September 19, 2018 | Daily Monitoring Report

Members of Parliament have called on the resignation of Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire owing to what they consider as deteriorating security situation in the capital city of Mogadishu and the regions. In a heated debate on Monday and Tuesday, the Lower House legislators lampooned the government for failing to secure the city, noting that residents were now opting for justice from the militant group Al-Shabaab, which has  itself inflicted heavy insecurity losses and pain to the residents of Mogadishu.

“Security in the country is currently out of control. Mogadishu is the first place to secure, but we are aware that people living in Mogadishu go to Al-Shabaab controled areas to seek justice. This clearly indicates that the citizens don’t have confidence in their own government,” Mohamed Ganey said. “The Federal Government is busy  destabilizing state governments in the country. We urge the PM to resign from the office.” A former director director of the National Inelligence and Security Agency (NISA), Ahmed Moalim Fiqi, also, gave a bleak assessment of the security situation in the country.

He noted that Al-Shabaab was making its foothold in Mogadishu, as it controls the outskirts of the city. “I worked in the security sector during the Al-Shabaab time, but compared to the last six years, the security situation of the country is getting worse. Al-Shabaab currently controls Afgooye, Balad and Suqa Xolaha, which is part of the capital Mogadishu,” he said. The legislators debated as one of their own, Mohamed Mursal Borow, is fighting for his life at the hospital, after narrowly surviving a deadly car bombing on Thursday. His driver was killed in the attack.

 

Key Headlines

• MPs Decry Security Lapses In Mogadishu, Call For PM’s Resignation (Goobjoog )
• TV: Somalia Parliament Debates Security (Somali Cable TV)
• Government Soldier Fires At School Bus Killing One And Wounding 13 Other Pupils (Horn Observer )
• Fighter Jets Conduct Airstrike On Al-Shabaab Held Town In Somalia (Radioshabelle)
• Somali Girls’ Deaths Spur More Calls To End FGM (VOA)
• Rethinking Somali National Identity (Daily Sabah)

NATIONAL NEWS

TV: Somalia Parliament Debates Security

19 September 01:15:49 – Source : Somali Cable TV – 142 Words

Parliamentarians have debated the security status of the country. Several Members of the Lower House criticized the government for its lack of vision with regard to security. They maintained the country was not safe, “and that is the reality”. .Abdullahi Mohamed Nur noted the President had on many occasions dressed in military regalia and declared war on the Al-Shabaab militia group, but the country remained insecure.

Saredo Abdulle confessed the legislators can no longer travel freely to any part of the country owing to the deteriorating state of security: “I can not have dinner anywhere and Mr Speaker sir, I want the President made aware that something must be done about this.” Some legislators, however, warned against politicizing of the security issue. The agencies concerned with security, they observed, should instead be held accountable.

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Government Soldier Fires At School Bus Killing One And Wounding 13 Other Pupils

19 September – Source : Horn Observer – 65 Words

A government soldier on Tuesday afternoon opened fire at a school bus killing one student and wounding 13 others, witnesses and relatives said. The student who shot dead was identified as 9 year old, Deeqo Dahir. She died of wounds sustained from the bullet that hit her. According to eyewitnesses, who posted the development on the social media, thirteen other  students were also hospitalized.

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Fighter Jets Conduct Airstrike On Al-Shabaab Held Town In Somalia

19 September – Source : Radioshabelle – 102 Words

Unidentified warplanes are reported to have conducted a large-scale airstrike against Al-Shabaab militants in southern Somalia, amid ground military operations in the country. The jets targeted at least four areas suspected to be Al-Shabaab bases in the town of Sakow in Middle Jubba region, according to the villagers, who asked to remain anonymous.

It is still not clear from which country the warplanes originated. The exact number of casualties and damage caused by last night’s airstrikes also remain unclear. The US military in Africa ordinarily carries out most of the airstrikes in Somalia, especially in Al-Shabaab-controlled areas

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Somali Girls’ Deaths Spur More Calls To End FGM

19 September – Source : VOA – 354 Words

A spate of deaths of young girls from female genital mutilation (FGM) has renewed calls for Somalia to outlaw the tradition. Four girls, ages 10 and 11, from central and northern Somalia have died in the last three months after having been cut, and seven others are in hospitals, activists said. “More and more cases of girls who have died or end up seriously injured after FGM are coming out,” said Hawa Aden Mohamed, director of the Galkayo Education Center for Peace and Development, a local women’s group in the east African country.

“These cases confirm what we have been saying all along — that FGM kills and that we need a law to stop it,” Mohamed said. “The harm it causes is blatantly clear.” An estimated 200 million girls and women worldwide have undergone FGM, which involves the partial or total removal of the female genitalia, the United Nations says. One of 28 African countries where the tradition is endemic, Somalia has the world’s highest rates of FGM — 98 percent of women between 15 and 49 have undergone the ritual.

Somalia’s constitution prohibits FGM, but efforts to pass legislation to punish offenders have been stalled by parliamentarians afraid of losing voters who view FGM as a part of their tradition. Government and hospital officials were not immediately available to comment on the deaths or hospital admissions. The charity Save the Children said it rescued seven girls — aged between 5 and 8 years old — on Sunday from Somalia’s northern Puntland state.

