September 15, 2016 | Morning Headlines
Museveni Spends Night At UPDF Base In Somalia
15 September – Source: Daily Monitor – 461 Words
During his second official visit to war-torn Somalia, President Museveni on Tuesday took time off and visited Ugandan troops at the Halane military camp, the largest African Union military base located in the capital Mogadishu, where he also spent the night meeting the UPDF commanders amid tight security. The President was in Mogadishu to attend the 28th Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) plus extra-ordinary summit of heads of States hosted by Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud.
Somalia is one of the eight members of the regional bloc (Igad) with Uganda, Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Sudan, South Sudan and Eritrea, established in 1986. In his address to the troops, President Museveni, commended the UPDF for what he described as the spirit of “Pan Africanism which is one of the core values that make Ugandan army an exemplary force on the continent”. “I thank you for helping our brothers and sisters in pacification of Somalia, and being a good example of unity,” the President said.
According to a statement issued by the UPDF Amisom contingent spokesperson, Capt Flavia Telimulungi, the President urged the troops to resist parochialism based on religion, gender disparities and clans, which he said is one of Africa’s major problems.
Key Headlines
- Museveni Spends Night At UPDF Base In Somalia (Daily Monitor)
- Separate landmine blasts in Southern Somalia (Garowe Online)
- Somaliland Denounces IGAD Summit Outcomes (Garowe Online)
- Senior Al-Shabaab Commander Killed By Fellow Fighter (Goobjoog News)
- Somalia Joins Africa-led Initiative To Protect Elephants (Xinhua)
- Uhuru Secures Deal For KCB Entry Into Somalia After Visit (Business Daily)
- Envoy Tells Significance Of Somalia’s Improving Peace To Ethiopia (Ethiopian MoFA)
- Somali Flower Girls Who Received Uhuru Warm Hearts On Social Media (Nairobi News)
- Let’s Not Wait Another Two Years To Act On The Refugee Crisis (IRIN)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Separate landmine blasts in Southern Somalia
15 September – Source: Garowe Online – 291 Words
A landmine blast has hit a military convoy transporting African Union peacekeepers near Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu, on Wednesday. The IED – improvised explosive device – went off as the AMISOM military convoy drove along a strategic road linking Elasha Biyaha area to Arba’ow area located outside Afgoye district in Lower Shabelle province.
The remote-controlled bomb struck an armoured personnel carrier (APC), according to an eyewitness who spoke to GO on a condition of anonymity. “The landmine was planted beside the road and struck an Armored Personnel Carrier belonging to the Burundi’s troops serving under the African Union, but I can’t confirm the casualties,’’ he added.
AMISOM did not comment on the attack, which was the latest in series of attacks by the Al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab militants group against Somali government troops and AMISOM convoys in southern Somalia. In a separate incident on Wednesday, three civilians was killed when a bus was struck by a landmine bomb at Wirkoy area located north of Kismayo, the regional capital of Jubaland state.
The bus was transporting food consignment to Kismayo and ran over a landmine bomb planted on the roadside killing 3 people including the driver and a woman, a resident told GO. The planted landmine is believed to be meant to target government forces and AU troops in the area. Al Shabaab militants group is attempting to topple the western-backed Somalia’s government and it has recently increased attacks against civilian and government installations.
Somaliland Denounces IGAD Summit Outcomes
14 September – Source: Garowe Online – 291 Words
President of Self-declared republic of Somaliland Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo has rejected the outcomes of IGAD summit that held in Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu, on Tuesday, Garowe Online reports. The 28th IGAD extraordinary summit was kicked off on Tuesday with the attendance of high-ranking dignitaries, including the Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni, Ethiopian premier Hailemariam Desalegn and representatives from Djibouti and Sudan. In the communiqué released after the summit, IGAD leaders have reaffirmed the sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence and unity of Somalia.
Speaking to the media in Hargaisa, President Silanyo said “I reject IGAD summit communiqué and in particular the unity of Somalia. Clearly it does not infer the real situation between Somalia and Somaliland. We have declared to the International community that we are independent and we are not part of the Federal states of Somalia.”
“Politicians and elders who hail from Somaliland regions and presently in Mogadishu do not represent our government nor they are mandated to represent us,” added Silanyo.
Senior Al-Shabaab Commander Killed By Fellow Fighter
14 September – Source: Goobjoog News – 218 Words
Senior Al-Shabaab commander identified as Farah Ali Rage was killed by a former Somali soldier who joined the group recently, in Elgaras locality which lies 50 KM east of Dhusamarreeb town. Residents said the unidentified renegade soldier shot and killed Rage who the group’s chief administrator of Elgaras village after an argument sparked between them.
The killer escaped from the area as Al-Shabaab deployed more fighters to pursue him. The late Rage was a longtime Al-Shabaab chief for Eel-Garas village, according to residents.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Joins Africa-led Initiative To Protect Elephants
14 September – Source: Xinhua – 468 Words
Somalia on Wednesday signed to join The Elephant Protection Initiative (EPI), an African-led program aimed at ending ivory trade. Minister for Livestock and Pasture, Said Hussein Iid, said Somalia’s rich environmental history had for long been overshadowed by the long-drawn civil war. “However, it is our hope that by joining the EPI, we can work to slowly rebuild this history and join together with other African nations to stop the harrowing consequences that elephant poaching and trafficking is bringing to our continent,” Hussein said in Nairobi, Kenya.
