Federalism was supposed to help decentralize power from the Somali federal government (SFG) in order to give more authority to potentially more effective local administrations. So far, the process has led to a fight among local and foreign elites over… Read More ›
Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud recently revealed the government bought weapons to bolster domestic forces and also asked for an extension to the one year partial relaxation of the 1992 arms embargo issued by the UN Security Council in March 2013. Some steps… Read More ›
On the morning of 28 January 2014, an AMISOM vehicle ran over a civilian on Maka al Mukarama road and left the scene in what African Union forces called a “tragic accident.” The man killed in the hit-and-run was 41-year-old taxi… Read More ›
In the aftermath of al-Shabaab’s New Year’s Day bombings at the Jazeera Hotel in Mogadishu, Somali officials including Acting Interior Minister Abdikarim Hussein Guled and commander of the Somali police force General Abdikarim Dahir Said showed their support for victims… Read More ›
On 9 December 2013, the Banadir regional court in Mogadishu sentenced a female journalist to house arrest as part of a six month suspended sentence on charges of “defamation and lying” after she claimed in an interview that she was raped by… Read More ›
Only 8 months after conclusion of the last infamous rape-journalist case, Somalia police reportedly arrested on defamation charges Radio Shabelle journalist Mohamed Bashir Hashi and a 19-year-old woman he interviewed (above) who says she was raped by journalists from the the… Read More ›
With each report coming out of Mogadishu, optimists and pessimists prop up their narrative. Mogadishu is heaven. Mogadishu is hell. Descriptions in the media are full of quizzical paradoxes. In a recent piece entitled, “Flying into hostile territory: Somalia experiences boom in… Read More ›
Since al-Shabaab’s Supreme Court attack on 14 April 2013, the Somali government has been moving forward with efforts to improve security in the capital. Large contingents of Somali soldiers have been training in Uganda, Djibouti, and Somalia by multiple partners—including the United States,… Read More ›
As many as 34 people were killed and almost 60 injured in a set of coordinated attacks by al-Shabaab in Mogadishu involving suicide bombers, gunmen, and two separate car bomb attacks. A car bomb was detonated at the entrance of the Supreme… Read More ›
On 29 January 2013, an al-Shabaab “defector” made it through a series of checkpoints in the heavily guarded Villa Somalia government compound and detonated himself near Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon’s home. The attack killed the bomber, two other people,… Read More ›
Brief Background on Jubaland Jubaland historically comprised of Lower and Middle Juba states. But military dictatator and ex-President Siad Barre split up the region in 1975, adding Gedo (created as an enclave for Barre’s Darod-Marehan clan members), Bay, and Bakool… Read More ›
Against all likely odds, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud emerged as victorious in Somalia’s presidential selection on 10 September 2012, held in Mogadishu’s Aden Adde airport. The results from the first round of voting seemed to favor the controversial incumbent Sheikh Sharif… Read More ›
After weeks of delays and controversies, Somalia’s new parliament successfully elected 66-year old Afgoye native Mohamed Osman Jawaari as the new Speaker of Parliament. Jawari, who hails from the Digil/Mirifle (Rahanweyn) clan, served as Minister of Transport and Minister of Labor… Read More ›
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