Editorial

EDITORIAL | Somalia's politics these days are behaving like a moving target. Unanswered other and new things are happening that affect security, economy and society in general. But for a country struggling to discard the mark of insecurity, many things seem to remain like sticking sore thumbs. So this week, after the Galmudug fiasco, we seem to have gone back to the usual federal-government-federal-state drawn by wars. First, the federal government in Somalia sent Somali special forces, reportedly trained by…

EDITORIAL | U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Donald Yamamoto may be the number one public enemy, depending on who you ask. But he may also be a stone that masons almost rejected in Somalia. In the last ten days, Mr. Yamamoto, the former deputy foreign minister for African affairs, set fire to controversy in Galmudug, where he joined Ahmed Kariye Qoorqoor as a new state president. The local Sunni group (Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jamaah (ASWJ) and other candidates had in fact boycotted the polls, arguing that there was a…

EDITORIAL | After days of blatant attacks and condemnation in response to the US mission's approval of the election of Ahmed Abdi Kariye "Qoorqoor" in Galmudug, Ambassador Yamamoto has changed course and called for reconciliation and dialogue, admitting that the recent election was far from perfect and accepts the status of federal Member States including Jubaland. The US message accepts Jubaland as a member of the five FGSs and accepts the presidential election in Jubaland in 2019 and the status of Ahmed Mohamed…

EDITORIAL | On January 27, the leaders of Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia issued a formal proclamation suggesting that a new regional bloc was in the works, confirming what experts had talked about before. The meeting in Asmara, Eritrea, told the leaders that their "sincere and comprehensive discussions" about the situation in their countries had seen that a solution could come from some form of formal cooperation. "The three leaders adopted a joint action plan for 2020 and beyond," said a dispatch shared by Villa…

Turkey in Somalia: Honest friend or producer of problems? 24.01.2020.

EDITORIAL | Somalia's Galmudug state at the end of Friday whether they have a new Speaker of the local parliament taking the next step in electing a federal state president who will succeed Ahmed Duale Gelle. When 89 new lawmakers gather in Dhusamareb, the state capital, it could mark the end of a chaotic year in which the federal government and local factions played a se-saw to control the region. Either that or it could open a new chapter of war that strikes a blow at plans to bring all regions to a political side…

EDITORIAL - This week, Saudi Arabia cemented its idea of ​​having an African-Arab bloc to secure the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and provide a corridor for safe movement of goods. Known as the Council of Arab and African States for the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, eight countries bordering this region published the formative charter of a bloc that could work for or against the Horn of Africa. But the meeting convened by Saudi King Salman showed that the countries were working together to work together on common…

EDITORIAL - Al-Qaeda-linked Somalia-based Al-Shabaab this week ended a decade with yet another deadly attack on civilians; possibly bulging recent statements from government officials that the group jumped out. But the incident, in which 85 people were killed and followed by another off the Kenyan coast, showed that the group could benefit from political strife in Somalia, probably due to outside interference. Despite the Somali national army responding by killing more than a dozen militants, key Somali leaders…

EDITORIAL | Two things happened this week, all of which affected Somalia. The IMF Board approved a financial scheme that could see the institution cover its share of debt relief for Somalia. The financing plan, which includes subsidies, will be used to settle part of the debt owed by Somalia, prompting Mogadishu to start redressing lending with lenders in a scheme called the Heavyly Inebeded Poor Country Initiative (HIPC). "It is a positive step towards debt relief that could be a good opportunity for Somalia to…

EDITORIAL - Somalia's journey from state collapse in 1991 to revival, Finance Minister Abdirahman Duale Beileh claimed at a forum recently in November, is routinely linked to negativity: refugees, collapsed systems, insecurity and humanitarian aid; even when better things happen. Today, about two million Somalis live abroad, according to various estimates from the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program. Some may be refugees, but others are skilled in academia, business, and industry; to send…