The girls had undergone FGM and were bleeding excessively; they are now receiving hospital treatment. “I’m afraid that this is just the tip of the iceberg as many more cases go unreported,” said Timothy Bishop, country director of Save the Children in Somalia. Campaigners said Suheyra Qorane Farah, 10, from Puntland died Sunday after contracting tetanus, having undergone FGM on Aug. 29. Two sisters, Aasiyo and Khadijo Farah Abdi Warsame, age 10 and 11, from the same region bled to death Sept. 11 after visiting a cutter across the border in neighboring Ethiopia.

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OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE

“”Indeed, Somalia is rebuilding and reshaping its national identity, which is still in flux, regenerating and recycling social conflicts. The existing national identity from pre-state to military regime were dismantled after the collapse of the state in 1991 and replaced with reconfigured national identities.””

Rethinking Somali National Identity

19 September – Source : Daily Sabah – 457 Words

In the pre-colonial era, Somalia existed as segmented city states in coastal regions and as various independent principalities in the interior territories without a central authority or state. But, that did not stop them from creating a national identity. A common identity that could unite the segmented city states and which was driven by two elements – religion and clans. Religion was used as a source of unity for all Somalis and adhering to one religion allowed them to unite, not internally but to stand up against any external threats and allowed them to defend their land.

Clans are formed as a way to connect close families and lineages to share difficulties and goodness; they have, in other words, been used as a political organ to unite people with the same roots. After colonial powers invaded the fragmented Somali lands, they immediately began exploiting the clan factor as a tool to expand their power and seek legitimacy. Somalis recognized early on the necessity of ending colonial oppression and straightaway started refusing to comply with colonial domination, which was characterized by exploitation, supremacy and broadening clan division by using indirect rule.

Therefore, while clans became a weakness to Somalis, religion had another effect; it became an important motive to stand up against colonial powers. Colonial powers sent missionaries to Somalia and built churches. Somalis perceived that as a threat to their religion, culture and national identity. The first anti-colonial movement was formed and led by Sayyid Mohamed Abdulle, known as “Sayid,” and was motivated by religious incentives. In 1895, he returned to Berbera from the Arabian Peninsula and started spreading his religious view of “Saalihiya.”

This did not go well for him due to challenges from the colonial administration and local people and his criticism of their religious beliefs and practices. Consequently, he left Berbera seeking a place where his political and religious views could be accommodated. On his search for this, he met some Somali boys who were being looked after by a Catholic mission and asked them about their parents, clan and names. They replied that they belong to the clan of Catholic fathers. That response from the children shook him, and he felt that the colonials were on a mission to change his people’s identity.

As a response, he established the Dervish warriors and began fighting the colonial administration. In many of his poems, his message was that he would no longer allow colonial powers to change his people’s culture and identity; meanwhile, he blamed the Somali people for not opposing this identity change. Nevertheless, the history of the post-colonial Somali state is usually divided in to two consecutive phases.

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TOP TWEETS

@NUSOJ_Somalia: @NUSOJ_Somalia condemns the brutal murder of journalist Abdirizak Said Osman, who was stabbed to death in the Galkayo town of Mudug region around 8 pm on 18 September 2018 @CPJAfrica @RSF_Africa @dohafreemedia @IFEX @UNSomalia @EUTMSomalia @freepressunltd.

@Goobjoognews: #BREAKING: HirShabelle state president Mohamed Warre announces deal with Federal Government to cease ‘no cooperation’ stance announced by federal member states earlier in the month #Somalia.

@Amalow11: Don’t Target our Children -Deka Dahir Farah a 9 year old girl student Shot and killed by government soldiers in #Mogadishu Somalia. #ENDviolence #JusticeForDeka.

@Showqi2013: #Breaking Somali Journalis Abdirazak Said Osman dead for stabbing last night at Galkayo Central #Somalia, the Murderers took his Laptop and Camera, he was member of Voice of Peace Radio in The City. @HarunMaruf @OmarFarukOsman @IFJGlobal @AFEX_

@Hadalkeyga: Failed leaders of #Mogadishu cannot even protect the young children from their reckless guard’s. Farmaajo and kheyre with their hit squad turning lives upside down #somaliya
@hrw must investigate the criminals acts of US citizen president Farmaajo and Norwegian Kheyre.

@CTNSIS: #BREAKING: SNA, AMISOM Launch Security Swoop in Beledweyne, Arrest Several Al-Shabaab Militants
S.I. SITUATION REPORT. https://intelligencebriefs.com/sna-amisom-launch-security-swoop-in-beledweyne-arrest-several-al-shabaab-militants/.

@Goobjoognews: The political crisis in #Galmudug confirms our fears that the federal government is involved in the interference of Galmudug #Somalia.

@SaidRubani: In Somalia four girls aged 10 and 11 have died in the last three months after having been cut, through #FGM, female genital cutting and female circumcision. Seven others are in the hospitals. Those are the only reported ones.

IMAGE OF THE DAY

Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Mohamed Guled meets with Turkish Ambassador Olgan Bekar and other diplomats in the Turkish Embassy, Mogadishu.
Photo : @DeputySomaliPM