English news

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has nominated Hamza Abdi Barre as Somalia’s next Prime Minister, according to state-run media.

Mohamud called on Somalis to support Barre.

“The President wishes the new PM utmost success as he leads the government’s ambitious reform agenda and calls on Somali people to render him their unwavering support.”

Barre’s most recent political appointment was the Chairperson of Jubaland’s Independent Boundaries and Electoral Commission from 2019 to 2020.

Barre is also an MP in Somalia’s 11th Parliament. He was elected to HOP203 in late Decemeber 2021.

At the federal level, he worked as a senior advisor to the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs and has been described by colleagues as a staunch federalist.

The 48-year-old father of eight is a close associate of President Mohamud. He served as the Peace and Development Party Secretary-General from the early to mid-2010s.

The new Prime Minister hails from the Ogaden subclan. He is also reportedly a close political ally of Jubaland regional President Ahmed Mohamed Madobe.

The new Prime Minister holds an MBA in management from the International Islamic University of Malaysia.
 President Mohamud’s nomination must be approved by Somalia’s parliament before it is official.

The Council of Ministers of the Federal Government of Somalia met tonight in Mogadishu to discuss key issues related to the country’s situation, politics, security and elections.

The Council condemned the failed December 27 coup attempt at the Council of Ministers and the Office of the Prime Minister, expressing its outrage.

The Council of Ministers has agreed to conduct a thorough investigation into those involved in the attack on the country’s constitutional institutions, with the Prime Minister appointing a five-member commission to conduct a thorough investigation. .

The Cabinet also approved the closing of the 2020 budget. It also endorsed the capital’s security plan presented by the Ministry of Internal Security which calls for the formation of a joint force comprising the various branches of the armed forces.

He thanked the Government for the support of the International Community and the leadership of the Prime Minister in the elections and for the National Consultative Assembly convened by the Prime Minister.

The meeting, chaired by the Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Somalia, HE Mohamed Hussein Roble, also addressed the issue of drought and COVID-19.

A medical student in her final year who was shot by a policeman in a continuing streak of civilian killings by security forces in Mogadishu has succumbed to her injuries this morning.

Banaadir University Dean Dr. Mohamed Mohamud Hassan told local media Miriam Mohamed Hersi was in the final year of her medicine degree programme when her life was cut short by a policeman who was supposed to protect her.

Dr. Hassan said Miriam was on her internship at Aden Abdulle Hospital in Mogadishu. She was returning home on the evening of December 11 when a policeman opened fire at a vehicle she was travelling in at Forensa Junction in Mogadishu’s Wardhigley district.

The policeman has since gone into hiding according to police sources. The deceased had been hospitalised at Digfeer Hospital but passed on this morning.

The death of Miriam adds to three, in barely two months the number of young people felled by a bullet from security forces who are paid to protect human lives. A week before Miriam was shot, Zakariye Mohamud Hussein and Sowda Mohamud Hussein, two siblings were shot dead by military men at Debka junction in Mogadishu. The two were on an autorickshaw and were out on that fateful night to get food for a relative who was in the hospital.

A day later on December 4, Mahad Abdirahman was gunned down by a policeman at Zoobe junction while on a motorbike.

None of the offenders has been prosecuted

The African Union has reiterated its earlier proposal to turn its peacekeeping force in Somalia into a hybrid mission.

The African Union Peace and Security Council said in a communique had expressed its support for the continued relevance of Communique adopted at its 1037th meeting which endorsed Option 1 of the Independent Assessment Report, namely, to establish an AU-UN Multidimensional Stabilization Mission in Somalia, as the best way to ensure predictable and sustainable financing for the mission, from UN assessed contributions;

The African Union assessment team’s report in May had recommended the hybrid A.U.-U.N. mission have a mix of police (50%), military personnel (35%) and civilians (15%).

According to the communique, the African Union had lauded the progress achieved to date to liberate Somalia from Al Shabaab and other armed groups, to degrade their capabilities, and to create an enabling environment for the FGS to effectively extend state authority throughout the territory of the country;

The African Union Peace and Security Council commends the Somali National Army (SNA) and AMISOM for the progress registered thus far in the fight against the Al Shabaab terrorist group and, in particular, for the immeasurable personal sacrifice and unwavering commitment to defeat Al-Shabaab in very challenging conditions,” the communique reads in part.  “Pays special tribute to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the cause of peace, expresses sincere condolences to the troop and police contributing countries and the families of the deceased; and wishes a speedy recovery to all those injured in Al Shabaab attacks.”

