October 6, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Civil Society Groups And Committee of Elders In Hiiraan Warn Of Election Fraud
06 October – Source: Hiiraan Online -240 Words
The committee of Hiiraan Elders along with youth and women groups and the Hiiraan Civil Society have signed a letter forewarning of electoral fraud in their region. The group accuses the current government of deceiving the process to select their nominees to Parliament. The letter obtained by Hiiraan Online is addressed to UNPOS, EU, AU, IGAD as well as the General Attorney of Somalia. It claims that the government has been disingenuous in its dealings with the people of Hiiraan. They noted the stalemate over state formation and the refusal to hold election sites in Beled Weyne or Jowhar as one of their key grievances. They argued that the issue of security is a “feeble excuse” since Beled Weyne has been housing both the UN and AMISOM for the past five years with little incident.
The signatories of the letter directly accused the government of trying to steal the 8 seats for the Upper House and the 36 seats for Parliament that Hiiraan/Middle Shabelle are entitled to. They believe the government wants to reward those seats to what they refer to as “cronies” who will support President Hassan’s re-election bid.
The Somali federal government is in a race against time as they push to meet the latest election deadline. The government is trying to form a federal state for Middle Shabelle and Hiiraan before October 30 and have been meeting in Jowhar for formal talks on interregional state formation.
Key Headlines
- Civil Society Groups And Committee of Elders In Hiiraan Warn Of Election Fraud (Hiiraan Online)
- Roadside Blast in Qansax Dheere Town Kills Soldier (Shabelle News)
- Some Of Al-Shabaab Prisoners To Be Transferred To Mogadishu (Garowe Online)
- President Gaas Unveils Multi-Party System Roadmap In Garowe (Jowhar.com)
- Six killed In Mandera Shabaab Attack 27 Rescued (Daily Nation)
- Press Freedom Bodies Call For Inquiry Into Somali Journalist’s Murder (The Guardian)
- The Trek Towards Fistula Repair (UNFPA Somalia)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Roadside Blast In Qansax Dheere Town Kills Soldier
06 October – Source: Shabelle News – 122 Words
One army soldier was killed, another hurt in a remote-controlled land-mine explosion which ripped through military convoy in Qansax Dheere town that falls under Interim south west administration. An eyewitness, who did not want his name to be identified for fear of his security has confirmed the attack to Radio Shabelle, and he said the roadside bomb struck a military vehicles carrying Somali soldiers. The local authority did not respond to Radio Shabelle’s repeated requests for comment and information about the attack, that left one soldier serving with Somali national army (SNA) dead. No group has claimed responsibility for the IED attack on Somali forces in Qansax Dheere town, once Al shabaab bastion in Bay region, located in south west of Somalia.
Some Of Al-Shabaab Prisoners To Be Transferred To Mogadishu
05 October – Source: Garowe Online – 217 Words
Reports emerged that some of Al-Shabaab inmates who were apprehended in the battle against the militants group in the Indian Ocean coastal towns in March 2016, are set to be transferred to Mogadishu, Garowe. Sources tell Garowe Online that about 26 inmates will be relocated from Puntland’s prisons, following an agreement between the UN and Puntland government to transfer inmates who are under the age of 15. Puntland officials haven’t release statement in relation to the matter, but Garowe Online has learned that minor inmates will be placed at rehabilitation center in the capital Mogadishu.
Nearly 200 Al Shabaab fighters have seized Indian Ocean towns of Gara’ad and Suuj, but Puntland security forces managed to repulse the group in anti terror operations, that led to the death and capture of many Al Shabaab militants, last March. The militants were convicted by Puntland state courts on charges of terrorism and its sentences ranged from death and imprisonment. However, Puntland government is believed it has allegedly released undisclosed number of convicted prisoners amid concerns that those released inmates have carried out terrorist attacks in main cities in Puntland. Puntland, located North Eastern part of Somalia has been relatively stable compared to the rest of Somalia but attacks by Al Qaida linked Al-Shabaab group have been raising in recent months.
President Gaas Unveils Multi-Party System Roadmap In Garowe
06 October 2016 – Source: Jowhar.com – 173 Words
Puntland president Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas has launched the multi-party political system roadmap ahead of the forthcoming electoral process in Garowe. Speaking at the launch event, Prof. Gaas noted that despite the myriad of challenges ahead of the proposed transition to multiparty democracy in the country, there is still some level of optimism among the Puntland leadership over the possibility to overcome such a daunting task. Besides the president, the event was graced by other high profile government officials and local civil society groups, including the Puntland Electoral Commission Vice-Chairman, Mohamud Soofe Hassan. Mr. Hassan has officially announced that the multi-party political system is applicable during the upcoming electoral process, adding that it will service as a trial for the country’s longer term goals to stage a one man one vote election by 2020. President Gaas’ predecessor, Abdirahman Faroole has failed to enforce the multi-party electoral system in Puntland back in 2013, when the government was forced to revert to the clan-based power sharing formula after facing stiff opposition from political and clan elements.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Six killed In Mandera Shabaab Attack, 27 Rescued
06 October – Source: Daily Nation – 221 Words
Six people have been killed and 27 others rescued in Al-Shabaab attack at Bulla public works in Mandera, Governor Ali Roba has confirmed.The attack occurred at 2:45am.”Out of 33 non locals residing in one plot, six were shot dead and 27 rescued by our security officers manning the sector,” Mr Roba said.
