October 28, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report.
Somalia’s Electoral Disputes Body Says It Has Received Over 1,200 Complaints To Date
28 October – Source: UNSOM – 272 Words
Somalia’s Independent Electoral Disputes Resolution Mechanism (IEDRM), the body mandated to address complaints arising from the country’s ongoing electoral process, has already received 1,219 complaints, its head announced today. Addressing journalists at a press briefing in Mogadishu, IEDRM Chairperson Abdirizak Barre Jama said that all the complaints filed were being assessed and that the body would soon rule on the way forward. However, he also noted that some disputes were outside their jurisdiction.
“We have received 1,219 disputes between 10 and 26 October 2016. Obviously, this is too much and not all of them fall within our mandate. Our mandate is only to deal with electoral disputes. We have no mandate over clan disputes”, Mr Jama told journalists. He said IEDRM members had been divided into seven teams, each of which would be assigned to address complaints from a specific federal member state. Mr Jama stressed the body’s readiness to resolve all disputes arising from the ongoing Upper and Lower House electoral processes.
Key Headlines
- Somalia’s Electoral Disputes Body Says It Has Received Over 1200 Complaints To Date (UNSOM)
- Somalia Formally Joins Indian Ocean Rim Association (Goobjoog News)
- 85000 People Displaced In Galkayo Says NGO (Jowhar.com)
- AU Calls For Aid For Somali Town Recaptured From Al-Shabaab (Xinhua)
- Kenya Imposes Month Long Curfew In Mandera After Terror Attack (Xinhua)
- Somali-American Guilty Of Supporting ISIS To Appear On 60 Minutes (CBS News)
- Islamic State in Africa Tries to Lure Members From Al-Shabaab (Wall Street Journal)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Formally Joins Indian Ocean Rim Association
28 October – Source: Goobjoog News – 264 Words
Somalia officially became a member of the Indian Ocean Rim Association on Wednesday following its signing of the charter during the Council of Ministers meeting in Bali, Indonesia. The signing of the charter formally concluded the country’s application process for membership to the 21 member bloc which started in October 2014.
“The signature means that the Federal Republic of Somalia is formally a member of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) which promotes trade and diverse cooperation in many fields including Maritime Safety and Security, Trade and Investment Facilitation, Fisheries Management and Tourism and Cultural Exchanges,” IORA said in a statement Wednesday.
Somalia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Omer Abdusalam who signed the charter on behalf of Somalia said through the membership Somalia will endeavor to strengthen relations further whilst establishing and nurturing new relations with other valuable partners in all areas of mutual interest.
“Somalia as a member State seeks to both contribute and benefit from the partnerships within IORA to advance Somalia’s great economic potential both at sea and inland,” said Omer in a statement. The IORA is comprised of 21 members who share the Indian Ocean waters. The bloc’s main objective is to promote the sustained growth and balanced development of the region and of the Member States, and to create common ground for regional economic co-operation.
Priority areas include Maritime Safety & Security, Trade & Investment Facilitation, Fisheries Management, Disaster Risk Management, Academic, Science & Technology, Tourism & Cultural Exchanges and Gender Empowerment. Japan, US, UK, China, Egypt and France are dialogue members to the bloc.
85,000 People Displaced In Galkayo Says NGO
27 October – Source: Jowhar.com – 105 Words
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has revealed that 85,000 people have been displaced in the recent clashes in Galkayo. The organisation expressed its concern on the situation which it says people are living in deplorable conditions. The Somalia Director of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Abdiqadir Ahmed has said the humanitarian situation of the displaced persons is terrible and many more are seeking to flee Galkayo due to the ongoing clashes. He urged both Galmudug and Puntland to immediately stop the hostilities in the town saying such a move will offer a lifeline to those who have been displaced.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
AU calls For Aid For Somali Town Recaptured From Al-Shabaab
28 October – Source: Xinhua – 250 Words
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has appealed to the international community to help provide potable water for residents of the liberated central Somalia town of El Baraf. AMISOM contingent commander Jean Pierre Hakizimana said on Thursday that the assistance would help meet the pressing demand for clean water supply for the town, as troops focus on security and opening of routes to other parts of Somalia.
“The need for water made some of them flee from the town,” he said in a statement issued in Mogadishu. The strategic town of El Baraf sits 150 km from Mogadishu in the Middle Shabelle region. AMISOM force spokesperson Joe Kibet said the liberation of El Baraf had brought benefits not just to the local residents, but also resulted in the opening up of major routes to other parts of Somalia.
“It’s at a junction that Al-Shabaab used to dominate; they used it for collection of taxes and making money. When we came here we cut that link, we forced them out and denied them the opportunity of getting income from taxation along this region and oppressing the people,” he added. El Baraf was recaptured by AMISOM forces earlier this year to help free its residents from the control of the Al-Shabaab terror group and also open up major routes. El Baraf is now bustling with activities unlike when it was controlled by the militants. Traders are seen back on the streets selling foodstuffs and other merchandise and farmers are busy herding their livestock.