Currently, five countries — including Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi, Kenya and Djibouti — contribute to the more than 19,000 AMISOM military personnel operating in Somalia.

Since 2007, the regional peacekeeping mission, which operates with U.N. approval, has aided Somali government forces in their battle to stabilize the Horn of Africa country, mainly against al-Shabab fighters.

At least five people have died of starvation after losing their livestock to drought in central Somalia.

According to Ahmed Mohamed Shire, the deputy governor of the Mudug region for Galmudug state,  hundreds of displaced families and people from other areas have arrived at the  towns in the region seeking relief.

The official has confirmed death of five people who died of starvation and thirst due to the severe drought in Galmudug state.

Shire also stated outbreak of various diseases, including malnutrition.

He noted that the administration was making water trucking efforts for the people affected by the severe drought in Galgadud region.

Last month, Somali prime minister, Mohamed Hussein Roble had appointed a ministerial-level committee tasked with responding to the drought situation in Somalia.

Galgaduud is one of the worst-hit areas by the drought, with people now beginning to die of thirst and starvation after failed rains.

President of the South West State of Somalia Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen of Somali citizens in Lasanod by Somaliland authorities.

“It is inhumane to displace citizens in a part of their homeland where they are living peacefully and lawfully. The South West State demands answers from Somaliland government. Children and their parents were separated in Lasanod during the arbitrary displacement” said President Abdiaziz.

President Abdiaziz lauded Puntland State government and people for welcoming and accommodating Somalia citizens whom Somaliland government displaced from Lasanod.

“Some displaced citizens have properties and businesses in Lasanod. I call for the Somali Federal Government, business leaders and the International Community to follow in the footsteps of Puntland State and extend assistance to Somali citizens displaced from Lasanod” added President Abdiaziz.

The South West President has appointed a five-member committee made up of ministers who will visit Puntland State to assess the situation of the displaced people and prepare a voluntary resettlement programme for them in South West state.

Facebook WhatsApp and Instagram are apparently facing outages and many users are unable to use the platforms

DownDetector reports a quick spike in the number of cases of WhatsApp not working for people across regions on October 4. Users are unable to send or receive new messages. Similar behaviour is observable on Instagram, where users are unable to log in, refresh their feed or send direct messages (DMs). The issue has seemingly affected people late in the evening, with outage starting at roughly 9:15 pm IST.

The servers continue to remain down at the time of writing this article and Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram are currently inaccessible. Users are requested to use alternate methods of messaging like Signal and Telegram until the apps start working again.

This is not the first time apps like WhatsApp have crashed. A similar outage was observed back in March 2021.

Facebook and its Instagram and WhatsApp services have all gone down on Monday in what marks an apparent worldwide outage for many users.

All three of the services saw a spike in late mid-morning outages across their apps and websites, according to the DownDetector website, which tracks internet service outages. Nearly 112,000 outages have been reported on Facebook, over 92,000 outages on Instagram, and nearly 30,000 outages on WhatsApp, DownDetector said.

“We’re aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products,” Facebook spokesman Andy Stone said on Twitter. “We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”

WhatsApp said on Twitter it is “aware that some people are experiencing issues with” the application “at the moment”.

“We’re working to get things back to normal and will send an update here as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience!” said the company.

Instagram and Facebook were the number one trending topic in the US on Twitter.

The outage’s cause remains unclear.

The government of China has pledged to donate more vaccines to Somalia amid the country’s health ministry expressed concern over possible third wave of COVID-19.

Somalia had confirmed its COVID-19 case in 2020, forcing the horn of African nation geared up its efforts curb the spread of the virus.

The country recorded 19,980 cases of COVID-19 since outbreak of the disease in Somalia.

Over 1,111 people have died of the virus while 9,523 other recovered from the disease, according to the health ministry.

During a online meeting with Somalia’s health minister, Fowzia Abikar this week, the Chinese Ambassador to Somalia Fei Shengchao said that China is preparing to donate another batch of vaccines to Somalia to better protect the local people.

“China has continued to give tangible assistance to Somalia in humanitarian aid, education, medicine and other areas, in support of Somalia’s peace and reconstruction,” Fei said.

The announcement of the envoy barely five month since the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines from China arrived in Somalia.

Somalia received 200,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine donated by China to boost the war against COVID-19 pandemic in the Horn of African State in April.