a January 2010 speech that “development was once the province of humanitarians, charities, and governments looking to gain allies in global struggles. Today it is a strategic, economic, and moral imperative — as central to advancing American interests and solving global problems as diplomacy and defense.” President Trump has been more dubious about the utility of foreign aid but has nonetheless allowed much of it to continue. The international donor community has become its own lobby. Often, diplomats and donors believe the benefits of humanitarian assistance trump its drawbacks (although a new book by my colleague challenges that assumption). Corruption is often downplayed or ignored. To World Bank employees, for example, Paul Wolfowitz’s greatest sin during his short tenure at the helm was to prioritize anti-corruption accountability.
Somalia may provide a test case for Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and their seriousness to reform foreign assistance. The Horn of Africa country received more than $50 billion in aid between 1991 and 2011 and hundreds of millions of dollars annually in U.S. aid ever since. U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Donald Yamamoto has promised to increase that amount. Reports have now emerged that $18 million in aid from the European Union, Saudi Arabia, and the United Nations have disappeared. The government received the funding, but it did not pass through the Treasury’s account at the Central Bank. $18 million might be a pittance compared to the total aid Somalia receives, nor is it the only money that has disappeared. Transparency International has listed Somalia as the world’s most corrupt country for 16 years running. But, that $18 million could be a useful test for Prime Minister Hassan Khaire as he comes to Washington to ask for even more aid from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund…….
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“After two months of hard work, meetings, explaining, persuading, and inviting elders of the various clans, the committee succeeded in officially holding the conference on 5th August, 2019. Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire, who spent more than 40 days in Galmudug to persuade various stakeholders, inaugurated the conference. Various clan elders and Galmudug politicians addressed this event, which contributes to the celebratory mood.”
21 October – Source: Wardheer News – 1,327 Words
Reconciliation is a long process that encompasses all dimensions of peacebuilding in societies emerging from violent conflicts. The aim of reconciliation is to restore trust and mutual understanding between communities and societies. Reconciliation is not a “one-size-fits-all” process, and it is not a universal prescription to address the physical wounds and psychological pain inflicted in communities and societies in the aftermath of gross human rights violations. Past experiences of reconciliation demonstrate that each community and society should discover its path for reconciliation in accordance with its norms, culture, and religion. Thus, reconciliation cannot be imposed or imported from other communities and societies. It must be approached on a case-by-case basis by considering the peculiarities of each case in its specific context and location. Accordingly, Galmudug reconciliation has its particularities and lessons to be learned. Therefore, in this text, I have described a number of success factors and experiences gained from this reconciliation.
On 16th September 2019, President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo concluded the Galmudug Reconciliation Conference in a celebratory event comprising 720 participants from all districts of the Galmudug State. Galmudug state was established in 2015 and quickly found itself immersed in a tense political conflict with both the federal government of Somalia and Ahlu-Sunna, which finally lead to the breakdown of the state. The federal government took the initiative to deal with the situation and signed separate agreements with both Ahlu-Sunna Wal Jama’a and President Ahmed Duale to reinstitute the regional state of Galmudug. The main point of the agreement with Ahlu-Sunna included integrating its armed militia into the national armed forces, to hold a reconciliation meeting in Dhuusamareeb and to reinstitute the state institutions.
The Minister of the Interior, Federalism, and Reconciliation Abdi Mohamed Sabriye appointed 12 committee members to organize and conduct the Galmudug reconciliation on 17th July, 2019. This committee included senior and experienced personalities rooted in Galmudug communities. I was honoured to be elected by the members to chair this committee. The mandate of the committee was to invite elders of the clans and their civil society groups to Dhuusamareeb and facilitate their dialogue with the overarching goal to create a common understanding between all stakeholders regarding the road map of the conflict resolution mechanism. After two months of hard work, meetings, explaining, persuading, and inviting elders of the various clans, the committee succeeded in officially holding the conference on 5th August 2019. Prime Minister Hassan Ali Kheyre, who spent more than 40 days in Galmudug to persuade various stakeholders, inaugurated the conference. Various clan elders and Galmudug politicians addressed this event, which contributes to the celebratory mood. The Reconciliation Conference gained huge support from the Galmudug communities, politicians, civil society, and business communities. After the 7-day conference, the committee evaluated the factors contributing to its success……. |
