isniin june, 17 2024 (HMC) – The African Union {AU} Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) said on Sunday that it has handed over the Barire military base to the Somali security forces, marking the start of the third phase of the troop drawdown.

ATMIS said the military base, which is located in the Lower Shabelle region under the ATMIS Uganda Peoples’ Defense Forces since 2019, holds strategic significance as it serves as a buffer zone about 60 km west of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

“This transfer of the Barire military base is not just a transfer of physical assets, but it symbolizes the progress we have made together in our shared mission,” ATMIS Uganda Contingent Commander Anthony Lukwago Mbuusi said in a statement issued in Mogadishu.

“Together, we will continue to work toward a brighter future for Somalia, one built on cooperation, mutual respect, and the common goal of finding lasting peace,” said Mbuusi who handed over the base to Muhudin Ahmed, the Somali National Army {SNA} representative.

Ahmed lauded ATMIS Uganda troops for their commitment to the transition and their sacrifice in ensuring peace returns to Somalia.

He said the SNA would continue to secure Barire town and its inhabitants from Al-Shabaab attacks and other illegal armed groups.

The AU mission withdrew 5,000 troops from Somalia and handed over 17 military bases to the Somali Security Forces during the first and second phases of the drawdown concluded in 2023.

The third phase of the ATMIS drawdown is in line with United Nations Security Council Resolutions 2628 {2022}, 2670 {2022}, and 2710 {2023}, which mandate ATMIS to withdraw 4,000 troops by the end of June 2024.

isniin june, 17 2024 (HMC) – Somali security forces in Puntland State have apprehended one of the Somali pirates who attacked and hijacked the MV Abdullah, a Bangladeshi-flagged cargo ship, along with its 23-member crew in March this year.

The Puntland police announced on Monday that they had arrested Mohamed Sufi Rasas in Garowe town, where he had been hiding for the past few days. The arrest followed a tip-off about his whereabouts.

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The police added that Rasas was one of the hijackers of the MV Room ship and was later transferred to the MV Abdullah. They also stated that he was among the pirates who took the ransom money from the ship. In April, Puntland security forces arrested eight pirates accused of being involved in the attack.

Somali pirates released the Bangladesh-flagged vessel and its 23-member crew after a $5 million ransom was paid, according to two pirates.

The MV Abdullah, a Bangladesh-flagged bulk carrier – a type of merchant ship used to transport large amounts of cargo – was hijacked in March as it was heading from Mozambique to the United Arab Emirates. The hijacking occurred about 600 nautical miles east of Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu.

A spike in hijackings has been reported off Somalia’s coast in recent months, with more than a dozen vessels targeted since late November.

isniin june, 17 2024 (HMC) – Somali Minister of Defense Abdukhadir Mohamed Noor has reaffirmed that Ethiopia cannot take an inch of Somali territory, describing Addis Ababa’s MoU with the Somaliland region as a daydream.

Responding to the recent statement by Ethiopia’s cabinet members about the MoU, Minister Noor emphasized that the ministers are spreading misinformation, which will not harm the Somali government.

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“Misleading messages on social media from Ethiopia’s ministers are a nightmare. Ethiopia knows that it cannot take an inch of Somali territory. When someone dreams while awake, the outcome is predictable,” said Somalia’s Defense Minister Abdukhadir Mohamed Noor.

Ethiopia’s Minister of State for Industry, Tarekegn Bululta, recently stated that he is confident Ethiopia will recognize Somaliland. “I am confident that Ethiopia will be the first country to recognize Somaliland as an independent country,” he said.

Relations between Ethiopia and Somalia have been strained since Ethiopia signed an MoU with Somaliland on January 1, 2024. The agreement, which grants Ethiopia sea access and allows for establishing a military base in Somaliland, was seen by Somalia as a violation of its sovereignty.

isniin june, 17 2024 {HMC} – The mayor of Garowe, Abdikhadir Mohamed Mohamud Geddi, has ordered all illegal Ethiopian residents to leave the town immediately, threatening deportation if they do not comply.

