September 9, 2016 | Daily Monitoring Report

Security Units Block Main Roads In Mogadishu Ahead Of IGAD Heads Of State Summit

09 September – Source: Goobjoog News – 219 Words

Many roads in Mogadishu have been blocked this morning ahead of IGAD heads of state Summit in Mogadishu on 13th of September. Early morning on Friday, police and elite forces were deployed in many parts of the city blocking access for cars and people from the main roads. Security forces have been deployed in sensitive areas and along the roads leading to the capital’s airport and Presidential palace, checking all vehicles.

The roads blocked include Maka al Mukarama, Sayidka, KM4 junction, Zoppe and the Airport Road. A senior security officer speaking on the condition of anonymity admitted that the roadblocks were poorly managed and ill timed and inconvenienced general public. However, he said that this process was crucial for strengthening the security of the city and protecting its citizens from terrorism ahead of the IGAD Summit.

The IGAD Summit which will bring together over eight presidents is expected to start on Tuesday. Last year, Foreign Ministers from seven countries in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) met in the Somali capital for the first time in nearly 25 years. The group’s talks focused on political and security progress made in Somalia, as well as the anticipated 2016 elections. The 22,000 strong AU force is mandated with assisting the federal government in its war against the terror group Al-Shabaab.

Key Headlines

Security Units Block Main Roads In Mogadishu Ahead Of IGAD Heads Of State Summit (Goobjoog News)
Top Military Commander Shot Dead In Mogadishu (Shabelle News)
IGAD Summit An Endorsement Of Somalia’s Stability- Foreign Affairs Minister (Goobjoog News)
AU Urges More Mediation To Tackle Conflicts (Daily Nation)
Four Killed Two Missing After Ambush By Somali Herdsmen In Isiolo (The Star)
Somaliland Wants To Secede – Here’s Why Caution Is Necessary (The Conversation)

NATIONAL MEDIA

Top Military Commander Shot Dead In Mogadishu

09 September – Source: Shabelle News – 107 Words

A senior Somali military commander has been shot dead in Mogadishu on Thursday night by his bodyguard, reports said. Col Gesey Ali, the commander was murdered in Mogadishu’s Dharkenley district and the killer has been arrested on the spot after the shooting, a witness said. The motive behind the murder of the Somali military officer remains unclear as the army officials in the area did not comment on the shooting case so far.

IGAD Summit An Endorsement Of Somalia’s Stability- Foreign Affairs Minister

09 September – Source: Goobjoog News – 409 Words

Eight heads of states from the regional trade bloc of IGAD will gather in Mogadishu on Tuesday, a first in more than 30 years to shore up the upcoming polls in the Horn of Africa country. Somalia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Abdusalam Omer Hadliye said the event which will also discuss the protracted political situation in South Sudan is an endorsement of Somalia’s stability and security following decades of anarchy and conflict.

“It is the first time Mogadishu or Somalia in general hosts such a high-level summit for more than 30 years. We see it as a historic signal and message to the world that ‘Somalia is coming back,’” Hadliye told Goobjoog News. This will be the first high profile event in Somalia’s soil since 1974. IGAD council of Ministers met in Mogadishu January last year setting the ground for the 53rd Heads of States IGAD Summit next week.

Somalia is gearing up for elections which will start later this month with the election of members of the Upper House and Lower House and culminate into the election of the President October 30th. The IGAD Summit will deliberate on the progress made so far in preparing for the polls which is billed as more participatory than the 2012 round. 14,025 delegates will participate in the election of the Lower House members unlike in 2012 when only 135 elders participated in choosing the MPs.

The leaders expected to join Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in Mogadishu include President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan; Hailemariam Desalgne of Ethiopia; Omar Bashir of Sudan, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti. The Somali government has tightened the security of Mogadishu ahead of the Summit which will start on Tuesday.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

AU Urges More Mediation To Tackle Conflicts

09 September – Source: Daily Nation – 342 Words

The African Union (AU) has said conflicts that it has to mediate and resolve have persisted growing in complexity, calling for intensified mediation efforts. AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Smail Chergui made the remarks while speaking at the opening of a three-day seminar on the operationalization of the AU Mediation Support Unit in Addis Ababa on Wednesday.

“A host of emerging threats to peace and security now influence conflict dynamics and complicate mediation efforts, such as the proliferation of illicit arms, human and drug trafficking, money laundering, as well as natural resources exploitation and climate change,” noted the commissioner.

