.Five Female Passengers Raped In Lower Shabelle

16 October - Source: Goobjoog News - 302 Words

At least five female passengers have been raped and robbed by gunmen who mounted roadblocks along the road connecting Mareeray to the other parts of the region. Residents of Mareeray town have decried alleged harassment by gunmen dressed in Somali National Army uniform that erected roadblocks along the road leading to the town. Mareeray chief, Sayid Baale Mayow speaking to Goobjoog has expressed concern over security of the roads leading to that town. "At least five female passengers have been raped for last 24 hours and the mounted roadblocks are increasing day after day” he said. He underscored that Somali government will launch operations to clear illegal roadblocks soon.

One driver was so frustrated that he said he had to stopped operating from the route "I am driving Mini-bus with the capacity of 14 passengers, and every few kilometres they demand Shs220 ($10) , then what is left for me, the other day they opened fire on another passenger car breaking the driver’s legs, this is done by soldiers who demand unreasonable money” said the driver. He added "We have lots of problem with these illegal checkpoints in Lower Shabelle region because we cannot afford the amount of money we are being forced to pay,” The association of Transporters in Lower Shabelle region called on the Federal government to intervene.
Armed men with SNA uniform have reportedly set up roadblocks to embezzle cash from drivers who constantly use the busy main highway connecting the Lower Shabelle region. According to local sources, more than 10 roadblocks have been setup between two towns in the Lower Shabelle region. The federal government carried out several operations to remove the illegal roadblocks but little has changed according drivers and owners of public transport vehicles.

Somali President Urges South-West State Elders To Solve Clan Grievance

16 October - Source: Shabelle News - 115 Words

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has called on the traditional elders of the interim south-west administration to solve the clan grievances over the selection process of the local MPs. The president arrived in Baidoa city on Thursday to mediate the stand-off over the sharing of the parliament members of South-west state, which cause several postponements. "The elders should do their best to complete the work of the regional lawmakers selection process and end the clan concerns soon. Time is running out,” said Somali president. Since Thursday, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has held closed-door meeting with South-west state leader Shariif Hassan and the local elders in Baidoa, and discussed with them on the issue.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Funds Stall Hearing Of Mandera Killings

16 October - Source: The Star - 201 Words

The hearing of a case in which a Kenyan and three Somalis have been charged with killing 35 people at a quarry in Mandera county has hit a snag due to lack of funds. The prosecution yesterday told the court witnesses were not present because the state could not pay for their transport from Mandera to Nairobi and their accommodation in Nairobi. Prosecutor Cynthia Opiyo sought an adjournment. The prosecution has lined up 11 witnesses but has called only two.

Suspects’ lawyer Leah Gikonyo opposed the adjournment, terming it "scandalous.” However, trial magistrate Terresa Nyangena postponed the hearing to December 1. The 36 quarry workers were shot dead and others beheaded in Koromey, Mandera county, on December 2 last year. Suspected Al-Shabaab militants raided their camp near the Somalia border. Abubakar Kitonga, the alleged mastermind of the attack, is facing charges alongside Maslah Hassan, Musa Hassan and Shukri Salat. Maslah, Musa and Salat face a separate charge of being in Kenya illegally. Kitonga also faces a charge of having materials that he used in instigating a terrorism act. According to police reports, the 36 slain men were ordered to lie down and shot at close range by about 20 attackers.

Somali Community Looks At Cutting Terror-Recruiting Ties

16 October - Source: Star Tribune - 807 Words

It was the sort of frank conversation that was once considered off-limits in the local Somali community: the continued flow of young men and women of East African descent to join violent jihadi groups in the Middle East. On Thursday, at a gathering at the Sabathani Community Center, a group of Somali parents, law enforcement officials, legislators and community leaders met to talk about extremist recruitment. They hope the meeting, the fourth of its kind this year, will mark a turning point in what has been a turbulent relationship between Somali immigrants and law enforcement, as both sides look for ways to stem the flow of recruits from the Twin Cities to overseas battlefields.

The arrests of seven young men last year on charges of conspiring to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was a wake-up call for many in the community who had been reluctant to come to grips with the problem, leaders said. Groups like ISIL and Al-Shabab, they said, were once only talked about in hushed tones and behind closed doors. Several speakers also mentioned the need to address the generational gap in the Somali community. "I know there’s so many mothers, I don’t want to say denial, but at the end of the day we need to talk,” said Farhio Khalif, founder of Voice of East African Women and one of the event’s organizers.

Law enforcement officials also sought to reassure the several dozen Somali parents who gathered in the auditorium that they share the same goal of stopping extremist Muslim recruiters from luring away their children. "These programs, this pilot program, has nothing to do with spying on the community,” said U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Andrew Luger, referring to a Justice Department pilot program unveiled earlier this year intended to stop the recruitment. "If we wanted to use these programs to spy on the community, why on earth would we be up here talking about them?”

OPINION, ANALYSIS, AND CULTURE

"Since most Somalis do not own passports (which are in any case far from secure as proofs of identity), Dahabshiil relies on the strength of the clan network. In a country where men can recite their ancestors’ names back fifteen generations, references are an effective way to prove that new customers are who they say they are.”

Dahabshiil: Transfer Window

16 October - Source: The Economist - 886 Words

When Abdirashid Duale, the chief executive of Dahabshiil, Africa’s largest money-transfer business, visits Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, a breakaway province of Somalia, he cannot walk down the street easily. It is not that his security is under threat. It is that with every step, another businessman stops to greet him. Strolling from the new offices of Dahabshiil’s bank to the headquarters of its money-transfer operation, a distance of perhaps a couple of hundred metres, takes the best part of half an hour.

On arrival, it becomes clear why. In Hargeisa, Dahabshiil, which means "gold smelter” in Somali, is the local economy’s nerve centre. In its money-transfer hub, huge amounts trade over the counter; at one point, your correspondent is handed $200,000 in cash to hold. In its new bank, every floor is air-conditioned—this in a state where electricity is generated by diesel and costs roughly ten times what it does in the West. Every street trader proudly displays his Dahab account number—the mobile-money arm of the firm’s telecoms network. At least half of Somaliland’s annual income flows through the firm, reckons Mr Duale.

Out of this bustling business, Mr Duale’s family have built an operation that operates throughout Somalia, and well beyond. Dahabshiil’s money-transfer business now stretches across 126 countries; as well as the one in Hargeisa, the firm has offices in Dubai, Djibouti and London. It transfers money from places such as Rwanda and South Sudan. The company can also count on the support of powerful politicians, including David Cameron, Britain’s prime minister—who spoke up for the firm when Barclays closed its bank account in 2013. Its success in moving money has helped to rebuild shattered parts of Somalia. It is now trying to become something bigger: a bank.

Dahabshiil was founded by Mr Duale’s father, who was a trader, importing goods into Somalia from Yemen. To acquire foreign currency, access to which was then strictly controlled by Somalia’s nationalised banking system, he turned to Somali migrant workers in the Gulf who needed to repatriate their earnings. Their money paid for imports in Yemen; in turn, out of his revenues from sales in Somalia, the senior Mr Duale was able to pay money to their relatives.