In an interview with the Nation, Mr Roba added: Six lives are too many to lose. We condemn the attack which comes at a time when locals had started enjoying peace.”There was an explosion as police attempted to get into the house to retrieve the bodies, ripping off one of the roof tops.There were no injuries from the explosion. Police said landmines planted in compound were delaying their attempts to retrieve bodies of the dead. Bomb experts were expected to detonate the explosives.Mandera County Commissioner Frederick Shisia say they are working on switching off communication networks to allow police enter the building as they fear more explosives are in the house. Since Garissa University College attack on April 2, 2015 that claimed 148 lives, mostly students at the institution, the country has experienced a lull in attacks.Attacks in border areas have been blamed on a porous border where assailants easily cross over to commit atrocities and slip back to the lawless Somalia.
Press Freedom Bodies Call For Inquiry Into Somali Journalist’s Murder
06 October – Source: The Guardian – 290 Words
Press freedom bodies have called on the Somali authorities to investigate the murder of radio journalist Abdiaziz Mohamed Ali Haji. The host of a morning news programme for Radio Shabelle was shot dead by gunmen on motorbikes while travelling in the north of Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, said one of the station’s producers, Abdirizak Turyare. Radio Shabelle’s owner, Abdimalik Yusuf Mohamud, told Reuters that Abdiaziz, who was 35, was “a professional journalist who was dedicated to his work”. This is the second killing of a Somali radio journalist this year. In June, Sagal Salad Osman, who worked for the state-run Radio Mogadishu, was shot as she left her university campus.
Both the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) registered their outrage at the killing of Abdiaziz.Murithi Mutiga, CPJ’s East Africa representative, said: “We urge Somali authorities to leave no stone unturned in determining the motive for Abdiaziz’s and Sagal’s killings and prosecuting those responsible”. Cléa Kahn-Sriber, the head of RSF’s Africa desk, also called on the Somali authorities to launch an investigation. She said: “It is vital that, despite limited resources, the Somali government should adopt credible measures to investigate these murders in order to send a clear message that it will not tolerate this type of violence.” The Somali authorities have repeatedly shut down Radio Shabelle and arrested its staff. Its journalists have often been targeted and killed, CPJ research shows. According to RSF’s tally, 10 of the Shabelle media group’s journalists, including three of its directors, have been murdered since 2006. CPJ named Somalia as the worst offender in its 2015 global impunity index, and it is ranked 167th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2016 world press freedom index.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“I went back home and did not notice that anything else was wrong until a few days later when I discovered that I could not control my bladder. I returned to the health center and was told that I had suffered from a condition known as obstetric fistula because of her prolonged labour. It was my first time to hear of such a medical condition.”
The Trek Towards Fistula Repair
05 October – Source: UNFPA Somalia – 1000 Words
I met Farhiya during my recent visit to Garowe General Hospital in Puntland. At the time, Farhiya was preparing to check out of the hospital after two weeks of recovery following a successful obstetric fistula repair procedure. She consented to share her story with me and told me that she had lived with obstetric fistula, a debilitating condition, for seven years. Farhiya is a 23-year-old Somali woman who, among 65 other girls and women, received free fistula repair services during a campaign at Garowe Hospital in Puntland which was carried out by Physicians Across Continents (PAC) in coordination with the Ministry of Health. UNFPA Somalia provided technical and financial support towards the campaign.
Farhiya is a living testimony to some of the root causes of the condition; early marriage and early pregnancy – which usually culminate into obstructed and prolonged labour. She was married off at the age of 15 in a village on the Ethiopian side of the border between Ethiopia and Somalia. She became pregnant at the age of 16. When she went into labour, there was no skilled birth attendant in the village so she remained in prolonged labour for four days. “Because there was no proper transportation, I was carried on a donkey cart to the nearest health centre in Kelafo district, tens of kilometers away from my village,” Farhiya explained. At the health center, she was told that her baby had died and the midwife performed assisted delivery to remove the dead baby.“My feeling of relief, after sleepless days of exhausting labour, was however mixed with the sorrow of losing my baby,” Farhiya told me, adding: “I went back home and did not notice that anything else was wrong until a few days later when I discovered that I could not control my bladder. I returned to the health center and was told that I had suffered from a condition known as obstetric fistula because of her prolonged labour. It was my first time to hear of such a medical condition.”
Personnel at the heath centre in Kelafo could not provide any remedy to Farhiya’s condition. She was told that there were no fistula experts in the area. “I returned to my village hoping that time will heal my body. After waiting for nine months with no improvement, I decided to cross the border into Somalia to seek medical care in Galkaio. I had heard of the presence of a doctor specialised in treating fistula. In one month, I was operated on twice without much success,” explained Farhiya.
TOP TWEETS
@Daudo BREAKING: #AlShabaab claims responsibility for attack on #Mandera, NE #Kenya, early this morning, killing 6 people – Radio Andalus. #Somalia
@amisomsomalia #AMISOM takes the safety of the Somali people seriously and takes utmost care in all its operations to protect civilians. #Somalia
@nickericsson:#Somalia‘s 60-year-old graduate motivated by feminist issues
@HarunMaruf: Suspected militants shot dead Ibrahim Qorrah, a well-known Somali traditional elder in Bardhere town, Gedo region, overnight: @VOA_Somali
@amisomsomalia:#AMISOM troops in collaboration with #SNAwant to assure Somali’s of #AlShabaabs defeat for peace and security to prevail in #Somalia
IMAGE OF THE DAY
UN SRSG, Michael Keating and a delegation from the international community visited ISWA President, Shariff Hassan in his office.
Photo: AMISOM