Editorial

EDITORIAL | There seemed to be something good in all the bad when Italian aid worker Silvia Romano arrived in Italy on May 9 after 18 months in captivity by Al-Shabaab in southern Somalia. Silvia, who changed her name to Aisha after converting to Islam, had been working in the Kenyan county of Kilifi for an Italian NGO when Al-Shabaab militants attacked her residence in November 2018 and fled with her. The details of what happened during the 532 days or so are sparse, and this has led to rumors that the Italian…

EDITORIAL | Somalia's persistent violation of civil liberties is a worrying trend. In the past, this platform has called on the security agencies and President Mohamed Farmajo's administration, by and large, to make sure there is no unconstitutional collection. It did not stop. Instead, reports coming in this week suggested that more of the same continued. On Monday, two senators Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail Fartaag and Iftiin Hassan Basto claimed they had been denied boarding a plane carrying Jubbaland's Minister of…

EDITORIAL | Six people died on Monday when a plane carrying humanitarian medical cargo from Mogadishu crashed after being hit by a mysterious object in Bardale, about 300 km northwest of Mogadishu. Somalia has had a civilian accident at least once every year during the term of President Farmajoo. But this was the first major fatal civilian plane crash in Somalia since February 2016, reflecting the relative safety of Somalia's skies despite the security challenges. But Somali authorities must not sit idly by and…

EDITORIAL | Reports from the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), aimed at journalists who are considered critical of the authorities, give rise to serious concerns about Somalia's commitment to protecting freedom of expression. That these reports came out hot on accusations that NISA was working with Al-Shabaab is even more worrying. NISA has already denied reports that they have had a hand in Shabaab attacks on Kenyan troops. But we would like to point out that such a series of bad publicity only…

EDITORIAL | Somalia's burden of unprecedented coronavirus disease may already be exacerbated. On Friday morning this week, the federal Department of Health reported 328 cases after 42 more patients tested positive. In a country where 16 people have so far died from COVID-19, Somalia is still below the global average of 5% deaths from COVID-19. Yet the growing number of patients could further strain the health infrastructure of a country already overwhelmed by other forces. One of these forces is al-Qaeda-linked…

EDITORIAL | Somalia's 80 reported cases of the new coronavirus disease have become a cause for concern, especially among enthusiasts from a rising country. The concern lies in both the number and the uncertainty they create: As of Tuesday this week, the federal Department of Health had reported 25 cases of COVID-19 for which the disease is formally known. These numbers jumped in a shocking pattern over two days to reach 80 by recording 25 on Wednesday and another 20 on Thursday. What this means is that surveillance…

EDITORIAL | For more than 30 years, Somalia has been accustomed to things like war, drought, displacement and floods. Then came the new coronavirus disease, also known as COVID-19. Globally, it has killed more than 90,000 out of more than 1.5 million infected people. In Somalia, it had infected eight people Thursday night and killed one. Except there's a problem: COVID-19 did not start in Africa or Somalia, as those who like to mutilate the Horn of Africa country might have expected. It started in Wuhan, China.…

EDITORIAL | Somalia may have been so accustomed to negativity for the past three decades. But this week, it may have been the only country in the world this week that received good news. In the midst of the raging new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Mogadishu received debt relief from its former lenders. On Tuesday, the Paris club - the group of rich countries that traditionally lend to the poor - agreed to clear Somalia's arrears of 1.4 billion. $. This decision and that of the World Bank, the International…

EDITORIAL | Somalia has this week clarified its neutrality in the smoldering dispute between Ethiopia and Egypt over the large $ 4.8 billion water dam project on the Nile River that Addis Ababa is laying up. In an interview with a television station this week, Ahmed Isse Awad, the Somali foreign minister explained that the neutrality of Mogadishu could actually help convey a useful solution between the two sides. But it threw a new wrench into the works of relations between Somalia and Egypt as well as Mogadishu and…

EDITORIAL | Da Dr. Fawziya Abikar Nor, the Somali health minister, announced on Monday in Mogadishu that a case of the new coronavirus (Covid-19) had been confirmed in the country, it may have only ended an anxious wait. But this announcement could now create new anxiety: Somalia, which has been on a positive trajectory recently on most fronts, is being forced to take a break. This week, for example, Somali Minister of Air Transport and Airports Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar imposed a 15-day ban on international flights,…