September 1, 2015 | Morning Headlines

Main Story

Federal Government And Jubbaland Agree On Review Of Jubbaland Assembly

31 August – Source: Goobjoog News – 358 Words

The Federal Government and Jubbaland Administration have agreed on the review and reconstitution of the state assembly in a bid to heal the rift between Kismayo and Mogadishu. A meeting yesterday between the Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmake and President Ahmed Mohamed Madobe also agreed to reinstate the Federal Government appointed Committee which was tasked with rebuilding relations between Jubbaland and the Federal Government. The details of the review of the Legislative Council are not clear yet but the move could be a compromise aimed at appeasing dissenting voices in Jubba that had raised concern over the way in which the assembly was constituted. Madobe however told the media they had agreed on a way forward to deal with complaints raised:

“We agreed to resolve the complaints and we named committees that will discuss solutions to the disputes,” said Madobe. The Jubbaland assembly was established in April this year but two months later in June the Federal Parliament dismissed it in a no confidence motion announcing it be illegally constituted forcing Kismayo to declare it was severing ties with Mogadishu.In a statement in June, Jubbaland said it was ‘cutting off ties with the Federal Government over what it termed as illegal action against the provisions of the conflict resolution between the Federal and State governments’.

Relations between the southern state and Mogadishu hit an all time low last month when President Madobe declined to attend the High Level Partnership Forum in Mogadishu which attracted at least 30 international delegates to review the country’s development blueprint- the New Deal. The Mogadishu high delegation, which was led by the Prime Minister and included the Attorney General Ahmed Ali Dahir and Interior Minister Abdirahman Mohamed Hussein, was indicative of deliberate attempts by the Federal Government to mend relations with Jubbaland. However the review of the assembly is likely to be an uphill task given Madobe’s hold on the current assembly which overwhelmingly voted him in as the first elected president of Jubbaland mid this month.

Key Headlines

Federal Government And Jubbaland Agree On Review Of Jubbaland Assembly (Goobjoog News)
Somalia Parliament Debates On Employment Of Foreign Workers (Horseed Media)
Galmudug Parliament Okays Cabinet Appointments (Wacaal Media)
Southwest State To Deploy Extra Troops To Marka (Garowe Online)
Somalia Aid Crisis ‘Critical’: UN (Times Live/AFP)
Somalia Warns Of Return To Piracy (BBC)
Somalia President Accused Of Trading Troops For UAE Funding Amid Al-Shabaab Crisis (The Star)
Marginalized Young American-Somalis Look East To Join ISIS (NPR)
The First Hotel In New York City That Offer Somali Cuisine (Somali Current)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Somalia Parliament Debates On Employment Of Foreign Workers

31 August – Source: Horseed Media – 249 Words

Somalia’s Federal Parliament has started to debate on the employment of foreign workers in a move to restrict the over reliance on foreign workforce.MP Osman Mohamud Dhufle, the head of the Parliament’s Social Affairs Committee in a parliament session “There are many young people who are not employed and hopeless and yet we see foreign workers employed for jobs that they can fill,” he said. Since the collapse of the Central Government in 1991, many companies, education institutions and International & local organizations in the region rely on foreign workers to meet their manpower needs. Members of the Federal Parliament are expected to carry out a vote for the bill of foreign workers employment in the coming days. In April, Somalia’s cabinet introduced new policies, that will be used upon foreign labour recruitment and was unanimously passed by the council of ministers.

According to a recent research the unemployment rate for youths in Somalia is among the highest in the world, at a startling 67% mostly between the ages of 14 – 29-year olds. The research also stated that only 40% of Somali youths were actively looking for work, leaving behind a hopeless and deeply discouraged majority group, arguably more vulnerable than any other to turn to extremism and criminal behaviour. Unemployment and poverty in Somalia have forced many young people to emigrate in search of a better life through perilous journeys across deserts and seas.

Galmudug Parliament Okays Cabinet Appointments

31 August – Source: Wacaal Media – 87 Words

Galmudug Parliament has on Monday given its nod to the cabinet appointments recently announced by President Abdikiarim Guled. Announcing the decision, Parliament Speaker Ali Ga’al Asir said that the appointments were approved unanimously with 66 out of the 69 MPs voting in favour. Only the Speaker and his two deputies that did not vote. The 24 member cabinet was named by the Head of State on Friday last week after he reached an agreement with Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama’a officials who agreed on a power sharing model.

Southwest State To Deploy Extra Troops To Marka

31 August – Source: Garowe Online – 197 Words

Interim Southwest State administration is planning to send additional security forces into Lower Shabelle regional capital of Marka of southern Somalia, Garowe Online reports. Southwest State President, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan unveiled the fresh deployment a day after he toured the town popular with exotic beaches and white buildings along with the Chairman of parliamentary sub-committee on defense Hussein Arab Isse. “Swift security changes will take place in Marka town and we are dismayed at the suffering of locals in the past,” said Adan, adding that new forces will be in charge of security. He noted that Lower Shabelle regional administration will be completed in a step towards addressing the standing challenges in the region.

