September 21, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report
Kenya And Somalia Plan Free Visa Pact
21 September – Source: Daily Nation – 494 Words
Kenya is eying a free visa pact with Somalia as part of a diplomatic offshoot of the recent miraa export row with the Horn of Africa nation. At the moment, Kenyans and Somalis have to pay Sh5,000 ($50) to obtain visas that allow them to visit or to engage in cross border business. The two states are expected to scrap visa requirements on their nationals as part of efforts to boost trade and investment.
The deal was reached during the 53rd IGAD Summit in Mogadishu a few days ago where leaders agreed to hold a Joint Commission of Cooperation (JCC) to negotiate for free visas. “The two countries agreed to hold a JCC to negotiate a visa regime between the two countries,” Foreign Affairs and International Trade secretary Amina Mohamed tweeted during the summit.
A number of Somali nationals who have invested in real estate and retail sectors in Kenya have frequently accused security agencies of imposing strict visa rules. A number of Kenyans have also found market outlets in Somalia, with goods amounting to Sh15.2 billion being exported to the Horn of Africa country last year.
While khat accounts for almost 95 per cent of the exports, Somalia ranks above Burundi and almost at the same level as Rwanda. Last year Kenyans exported goods worth Sh6.6 billion to Burundi and Sh17.9 billion to Rwanda. Kenya inked the JCC with Somalia early this year but shaky diplomatic ties — owing to arbitrary border closures, refugee repatriation and an Indian Ocean boundary dispute — have slowed its activities.
Key Headlines
- Kenya And Somalia Plan Free Visa Pact (Daily Nation)
- 30% Representation Women In Parliament Will Be Guaranteed FEIT Says (Goobjoog News)
- Prime Minister Sharmarke To Pitch For Vote In Bari Region Visit (Goobjoog News)
- £100m Of UK Aid Budget To Be Spent Controlling Immigration From Africa (The Guardian)
- Hawala Cash Likely To Finance Terror In Kenya And Somalia Say Rights Activists (The Star)
- Racial Issues With Somalis Grow After Minn. Mall Attack (Associated Press)
- Girls’ Basketball Bounces Back In Somalia (USAID)
NATIONAL MEDIA
30% Representation Women In Parliament Will Be Guaranteed, FIEIT Says
21 September – Source : Goobjoog News – 217 Words
Federal Indirect Electoral Implementation Team (FIEIT) vowed to secure the 30% representation for women’s political participation in the upcoming legislative elections in Somalia, Nafisa Ghedi, FIEIT official has said. “We are here to guarantee Somali women to achieve their 30% quota in the next parliament, FEIT will put pressure on the clans to allocate women the right they deserve, failure to which will lead to the suspension of the seats rejected for women,” Ms Ghedi vowed.
Ms Ghedi added the former system which favoured men’s interests at the state level will no longer exclude women from participating in politics. “We need women Members of Parliament elected in these 2016 elections, without being subjected to hardship, such as being tied to clan elders. We should facilitate this, since this is a legal requirement,” Ghedi noted. She warned the tribal leaders not to nominate men only to fill the seats allocated for their tribe.
“Diminishing women’s chances for incorporation into the political system will not be allowed. Our girls should be given full political rights, because each individual has the right to take part in running the affairs of the country,” she urged. She said she is hopeful Somalis will change their perspective on women and urged Somali women to fight for their rights and take advantage of the quota.
Prime Minister Sharmarke To Pitch For Vote In Bari Region Visit
21 September – Source: Goobjoog News – 170 Words
Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke is travelling to Qardo town in Bari region where he will hold talks with traditional elders on the upcoming elections, sources told Goobjoog news. Sources privy to the itinerary said Sharmarke is also set to use the opportunity to drum up support for his re-election bid ahead of the 2017 polls.
The meeting will be attended by local leaders, youth and women Associations. Somali Prime Minister has declared his candidacy in the upcoming Presidential elections a move he seeks to sit in an office his father occupied 47 years ago before he was felled by a bodyguard’s bullet.
“He will be there for a day and has planned a series of engagements with elders and local officials as well as the civil society,” said the sources. In February 13, 2009, Sharmarke was appointed Prime Minister under Ahmed Sheikh Sharif administration but resigned September 21, 2010 following run-ins with the President. He then proceeded to become Somalia’s ambassador to the US in July 14, 2014.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
£100m Of UK Aid Budget To Be Spent Controlling Immigration From Africa
21 September – Source : The Guardian – 297 Words
More than £100m of the UK aid budget will be spent on returning Somali refugees to the country they fled and encouraging people escaping war zones not to cross the Mediterranean under plans outlined by Theresa May in New York.
The prime minister used her maiden speech at the United Nations to expand on proposals aimed at stopping “mass uncontrolled population movement”, which has seen refugees travelling long distances in search of better lives. Her plans attracted criticism earlier in the summit over the suggestion that those fleeing war zones should stay and claim asylum in the first safe country they reach, rather than seeking sanctuary in European nations such as Britain.
