September 8, 2017 | Morning Headlines
UN Lashes Out At Osoble, Warns Against Attempts On Hiiraan State Formation
07 September – Source: Goobjoog News – 258 Words
The international community has warned against attempts to form a new state in central Somalia noting that any such unilateral move is not only illegal but detrimental to the federalization process in Somalia. In reference to pronouncements by former HirShabelle state president Abdullahi Osoble pushing for the formation of Hiiraan state, the UN and other international partners in Somalia have in a statement cautioned against such a move.“While noting that Mr. Osoble disagreed with the impeachment process, Somalia’s international partners urge all parties to continue the efforts to address this important matter through the established constitutional and legal means and to refrain from any actions that could undermine the consolidation of the state building process,” the IC said.
Osoble who was dethroned last month through a no confidence motion by HirShabelle state assembly in Jowhar vehemently condemned the impeachment blaming the Prime Minister Hassan Khaire and President Mohamed Farmaajo for his political woes. He later announced he was moving to Beletweyne to push for the formation of Hiiraan state. HirShabelle state was formed last October after protracted process bringing together Hiiraan and Shabelle regions in central Somalia.Any move outside an agreed federal state formation process is null, the International Community (IC) said Wednesday. “ Unilateral steps that have no legal basis and which are detrimental to the ongoing state formation and stabilization efforts are not helpful and are a cause for concern.” HirShabelle state assembly is set to hold a presidential elections on September 12 with four candidates having submitted their papers to participate in the exercise.
Key Headlines
- UN Lashes Out At Osoble Warns Against Attempts On Hiiraan State Formation (Goobjoog News)
- Puntland Authorities Under Fire For Security Failures (Garowe Online)
- U.S. Conducts Airstrikes In Somalia Kills Top Al-Shabaab Figures (Sahal News)
- Somalia Exploiting Family Links To Bring Down Al-Shabaab (The East African)
- First Museum Opens In Somaliland To Preserve History Of Its Secession (Africa News)
- Somalia Has Just Got Its First Tech Innovation Hub (Quartz Africa)
NATIONAL MEDIA
Puntland Authorities Under Fire For Security Failures
07 September – Source: Garowe Online – 267 Words
Elders, intellectuals and politicians under Puntland salvation association held meeting in the state capital, Garowe on Thursday discussing the current situation of the region, and the upcoming Presidential election in 2019. Following their meeting, the participants in the forum have released statement, criticizing the current Puntland government for failure to deal with the increasing security threats and the economic crises.
They slammed the state President, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali “Gaas” for lax in his promises, and have strongly opposed his recent decision to side with Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates against Qatar and hailed Federal government’s neutral position on the Gulf crises. Former Puntland AIDS Commission head, Abdirahman Sa’ed who read the press release to the media, said President Ali’s travelled to Bosaso by plane, showing the insecurity of the region. The panelists blamed the government for not offering condolences to the families who lost their loved ones in the recent Al-Shabaab attacks in Af Urur, located in Bari region, 100Km south of Bosaso town.
They said Al-Shabaab prisoners captured during Suuj and Garmal battle are being kept at high-profile hotels in Garowe, while the security forces who died or injured in the operation were not remembered, and their children had been neglected. Ali’s administration is under fire and has been sharply criticized for its “collective failure” to respond to the security threats facing Puntland, following series of terror attacks against state forces by Al-Shabaab. Lack of government salaries to the security forces is considered major contributor to the security failure in Puntland. The forces have protested in several occasions over lack of entitlements for many months.
U.S. Conducts Airstrikes In Somalia, Kills Top Al-Shabaab Figures
07 September – Source: Sahal News – 137 Words
The US Africa command said that it had killed three Al-Shabaab figures in attack on Somalia’s Bay region earlier this week. The attack is reportedly hit a camp owned by the Islamist militants in the country which often used to plan attacks against the federal governments and civilians. “We assess no civilians were anywhere near the site,” a spokesman for the U.S. Africa Command, Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Falvo, told AP.
He said that the identity of the killed militants is yet to be revealed, denying civilians deaths near the scene.The attack took place in a small village nearby the Southwest capital and took part by regional forces according to officials in Baydhabo. Al-Shabaab is seeking to impose Sharia law in Somalia and has been waging deadly attacks that killed hundreds for the past couple of years.