“What complicates matters further is the fact that players in a conflict are no longer limited to defined political factions and armed groups with a political agenda, but have exceeded those to rogue elements to which violent conflict represents both the means and ends, such as terrorists and warlords,” he said. The commissioner underlined the need to strengthen the mediation efforts of the AU by setting up an African Union Mediation Support Unit (AU-MSU).

“The main objectives of the unit is to ensure a systematic approach whereby the experiences and lessons learned in AU mediation efforts serve as a basis for formulating guidance and principles to strengthen the work of current mediators and facilitators as well as contribute to the elaboration of a template to support future and potential mediators and facilitators,” he said.

Four Killed, Two Missing After Ambush By Somali Herdsmen In Isiolo

09 September – Source: The Star – 172 Words

A woman and three men were found dead in Isiolo less than an hour after being kidnapped by Somali herdsmenon Thursday. The bodies of the victims were found dumped in a forest at Gafarsa area with their throats slit. Two others are said to be missing.

The incident comes two weeks after Somali and Borana communities in the area clashed at a grazing area. Somali herders from North Eastern are said to have moved into Garba-Tulla sub county about two months ago in search of pasture and water for their animals following the drought in their region.

Isiolo county commissioner George Natembeya said police have been dispatched in the area to pursue the suspects. Area Governor Godana Doyo and Senator Mohamed Kuti condemned the incident and said the events were worrying.

They expressed regret that rivals involved in the conflict had now resorted to kidnapping residents and butchering the innocent. They called on the security arm of the government to ensure the suspects are arrested and charged in court.

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

“Both the Ethiopian and Sudanese examples suggest that separation isn’t always the straightforward option. The division has led to violent border disputes, economic complications, and poor relations with the wider international community.”

Somaliland Wants To Secede – Here’s Why Caution Is Necessary

09 September – Source: The Conversation – 985 Words

Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo recently claimed that more than one million citizens, out of the country’s population of 3.4 million, had signed a petition calling for the international community to recognise Somaliland.

Since 1991, and the collapse of the Siad Barre regime in Somalia, the region has declared itself independent. But should it? The examples of the secession of South Sudan and Eritrea raise serious questions and doubts about the outcomes of breakaway states.

The general approach to calls for secession in Africa, as set out by the African Union (AU) and its predecessor the Organisation of African Unity, is that they should be opposed. The most frequently heard argument against secession is that granting the right to one country invites others to take the same step.

This, the argument goes, would put at risk the internationally recognised system of post-colonial states in Africa. The issue of secession first arose in the 1960s with the wave of decolonisation and questions over the viability of the newly independent states across the continent. Two cases stood out: the Congo, where Katanga’s self-proclaimed breakaway was defeated by United Nations forces; and Nigeria, where the Biafran secession was ended by the Nigerian federal forces.

The issue has come up again in recent times. In northeast Africa two states have experienced separation. In 1993 Eritrea was recognised as a separate state from Ethiopia, and the world’s newest state, South Sudan, was recognised in 2011.

The circumstances in each of these cases was different. But the purpose here is not to revisit how and why these took place, but to consider what happened next. In both cases separation was intended to deal with historical problems and provide an acceptable alternative in the form of a new internationally recognised state. But have they achieved these objectives?

TOP TWEETS

@Abdi_AlSheikh : Somalia: UK Pledges More Peacekeeping Troops for South Sudan and Somalia – http://AllAfrica.com http://dlvr.it/MDCG1S #Somalia

@RadioCitizenFM : IED targeting security officers patrolling#Kenya, #Somalia border in #Mandera exploded, no officer injured~ Police

@Abdi_AlSheikh : LETTERS: Somalia’s miraa ban sparks reactions – Business Daily (press release) (blog)http://dlvr.it/MDBwFV #Somalia

@Fatumaabdulahi : He said “there is no country with 30% women MPs, why #Somalia?”. There is no country where men have failed so badly and for 25 years either.

@DrumChronicles : #Somalia #Mogadishu Senior military officer Col. Gesey Ali shot dead by one of his bodyguards last night

@t_mcconnell : Don’t be fooled, #Somalia‘s still Africa’s most-failed state, says @dlknowles http://econ.st/2cpGJGG

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IMAGE OF THE DAY

Aerial view of Mogadishu Seaport.

Photo: @Daudoo