However, May pressed on with the argument on Tuesday in an address to the general assembly, as she focused on actions in north Africa to stop migrants crossing the Mediterranean. In her speech, May said Britain would send more troops to Somalia to help train local troops to combat the al-Shabaab militant group, including up to 30 teams of between five and 30 personnel with no more than 70 in the country at any one time.
Hawala Cash Likely To Finance Terror In Kenya And Somalia, Say Rights Activists
21 September – Source: The Star – 122 words
The debate on the link between Hawala and terrorism has resurfaced, this time round perpetrators in Mombasa being said to be transacting under police nose. Hawala is system for transferring money, traditionally used in the Muslim world, whereby the money is paid to an agent who then instructs a remote associate to pay the final recipient.
On Monday, human rights activists said the “street-cash-agents” have taken over Mombasa and the cash could be financing terrorism. Historian and human activist Stambuli Abdulahi said the agents, who mostly trade in dollars have jammed from the Huduma Center area to the Treasury Square Garden. They suspect the money is being wired to and from Somalia. County commander Peterson Maelo denied knowledge of the transactions.
Racial Issues With Somalis Grow After Minn. Mall Attack
21 September – Source: Associated Press – 299 Words
Somalis in a central Minnesota city are trying to square the bright, family-minded young man who went to the mall to buy the new iPhone with the emotionless man who stabbed 10 people and in death is the subject of a terrorism investigation. The aftermath of Saturday’s attack at Crossroads Center Mall in St. Cloud also is testing longstanding efforts to improve strained relations between thousands of Somalis and other residents in the city.
Several Somalis said they saw pickups driving through predominantly Somali neighborhoods the night after the attack, waving confederate flags and honking. It’s still unclear what led 20-year-old Dahir Adan to stab several people with what appeared to be a kitchen knife before he was confronted and killed by an off-duty police officer.
Investigators are poring through witness and victim accounts, video footage and Adan’s electronic devices to piece it together — determining whether an Islamic State-run news agency’s claim that the attacker was a “soldier of the Islamic State” is true. “We don’t know the rest of the connection. Did he get angry with someone and lose his mind?” said Abdul Kulane, a local community leader and friend of the Adan family. “We are all shocked because we don’t know what kind of strife could cause him to do this.”
OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE
“Since we started playing, community perception of us has completely changed. People who used to shame us, now clap for us.”
Girls’ Basketball Bounces Back In Somalia
21 September – Source: USAID – 958 Words
Somalia has struggled to shed its perception as a failed state, riddled by conflict, terrorism and deprivation. As the country stabilizes, people from many regions are returning to a life they once knew, regaining freedoms that they lost slowly over a 20-year period.
Sports was one casualty of the country’s fall into ruin. At first, playing sports was considered shameful, and then it was made illegal. Faizo Abdullahi, a former basketball player, explained: “Before the civil war in 1991, my peers and I had the freedom to play. Afterwards, and especially when extremist ideology started to spread here, women and girls were banned from sports.”
Today, 40 girls from Garowe, the capital of Puntland, Somalia, participate on four basketball teams that have strong names reflecting hope—Horsed,Sahn, Waxol and Rugta Ganacsiga (Ahead, To a better place, United and Diverse Opportunity). They play regularly and, with the support of their families and friends, are attracting record turnouts at their games.
USAID is part of this effort to empower youth, especially girls, through community-based sports programing. This program encourages local governments to consult and plan activities collaboratively with clan elders, men and women leaders and youth. Through community dialogue sessions, all parties jointly prioritize projects that best meet the needs of citizens.
The process—and its outcomes—are essential to the stabilization of regions that have suffered from mistrust, conflict and turmoil for decades. In Garowe, citizens identified sports as an integral part of the community. They believe sports can bring families together and offer youth active and healthy options in their lives.
TOP TWEETS
@UNSomalia : Today we celebrate #PeaceDay and honour all those who are working hard to bring peace to #Somalia.
@stability_fund : Working towards a Peaceful community in Gedo and Lower Juba #Somalia #internationaldayofpeacehttp://bit.ly/2cJcufM
@fqdayib : @gateteviews @LonzenRugira My job is not to be the propaganda mouthpiece for a failed administration. #Somaliaruns because of its citizens.
@mbashiir16 : Breaking: one dead 3 wounded after luxury car explosive near Jubba junction in #Mogadishu #Somalia.
@clarionproject : #UK PM #TheresaMay will send #Britishtroops to #Somalia to aid fight vs #AlShabaab
@Rooble2009 : #Somaliland Talks with #Somalia was to find peaceful solution for the independnce of Somaliland and remains that way #PeaceDay #PeaceDay2016
@BarudGSD : Most popular question in #Somalia at the moment; do you want to become an MP? No, why are you doing here? Well, life is bigger than politics
IMAGE OF THE DAY
On this International Day of Peace, we celebrate the fundamental role the return of peace and stability has played in the recovery of Somalia.
Photo: AMISOM