Axadle - Breaking news and analysis from Somalia, the Horn of Africa, and across Africa.

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s voting system has long relied on indirect, clan-based selection of lawmakers who then choose the country’s president, a model that leaders and international partners have repeatedly said they want to replace with “one person, one vote” elections. Somalia has not held a nationwide direct election for decades, with insecurity and political disputes cited by Somali officials, analysts and international partners as major obstacles to broader voting. How national leaders are chosen now Under…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s political leadership is split between the federal government in Mogadishu and a set of federal member states that run their own regional administrations under the country’s federal system. The internationally recognized federal leadership is headed by President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre. Somalia also faces a long-running territorial and political dispute with Somaliland, a region in the north that declared independence in 1991 and operates separate…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s planned 2026 national elections have become the focus of a widening political dispute after parliament approved constitutional changes that leaders and opponents say would reshape how the country chooses its leaders and when the next vote is held. On March 5, 2026, Somalia’s parliament voted to amend the constitution and extend the terms of lawmakers and the president to five years from four, according to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and the parliamentary speaker in statements reported by…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s efforts to hold more direct elections, after decades of indirect, clan-based voting, matter beyond its borders because they are closely tied to the country’s fight against the al-Shabab insurgency, the security of busy shipping routes off the Horn of Africa and the stability of an aid-dependent state where international partners are trying to shift responsibility for security to Somali institutions. Somalia has long selected many officials through clan-based negotiations and indirect…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia is preparing for a planned shift to direct national elections in 2026, a major change in a country that has relied for decades on an indirect, clan-based system in which selected delegates choose members of parliament, who then elect the president. Somali authorities say the goal is a “one person, one vote” process, but opposition figures have questioned whether the transition is being handled by consensus and warn of renewed political crisis. The push toward universal suffrage has unfolded…

Elon Musk was found by a federal jury in California to have misled Twitter shareholders, a verdict that jurors say caused the social media company's stock to tumble while he was attempting a $44 billion takeover. The decision in the class-action securities suit could expose the billionaire to a multi-billion-dollar judgment: jurors’ damage calculations were reported to be roughly $2.6 billion. Shortly after the verdict, lawyers for Mr. Musk told AFP their client plans to appeal, calling the outcome a "setback." Following a…

Kneecap, the Irish-language rap trio from Belfast, said they joined an international aid convoy to Cuba because they could not stand by while the island — which they described as being "strangled" by a US fuel blockade — suffered acute shortages. The group travelled with a wider contingent of public figures and humanitarian organisations bringing medicine, drinking water, food, solar panels and other relief supplies to the Caribbean nation this week by air and sea. Speaking at a Havana press conference flanked by former UK…

Two residents of Zaporizhzhia were killed and much of Chernihiv region was plunged into darkness after Russian strikes, Ukrainian officials reported. Zaporizhzhia Governor Ivan Fedorov said the morning attack on the city claimed the lives of a man and a woman and wounded six other people, among them two children. In neighboring Chernihiv, Governor Viacheslav Chaus said crews were working to repair damage from a drone strike that struck an energy facility. The northern region, which shares borders with Russia and Belarus, had…

Saturday March 21, 2026 Baidoa (AX) — A looming election dispute in Somalia’s Southwest State has sparked a stark warning from the region’s parliamentary leadership, with Speaker Dr. Ali Said Fiqi cautioning that a federal push to stage polls in Barawe could destabilize the area and even ignite conflict. Writing Friday on his X account, Fiqi argued that Barawe has never operated as Southwest State’s effective seat of government. He said the regional parliament has not convened there, nor has the cabinet held meetings in the…