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA
Somalia Exploiting Family Links To Bring Down Al-Shabaab
07 September – Source: The East African – 357 Words
Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has combined his clan and family links, persuasion and divide-and-rule tactics to engineer defections from Al Shabaab. Besides offering amnesty and gaining substantial financial support from the international community to fight Al Shabaab, sources in Mogadishu told The EastAfrican that Farmajo, who was elected in February, has been using family links to persuade Al Shabaab leaders to abandon the militant group.
Being from the Darod clan, President Farmajo is married to Zaynab Abdi, who hails from the Murursade, the influential sub-clan of the majority Hawiye who provide the majority of Al Shabaab commanders.“In the Somali culture, an in-law is a respected person. Given the network of family relations through marriage, President Farmajo has been gaining support that cuts across clan barriers. Murursade elders have been persuading their youth to abandon the war,” said Mohammed Guled, an expert on Somalia matters.
The biggest coup was the defection in mid-August of Mukhtar Robow, a high-ranking Al Shabaab commander and spiritual leader. Mr Robow is credited with coining the word “Al Shabaab” — youth in Arabic — in 2006 when Ethiopia invaded Somalia to oust the Islamic Courts Union. He was the only surviving founding member of Al-Shabaab. Robow’s negotiation to defect had been going on since the presidency of Mahmoud Hassan, but the catalyst was the decision by the US to cancel a $5m bounty for his capture. Mr Robow left Al Shabaab in 2013 when he differed with the then leader Ahmed Abdi Godane, who was later killed in a US airstrike in 2014, but had been confined to the Bakool jungle since he was being pursued by Al Shabaab for “betraying the cause.” His defection was seen as a major blow to Al Shabaab because he has a huge following and was instrumental in articulating the Al Shabaab ideology.
First Museum Opens In Somaliland To Preserve History Of Its Secession
07 September – Source: Africa News – 238 Words
Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland has inaugurated its first museum to preserve the history of its self-declared independence in 1991. The Saryan Museum built in the Somaliland capital Hargeisa was founded by Saed Shukri Hussein, one of the liberation fighters of the autonomous region, local news portal Horn Diplomat reports. Among the collection at the museum are exhibits from the Somali National Movement (SNM) which fought for the region’s independence.The SNM fought against the government of the Somali Democratic Republic’s military ruler Siad Barre who ruled from 1969 to 1991 after a coup.
Four militia groups including SNM led a rebellion that ousted the Barre regime. The SNM declared the northwestern Somali regions independent and established the Republic of Somaliland after disagreements with the other rebel groups. Although not recognised as a sovereign state, Somaliland is internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia. With a population of about 4 million, Somaliland can boast of an army, its own currency and legal system, and is appreciated for holding credible elections. The territory has been experiencing stability, economic prosperity and has been influential in the fight against piracy and terrorism in the horn of Africa.
OPINION, ANALYSIS AND CULTURE
“Yet establishments like iRise will have to overcome many challenges. Internet provision in Somalia is not widespread, with a recent three-week blackout hurting relief efforts. Somalia doesn’t have a regulatory framework for both the ICT and financial sectors, and faces major security risks that hinder foreign investment,”
Somalia Has Just Got Its First Tech Innovation Hub
07 September – Source: Quartz Africa – 298 Words
Coming soon to Mogadishu: Somalia’s first fully-fledged innovation hub. iRise Hub, which will officially open in the Somali capital in September, will function as a co-working space and provide research, incubation, and acceleration services for new start-ups. The name iRise is a play on the #SomaliaRising hashtag from Twitter, which has been used to document the country’s socioeconomic and political progress over the last few years.Abdihakim Ainte, the principal founder of iRise, says there’s an increased need for these kinds of spaces in order to realize the full potential of Somalia’s technology sector.
Besides the devastating impact of Somalia’s civil war, an aspirational technology sector has been growing in the Horn of Africa nation for years. Somalia has one of the most active mobile money markets in the world, with millions of people subscribed to e-payment services. Young people, with increased access to the internet and mobile phones, have shown interest in launching technology-driven businesses, crowdfunding entities—and even innovating around famine relief efforts. To improve efficiency, the government recently launched a network center that would ensure all government institutions have free internet access.
“It’s about rolling out some ecosystem in the country,” Ainte said, “and we feel that we need to establish this kind of innovation hub so that we can catch up with the rest of the world.” Warda Dirir, who co-founded the accelerator Innovate Ventures in Hargeisa, Somaliland, says more and more startups are becoming “increasingly appreciative of the role technology plays in improving productivity, transparency, and efficiency.”