Speaking to reporters in Garowe on Sunday, the mayor said, “I want to send a message to the Ethiopian people who are in the city illegally. We have worked hard to welcome these people, but now the time has come. We want to tell those who do not have permits to leave the city of Garowe.”

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Ethiopian migrants have been arriving in Garowe, the administrative capital of Puntland State, over the past few years. These people have faced complex lives in Garowe and other major towns in Puntland, SSC-Khatumo, and Somaliland.

Some Ethiopians have also taken over small jobs, including shoe cleaning.

Earlier, the administration of Galkayo district in Puntland banned Ethiopians from the city of Galkayo after the administration expressed concerns.

isniin june, 17 2024 (HMC) – Piles of firewood surrounded Jane Muthoni in her kitchen made of iron sheets. The roof, walls and wooden pillars were covered in soot. As she blew on the flame for tea, the 65-year-old was engulfed in smoke.

“I’ve used firewood all my life,” she said. “Sometimes I usually cough from inhaling the smoke, and my eyes itch, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I don’t have money to even buy charcoal.”

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She was unaware of the lasting toll on her health. But experts are.

Respiratory diseases have been the most prevalent diseases in Kenya for the past several years and are on the rise, according to government authorities, with 19.6 million reported cases last year.

Burning biomass such as firewood is the largest contributor to those diseases, said Evans Amukoye, a scientist with the Kenya Medical Research Institute’s respiratory diseases research center.

“One can have itchy eyes, coughs while inhaling the smoke, and for serious cases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, you find that you cannot walk as your lungs have become tight,” Amukoye said. The disease is caused by indoor or outdoor air pollution or smoking.

Data from Kenya’s health ministry shows that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is responsible for 1.7% of deaths in the country.

People in low-income areas are diagnosed with respiratory diseases later in life compared to middle-class people in urban areas with better awareness and access to health care, Amukoye said.

Families in informal neighborhoods and rural areas are the most affected as most people rely on firewood or fossil fuels for cooking. Women hunched over a smoking fire at stalls for tea or snacks is a common sight in the capital, Nairobi, and beyond.

The government’s 2022 Demographic and Health Survey showed a high dependence on traditional fuels for cooking in Kenya. The number of households relying on biomass like firewood increased from 4.7 million to 6.7 million between 2020 and 2022.

Economist Abraham Muriu said he believes the increase in Kenyans using firewood is a result of economic shocks caused by reduced incomes during the COVID pandemic and ongoing high inflation.

“Firewood is readily available and the most accessible fossil fuel, especially in rural areas,” Muriu said.

He said more Kenyans in urban areas have likely resorted to using firewood or charcoal, too, as prices and taxes rise. Blackened sacks of charcoal are openly on sale at some Nairobi intersections, and the hunt for firewood across the country is constant.

Mercy Letting, 33, a businesswoman in Nairobi’s Kasarani neighborhood was using charcoal to make meals for customers in the first six months after opening her restaurant early last year. With time, it affected her health.

“I am asthmatic, so whenever I used charcoal to cook the smoke would always trigger an attack, forcing me to spend part of my daily earnings on medication. This happened five times,” she said.

She found it expensive, spending 4,500 Kenyan shillings {$33} per month to buy a sack of charcoal. “I eventually had to buy an ‘eco-friendly’ cooker, which has been great for my health and good for business.” It requires less charcoal.

Letting also bought an induction burner, which she said is faster in cooking and more efficient as she spends only 50 Kenyan shillings {$0.38} per day on electricity.

Although companies pursue “clean cooking” options, high prices remain an obstacle to many Kenyans.

“If we want to deliver a truly clean and efficient solution to users across Africa, it needs to be affordable for them,” said Chris McKinney, the chief commercial officer at BURN Manufacturing, which describes itself as a “modern cookstove” company based on the outskirts of Nairobi.

“This has been the key barrier to scaling for us,” he said.