Somalia’s elite, against all sensible and strategic advice, decided decades ago to make Somaliland an electoral constituency, despite the absence of consent and political settlement on the issues of independence and unity. The aim may have been to use the elections to assert Mogadishu’s sovereignty. In the event, the Somaliland vote in the south has become a perennial catalyst that feeds electoral dysfunction in Somalia. It has also become a powerful magnet for “dissidents” from Hargeisa – a motley collection of unionists, political tourists, interlopers and neophytes - all looking to Mogadishu for posts, perks and prestige
Somalia’s new president seeks peace at home and abroad On Thursday, Somalia’s president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud (HSM), will be...
Justice delayed is justice denied Today, 9 June, Somalia will celebrate the inauguration of its 10th president, His Excellency Hassan Sheikh Mo...
Fahad’s dance of the seven veils Somalia’s 10th president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (HSM), was inaugurated yesterday, but the celebrat...
A geopolitical glasnost in the offing? Somalia is on the cusp of a potentially major realignment in its foreign relations, one likely to relieve tens...
Between 9 and 10 June, the Research and Evidence Facility (REF) of the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, a consortium bringing together researchers and academics at the University of Manchester, the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and Sahan, hosted a conference in Nairobi on migrants and refugee protection. The event occurred amid increasing displacement around the globe in general and much closer to home in Africa in particular. Drought and conflict have driven population movements – both voluntary and forced – across international borders, ranging from Somalia, where nearly quarter of a million people are currently facing starvation, to displacement caused by the ongoing conflicts in Ethiopia, to the eastern DRC, where a resurgent M-23 is creating regional tensions. Throughout all these conflict zones, the debate around effective international migration governance, including the protection of migrants and refugees, could not be timelier and more urgent.
Yesterday, Somali Twitter was breathless with speculation over who President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (HSM) was likely to nominate as prime minister. And while this is a matter of great importance, it is also just one of several pressing issues in front of HSM: drought and debt relief, reconciliation, completion of the constitution, and the war against Al-Shabaab. But there has also been an equally distracting source of palace intrigue recently, one that – like the other crises listed above – HSM needs to move quickly to address.
Get ready for a hands-on Hassan Sheikh Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Wednesday appointed Hamza Abdi Barre, a 48-year-old MP from Ju...
Some policy advice for Somalia's new president: If you build it, they will come Somalia’s Federal Government is steadily taking shape arou...
A pivot to the UAE On Sunday, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud flew to Abu Dhabi for the start of a regional tour designed to demonstrate Somalia&rsqu...
Somaliland’s political impasse and the risk of backsliding Somaliland, generally seen as a beacon of democracy and whose stable security situat...
The success story of Berbera port and how it could realign regional relations The port of Berbera will soon be the second-largest port in the Red Sea...
The rise of fake news in Somalia and its risk to the government Traditionally, Somali society has been an oral one, in which information was pa...
Get down to business quick, Mr President Somalia’s new administration is taking too long to settle down. Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre has no...
Can HSM become the democratic ‘strongman’ Somalia needs? Over the weekend, the Somali parliament endorsed Hamza Abdi Barre as Somalia&rsq...
The counter-reform will not be televised Somalia risks squandering its rare moment of hope. The promise of change expected under the leadership...
Somalia’s Security Sector in Broken: here’s how the new government can fix it (Part 1) When the general is weak and without authority; wh...
Somalia’s Security Sector is Broken: Negotiations with Al-Shabaab are not the answer (Part 2) In the pre-dawn hours of 22 June 2022, a siz...
Turkey, Somalia and the HSM government By sheer coincidence, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (HSM) landed in Turkey on the same day news agenc...
Somalia and the Nairobi IGAD summit On July 5, the regional body, IGAD (Inter-Governmental Authority on Development), held an emergency summit in Nai...