October 24, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Ugaas Hassan Ugaas Khalif Opposes HirShabelle State Formation
24 October -Source: Hiiraan Online – 333 Words
In a public speaking engagement in Beledweyne, Hiiraan on Saturday, Ugaas Hassan said that he is opposed to the newly formed state of HirShabelle. In a recent meeting with the new president of HirShabelle, the clan elder said they discussed issues affecting the surrounding communities and not about “political matters”. He also told the crowd that they were largely left out of the political process.”We were barred from selecting our members of parliament and our rights. The world should know this. We were not told how many members we shall have in the upper house.”
He argued that Hiiraan as one of the oldest regions of the country should be same number of representatives in Parliament as member states. He is opposed to splitting the 8 seats. ‘When Somalia got independence in 1960, Hiiraan was a region while Jowhar was a district. Can the people of Hiiraan be convinced with Hiiraan 4 (seats), Jowhar 4 (seats) ? It is impossible. It is something far from justice”.
He vowed not to go to Jowhar and without mentioning any names specifically, however he added that those who are creating instability in the area are known. “We shall know who would be responsible of the outcome. Peace was rejected; uniting the people was rejected; someone is uniting the people and another is disuniting them. Today, October 22nd, history will remember something’. Ugaas Hassan said.
Ugaas Hassan also criticized journalists who have falsely reported about his whereabouts saying that it is illegal to knowingly publish false information. “It has gone to the extent where people say Ugaas Hassan landed in Jowhar and Mogadishu while I am still in the middle of Beledweyne. I am telling the world that I have not travelled out of Beledweyne”. He urged the people of Beledweyne to uphold peace in the region and to work towards a solution to “redeem their rights” saying that “if there is no peace, there is no life.”
Key Headlines
- Ugaas Hassan Ugaas Khalif Opposes HirShabelle State Formation (Hiiraan Online)
- Suicide Car Bomb Kills Two People In Mogadishu (Goobjoog News)
- Fighting Escalates In Galkayo (Hiiraan Online)
- Journalists Should Refrain From Exacerbating The Tensions In Galkayo (Radio Dalsan)
- EU Refunds Kenya Sh198m For Somalia-based Troops (Daily Nation)
- ‘We Had To Eat Rats’ Say Sailors Held By Somali Pirates For Four Years (The Guardian)
- Female Genital Mutilation Continues In Somali Community In US (VOA)
- Warlords And Business-Lord’s: Critical Challenges To 2016 Elections. (Hiiraan Online)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Suicide Car Bomb Kills Two People In Mogadishu
24 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 107 Words
At least two civilians were killed on Sunday night and two others injured in Bondhere district of Mogadishu when suspected suicide car bomb exploded near a residential area. District Commissioner Qaasim Abdullahi confirmed to reporters noting the explosion hit a place close to an IDP camp.
“A moving vehicle exploded here. It exploded close to to the Internal Displaced Person’s homes and two civilians were killed while two others were also injured” said commissioner Qasim. The injured civilians were taken to Madina Hospital and doctors say they are in a stable condition. No group has claimed the responsibility of the attack, but Al-Shabaab frequently carries out suicide car bombs in the capital city of Mogadishu.
Fighting Escalates In Galkayo
24 October – Source: Hiiraan Online – 103 Words
Fighting between Puntland and Galmudug state forces continue to escalate today as both sides continue their armed confrontation. Local residents reported hearing gunshots erupting in the west end of the city which soon spread out to different suburbs surrounding the city. Although many are calling for a ceasefire and restoration of peace, the current hostility between the two rivals does not seem to be subsiding. The UNHCR estimates that 50,000 people have been displaced since onset of the fighting. The displaced mostly camp out in the outskirts of the city.
Journalists Should Refrain From Exacerbating The Tensions In Galkayo
24 October – Source: Radio Dalsan – 290 Words
The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), urges all journalists and media houses in Galkayo town of central Somalia to avoid reporting coverage that reignites the ongoing conflict in the divided city of Galkayo. It came to our attention that some of the FM stations in both sides of Galkayo town were holding radio and TV debates over the recent conflicts. These debates were not professionally moderated and could easily create more violence and animosity among the two sides.
Irresponsible reporting could spark further escalations among local residents and lead to the loss of innocent lives. Therefore, we call upon all local media to remain impartial and responsible while respecting the ethics of journalism and editorial guidelines. Fortunately, some of the local journalists behaved responsibly and were an example to others. “National Union of Somali Journalists praises some local journalists and media in Galkayo, who decided to address and report the ongoing crises carefully and responsibly. History will tell how everyone behaved” said Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu NUSOJ Secretary General.
Liban Ajiib Haji, a prominent correspondent in Galkayo and member of National Union of Somali Journalists, believes that some media houses and journalists were overwhelmed and influenced by the aspirations and the desire of their own local authorities in the respective areas. Liban encouraged journalists from all sides to remain impartial.
On the other hand, it is important that journalists take a great care while reporting from hostile areas. We call on all journalists to make their physical safety their top priority. According to CPJ’s journalists’ security guide, Journalists should always prioritize their own safety. No story is worth anyone’s life, and if one is to be killed or becomes ill from exposure, one would become a burden instead of an asset.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
EU refunds Kenya Sh198m For Somalia-based Troops
24 October – Source: Daily Nation – 324 Words
The Europe Union has released Sh198 million to the Treasury as refund for Kenyan troops fighting Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia after a seven-month delay attributed to a verification hitch. Treasury documents show that Kenya received the money in September with the last refund coming in February in a reimbursement that is meant to happen quarterly.