“Al Shabaab should not be feared, our fate remains in the hands of Allah Almighty. They are criminals who want to hide in our midst and we must cooperate to counter them”. Adan and Isse visited Marka coastal town as part of probes of civilian deaths by African Union troops. African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) previously stated that they noted allegations against peacekeepers with serious concern, forming a joint oversight committee in a meeting with parliamentary sub-committee on defense in Mogadishu.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Somalia Aid Crisis ‘Critical’: UN

31 August – Source: Times Live/AFP – 367 Words

War-torn Somalia remains in a “critical” state four years after a devastating famine, the U.N. warned on Monday, noting a sharp rise in those needing food aid. “The levels of food insecurity and malnutrition are critical. Humanitarian actors and donors have prevented the situation being a lot worse than it is, but we all need to do more,” U.N. aid chief for Somalia Peter de Clercq said in a statement. “The situation among internally displaced people is particularly worrying.” Numbers of in need have risen by 17 percent compared to six months ago, growing from 731,000 to 855,000 people, according to figures released Monday by the U.N.’s Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) and the U.S.-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET).

Poor rains have impacted harvests, making nearly 215,000 children aged under five acutely malnourished – with almost 40,000 of those children facing a “high risk of disease and death.” The U.N. said the reports showed the “situation remains alarming.” Fighting continues between Somalia’s Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab insurgents and government and allied forces, backed by the African Union force, which counts more than 20,000 members. In 2011, more than 250,000 people died of hunger in the troubled Horn of Africa country.

Somalia Warns Of Return To Piracy

31 August – Source: BBC – 869 Words

In northern Somalia, government officials are warning of a revival of piracy, unless foreign nations – and the naval armada patrolling the coast – do more to help create jobs and security ashore, and to combat illegal fishing at sea. At first glance, the ramshackle fishing port of Eyl looked much like it did in 2009, when I first drove down a narrow canyon from the surrounding plateau, accompanied by armed security guards, and walked across the white sands towards the sea. But this time, the hijacked vessels moored offshore were gone – so too were the conspicuously expensive 4 x 4 vehicles with tinted windows that we had seen racing past us.

“We knew it was wrong. But we did it anyway,” said Farah, a man in his 30s, who walked across the beach to show me his fishing boat. He admitted he had been a shore-based pirate leader in Eyl, running a crew of 23 men who had hijacked a Turkish fishing boat and a South Korean cargo vessel in 2008. “They dropped the ransoms from a small plane into the sea,” he explained – $1.8m and $2m (£1.3m) in turn. “We spent it, or gave it away. The religious leaders and the government persuaded us to stop. I would never become a pirate again. I am just an ordinary fisherman now,” he said, although that seemed at odds with his noticeably expensive clothes.

Somalia President Accused Of Trading Troops For UAE Funding Amid Al-Shabaab Crisis

31 August – Source: The Star – 196 Words

A Somalia diplomat has accused President Hassan Mahamoud of allowing the UAE to train the country’s soldiers to go to war in Yemen, instead of fighting Al-Shabaab. The diplomat, who requested anonymity, said he had to travel to Nairobi to speak to the media about the issue as he fears for his life. “I have to tell the whole world to know what is happening. Whereas Amisom troops are fighting Al-Shabaab insurgents, Somali soldiers will be fighting in Yemen and the whole world has to know,” he said. Speaking at a Nairobi Hotel on Monday, he said there could be more than 500 troops receiving training to fight alongside UAE forces.

“The president is doing this in order to get funding from UAE to defend a motion against him currently in Parliament,” the diplomat said. “Why would the Somali soldiers be sent to Yemen to fight while security in the homeland is a big challenge?” Somalia, where there has been a civil war for the last 24 years, has sought intervention from other African countries under the Amisom banner to send troops to fight the terror group and maintain stability under the federal government.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

“It has. I mean, our community is a patriotic, hard-working community. I mean, we’re trying to fit into the American way of life. We’ve started numerous businesses. Members of our community have joined the Armed Forces and defend this country. Others have joined the police force and defend our cities here. And this kind of thing, it really sets us back. And it also creates tensions between the broader community and the Somali-American community, which is not something that we want or need.”

Marginalized Young American-Somalis Look East To Join ISIS

30 August – Source: NPR – Audio: 5:05 Minutes

The Twin Cities area has the largest Somali population in America. NPR’s Rachel Martin speaks with Minneapolis Councilman Abdi Warsame about young people arrested for allegedly conspiring to join ISIS.

“The restaurant offers Somali cuisine, among them Somali Tea, Anjeero, Suqar and Liimo Balbeelmo.”

The First Hotel In New York City That Offer Somali Cuisine

29 August – Source: Somali Current – 215 Words

New York now has a place for Somalis after a Somali-owned restaurant was opened in the city for the first time. Somali Safari Cuisine, located along 219B 116th Street, is becoming a subject of every talk within the Somali community in the US after it opened its doors to the multi-coloured, multi-ethnic and the multi-religious population of the city that has an estimated 8,491,000 people. “Quite frankly, Somali cuisine is among the best I’ve ever heard,” James Graham, a regular customer at the hotel said. He added that he was referred to the hotel by a friend.