According to a statement from UK-based conservation group Stop Ivory issued in Nairobi, Somalia which was once known as a place of rich biodiversity became the 14th African nation to sign on to the EPI since its inception in 2014. Stop Ivory CEO John Stephenson said: “It is crunch time for Africa’s elephants and without a stop to the poaching, killing, trafficking and trade, their populations will continue to fade.”
“Somalia’s joining the EPI also shows the growing strength of Africa’s voice in taking a stand against illegal wildlife trade and trafficking,” Stephenson said. The Horn of Africa nation has seen its wildlife populations decline rapidly with only small pockets of wildlife roaming freely in some parts of the country.
Uhuru Secures Deal For KCB Entry Into Somalia After Visit
14 September – Source: Business Daily – 600 Words
Kenya’s biggest bank by assets, KCB, is set to finally get a foothold in Somalia after President Uhuru Kenyatta secured the lender’s entry into the neighbouring country during his Tuesday visit to Mogadishu. State House said in a statement that President Kenyatta won the concession from Somalia’s leadership for KCB to open an office in Mogadishu before the end of the year.
KCB Group and Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) had applied for an operating licence in the troubled country along Gulf lenders seeking to operate in Somalia, where only four percent of the population is banked.
“President Kenyatta secured an agreement from the Somali government to allow Kenya Commercial Bank to open an office in Mogadishu before the end of the year. The leaders also agreed that the two countries will continue their cooperation in security while Kenya will help Somalia strengthen its public service,” said the press statement.
Envoy Tells Significance Of Somalia’s Improving Peace To Ethiopia
15 September – Source: Ethiopian MoFA- 273 Words
Special Envoy to the Prime Minister Ambassador Berhane Gebrechristos has hailed the improving security situation in Somalia as a significant development for Ethiopia. The country which remained lawless for the past 25 years has turned a new page on its past as it hosted the 28th Extraordinary Summit of the IGAD Heads of State and Government.
The Summit was held on 13th September 2016 in Mogadishu, Somalia, under the Chairmanship of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister and Chairperson of the IGAD Assembly, Hailemariam Desalegn. The IGAD leaders discussed the progress achieved in terms of ensuring security and stability in Somalia and received updates on the implementation of the 2016 electoral process.
The Special Envoy recalled Ethiopia’s firm commitment in assisting peace efforts in Somalia, which came uninterrupted even when the world disregarded the situation in that country. Ethiopia paid dearly to the current positive development on peace and stability in the country which bears a special meaning for Ethiopia, the diplomat said.
According to Ambassador Wondimu Asaminew, Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Somalia, the government of Somalia is now controlling the capital and many parts of the country owing to the role being played by Ethiopia. Ambassador Wondimu said apart from military cooperation, Ethiopia and neighboring Somalia are now working on other areas including education as many Somali students are attending higher education in Ethiopia.
Somali Flower Girls Who Received Uhuru Warm Hearts On Social Media
14 September – Source: Nairobi News – 200 Words
The three flowers girls who received President Uhuru Kenyatta when he arrived in Somalia on Tuesday for the 28th IGAD summit for head of states, have charmed netizens who can’t get enough of their beauty. The three girls were an embodimen
t of prettiness with their hair done into braids and wearing uniform orange traditional shirts and white skirts, with beaded necklace. They were also beautified with Piko flower paintings on their hands.
It is a common practice the world over for VIPs to be received at the airport with traditional dancers and flower bearers – often young girls – who present the bouquet to the guest.
Netizens spent the better part of Wednesday on President Kenyatta’s Facebook page showering the three girls with praises.
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“No one chooses to flee their home. I fled my country, Somalia, at a young age and ended up in one of Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camps where I spent many years. It was never our choice to leave and I would like nothing more than to return home.”
Let’s Not Wait Another Two Years To Act On The Refugee Crisis
14 September – Source: IRIN – 774 Words
No one chooses to flee their home. I fled my country, Somalia, at a young age and ended up in one of Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camps where I spent many years. It was never our choice to leave and I would like nothing more than to return home.
As world leaders gather at the UN General Assembly next week to address refugee and migration crises around the world, thousands of Somali refugees who have been living in Dadaab are trying to return home. Responding to pressure from the Kenyan government, which has vowed to shut down Dadaab, they agreed to ‘voluntary’ repatriation. But Somali authorities blocked their passage, arguing that neither the UN’s refugee agency nor the Kenyan government had provided adequate support for the returnees to survive in a country still struggling to end a protracted civil war.
Unwanted in Kenya and unable to return to Somalia, what does the future hold for the half a million Somali refugees who remain in Dadaab? They represent just a fraction of the 65 million people forcibly displaced from their homes across the globe. Unfortunately, the world has turned its back on them. Instead of building bridges, many countries have responded by building walls.
The UN summit comes at a critical time when governments are becoming more intolerant of migration and avoiding their responsibilities towards refugees. Doomed policies like the EU-Turkey deal are pushing migrants and refugees to use ever more treacherous routes that have resulted in more than 4,300 deaths worldwide so far this year.
There is an urgent need, not just for another talking shop, but for global action. The Refugee Response Framework, to be adopted at the summit, strongly reaffirms the validity of the 1951 Refugee Convention, sending a much-needed message to member states that have responded to influxes of asylum seekers with barbed wire. But the framework lacks any concrete plan requiring governments to act.