Kenya Imposes Month Long Curfew In Mandera After terror Attack
28 October – Source: Xinhua – 377 Words
The Kenyan government on Thursday imposed a 12-hour curfew in the border region of Mandera following an Al-Shabaab terror attack at a guesthouse that left 12 dead. Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery in a Kenya Gazette Notice said the regulation required people to remain indoors between 6:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. in towns of Mandera, Omar Jillo, Arabia, Fino, Lafey Kotulo, Elwak and the environs extending to 20 kilometers from the Kenya-Somalia border.
The order will come into effect on Oct. 27 and last until Dec. 27, according to the gazette, which was issued two days after the militants killed 12 Kenyans in Mandera town. The attackers used improvised explosive devices to break the metallic doors at the lodge before killing the 12 Kenyans in their rooms. Among the people killed in theTuesday attack were ten non-locals who had visited the town for performances at schools.
The terror group has carried out several attacks in Mandera. On Oct. 6, six people were killed after the militants attacked a residential plot in Bulla public works in Mandera town. Mandera Governor Ali Roba said he could not request additional security personnel as they are afraid of carrying out patrols. Instead, Roba asked the government to dispatch 300 police reservists to boost the county’s security. “The border security programme should also be fast-tracked,” he said.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“We would listen and listen until we became, you know, wrapped in this ideology.”
Somali-American Guilty Of Supporting ISIS To Appear On 60 Minutes
28 October – Source: CBS News – 458 Words
A 21-year-old Minneapolis man pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support (fighters) to ISIS tells Scott Pelley how he was radicalized by the Internet videos of the dead American al Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. Speaking in his first interview, Abdirizak Warsame takes responsibility for his actions and the blame for the deaths of friends he helped send to fight in Syria. His interview will be broadcast on 60 Minutes Sunday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
An excerpt of Warsame’s interview appeared on Thursday’s CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley. A transcript of the excerpt is below. Tonight, we have a rare interview with an American who became the leader of an ISIS cell, sending young men to their deaths in Syria. He’s one of thousands of Somali refugees welcomed there since the 1990s.
Warsame is facing 15 years in prison. In an interview for this Sunday’s 60 Minutes, he told us he was pulled into terrorism — online — through the lectures of Anwar al-Awlaki, an al Qaeda cleric and preacher of war. Abdirizak Warsame: He explained how Islam was, you know, like, my calling. It was almost like he was talking to you. And like it made you feel like you were special, you know? And like you’re the chosen one.“They have clearly got the attention of Al-Shabaab’s rank and file. Their propaganda is more successful than al Qaeda’s,” said Matt Bryden, the head of Sahan Research, a Kenya-based think tank.
Islamic State in Africa Tries to Lure Members From Al-Shabaab
27 October – Source: Wall Street Journal – 1,116 Words
Islamic State’s push to co-opt one of Africa’s deadliest jihadist movements has come with an attempt to present a softer face to potential recruits. Over the past year, the jihadist group also known as ISIS and Daesh has launched a broad recruitment campaign across Somalia to pry foot soldiers and senior operatives from Al-Shabaab, a two-decade-old insurgency allied with al Qaeda that has made it very clear they have no desire to switch franchises.
Stung by battlefield losses to larger Al-Shabaab forces, Islamic State has offered promises of an easier life: lower taxes, more tolerance for substance abuse and fewer political diatribes. The inroads have been small, but there is evidence the approach is winning ideological converts, luring a few hundred Al-Shabaab defectors including influential imams and allowing Islamic State to establish bands of followers in the northeastern tip of the country.
In March, Islamic State launched its first attack on Somali soil—a bombing of an African Union vehicle in Mogadishu—and released a video purportedly showing its first Somali training camp. Residents from Al-Shabaab strongholds in the south say Islamic State is building support by promising reduced taxes on land and livestock sales and pledging to fight a purer holy war, rather than one that is focused on political power in Somalia.
Kenyan counterterror officials say they are closely monitoring clashes between the jihadist factions. On Tuesday, Al-Shabaab gunmen from Somalia killed 12 people in an attack on non-Muslims at a guest house in Kenya’s northern Mandera County, a local official said. To be sure, Islamic State fighters in Somalia are still pledging deadly attacks and a violent overthrow of those who oppose them.
TOP TWEETS
@Cidilibaax: #Canadian veterans say anti-malaria drug prescribed in #Somalia ruined lives #Puntland #Mogadishu@US2SOMALIA
@TakabaBoy: @HassanIstiila: KDF claim to have destroyed Alshabaab camp near Bardheere town in Gedo region of#Somalia following an airstike.”
@UNODC_MCP : Eight small vessels & crew which are alleged to be intended to be used to smuggle migrants to Yemen captured by Bosasso Port Police #Somalia
@YannMSF : Over 30 Journalists Killed with Impunity in#Somalia, #SouthSudan and Nigeria http://www.africanews.com/
@mogadishu_h : We have a beautiful history, and we shall create another in the future that will astonish the world.#Mogadishu #Xamar #somalia #Africa #tia
@SahafiYare: Somalia: refugee agencies affirm that over 80 thousand people have so far displaced in recurrent clashes between Galmudug and Puntland In Galkayo
IMAGE OF THE DAY
Somalia becomes an official member of the the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) after the signing of the Charter.
Photo: @MofaSomalia