Kenya received Sh4.2 billion from the UN in the first seven months of last financial year against a claim of Sh6.4 billion, meaning the country is owed Sh2.2 billion. It expects to receive Sh6.4 billion in the year to June 2017. The Treasury did not explain the delay, but earlier reports in the BBC indicated that payments for the 22,000-strong African Union force (Amisom) were being withheld over “accounting issues”.
Nearly 4,000 Kenyan soldiers are part of Amisom and the international community provides $1,028 (Sh103, 828) for each Amisom soldier each month; their respective governments then deduct about $200 (Sh20,200) for administrative costs meaning the soldiers are supposed to take home about $800 (Sh83, 628).
The soldiers receive the allowances through the government. The funds are only released to Amisom by the EU once accounts from the previous payment are signed off. Kenya has previously faced delay in reimbursement of the money, which was linked to the UN’s insistence on verification of the claims.
‘We Had To Eat Rats,’ Say Sailors Held By Somali Pirates For Four Years
24 October – Source: The Guardian – 400 Words
One of the 26 sailors freed after being hostage by Somali pirates has revealed the dire conditions they were forced to endure during their ordeal. Arnel Balbero told the BBC that the group were forced to eat anything they could get their hands on, including rats, and were given only tiny amounts of water.
“Eat anything, even you not like, you feel hungry, you eat it,” he said. “You eat rat, you cook it.” Balbero, speaking in Nairobi after his release, said his time as a hostage had left him feeling like a “walking dead” and it was very hard to imagine restarting his life. He said the pirates treated the group like animals.
The sailors were released after a ransom was paid, and international mediators said it “represents the end of captivity for the last remaining seafarers taken hostage during the height of Somali piracy.”
The crew from Vietnam, Taiwan, Cambodia, Indonesia, China and the Philippines had been among the few hostages still in the hands of Somali pirates. The sailors were the crew of the FV Naham 3, a Taiwan-owned fishing vessel seized in March 2012, said pirate, Bile Hussein. The ship later sank.
Hussein said $1.5m in ransom was paid for the sailors’ release. That claim could not be independently verified. The 26 sailors will be re-patriated to their home countries, said John Steed, the coordinator of the Hostage Support Partners for the US-based organisation Oceans Beyond Piracy, said in a statement.
Female Genital Mutilation Continues In Somali Community In US
24 October – Source: VOA – Video: 2:52 Mintues
The United Nations estimates that 200 million girls and women in over 30 countries have undergone female genital mutilation. Somalia has the highest rate recorded by the U.N. with about 98 percent of the country’s female population between the ages of 15 and 49 having been subjected to FGM. The U.S. state of Minnesota is home to a large number of refugees from Somalia and has a high rate of FGM.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Putting aside the emotive rhetoric, the difficult lies in the election process, and as much as we abhor warlords, the political elite has to take full responsibility for the inaction of and the lack of exclusion of this group.”
Warlords And Business-Lords: Critical Challenges To 2016 Elections
23 October – Source: Hiiraan Online – 1,902 Words
This week, the long-awaited 2016 Somali election- the upper and lower House- had begun and the day of reckoning is here. The country is in the grip of election hysteria, and for some, it is nearly becoming an obsession. People are understandably quite apprehensive of this semi-democratic system where only a handful of citizens (fourteen thousand) will be in a position to select representatives for the upper and lower houses of parliament.
However, the fact that Somalia is holding an election, which is more relatively representative than in the recent past, is welcome progress. Gone are the days when warlords battled control of the main urban centres for rent money and political influence causing unbearable destruction and misery for communities.
Conversely, Somalia is already showing progress in political, social and economic arenas since the selection of the incumbent President in 2012. It points to a relative development which is a remarkable achievement of Somalia. Indeed, it was President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud who promised, right after his inauguration, that he would lead the country to a new dawn whereby citizens will exercise their democratic rights. i.e. universal suffrage by August 2016.
Much was since written and said about the merit of his rather over ambitious statement or lack of it. Some political analyist, at the time, cautioned about raising public expectation, others dismissed the idea outrights pointing to the insurmountable difficulties the country faces.
Fast forward 2016- after a reality check, it became apparent that the government could not deliver its promise of universal suffrage. Therefore, it has to craft another electoral model that could satisfy local constituency and international partners who hold the purse strings thus dictate issues and agenda to a certain extent. After lengthy discussions, the government settled for an extended legitimacy, a process that will expand the previous 135 elders to and over 14,000 Electoral College.
TOP TWEETS
@omabha: OCHA Somalia Flash Update 2 Humanitarian impact of fighting in Gaalkacyo | 24 October 2016 – Reliefwebhttp://dlvr.it/MWKn38 #Somalia
@UKolizer : #Somalia pirates’ hostages freed after five years –#BBCNews http://uk.trendolizer.com/
@Husdarwish : #Somalia :Warlords and Business-lords:Critical challenges to 2016 Elections. https://shar.es/1EQGqn @Moshireh :Good points raised n article
@thepeoplepost1 : Two killed in suicide car bombing in#Somalia capital #Mogadishu Read more http://bit.ly/2ewv8qi
@HussienM12 : BREAKING: Reports of fierce fighting between Puntland and Galmudug forces in Galkacyo town,#Somalia. Casualties feared.
@Vatescorp : #Somalia: NUSOJ- Journalists should refrain from exacerbating tensions in Galkayo
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Turkey donates bulletproof buses to the Somalia Prison Services for protection and secure transportation of prisoners.
Photo: @asmali77