Sunday May 17, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Saturday mounted a forceful defense of Somalia’s push for one-person, one-vote elections, arguing that the country’s indirect voting system has too often fueled violence, arrests and political uncertainty. Addressing the public in Mogadishu, Mohamud said Somalia needs to leave behind a model in which political representatives are chosen through clan-based, indirect arrangements. He said direct voting would allow citizens to select their leaders without…

Nimi PrincewillSaturday May 16, 2026 An armed Somali pirate stands on the shoreline as a Greek cargo ship lies anchored off Hobyo in northeastern Somalia, in this January 2010 image after the vessel was seized by pirates. Mohamad Dahir/AFP/Getty Images Somali pirates are once again cashing in on turmoil far beyond their waters. As war in Iran forces commercial shipping to take longer routes around Africa, vessels are drifting straight into the pirates’ traditional hunting grounds. The escalating conflict in the Middle East…

Saturday May 16, 2026 Photo: Somali regional state The Somali Regional State Disaster Risk Management Bureau has dismissed reports portraying Ethiopia’s Somali Region as gripped by drought, saying the picture presented is outdated and fails to reflect the improvement brought by the current Gu rains. In a statement sent to Addis Standard, the Bureau said it had reviewed recent coverage that pointed to malnutrition, drought and acute water shortages across the region. It acknowledged that climate-related vulnerabilities remain…

by STEPHEN ASTARIKOSaturday May 16, 2026 The Chairperson of the Lands, Housing, Physical Planning and Urban Development Committee, Khadija Idris /STEPHEN ASTARIKO Garissa County Assembly has been plunged into a fresh political and legal dispute after allegations surfaced that the Integrated Development and Expansion Plan (IDEP) for Garissa Municipality was approved irregularly and without following the law. At the center of the row is Khadija Idris, chairperson of the Lands, Housing, Physical Planning and Urban Development…

Somalia’s 2026 election process is shaped by a multi-step plan that includes voter registration, new voting rules, and a phased roll-out across federal member states. Below is a clear timeline of major dates and milestones that have been reported as the country moves toward elections under a renewed political framework. What Happened Over the past year, Somalia has advanced election preparations through voter registration, local voting experiments, and negotiations over how the country should conduct elections.…

MOGADISHU, May 16 - Somalia’s economy is expanding at only about 3%, a marked slowdown highlighted in a recent World Bank report cited by Al Jazeera and raising alarm among officials and ordinary Somalis alike. Economists say the downturn is closely tied to escalating political uncertainty in the Horn of Africa country, where tensions among leading political actors have deepened into a damaging stalemate. That prolonged impasse has shaken investor confidence and delayed key international development initiatives, according to…

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Puntland State President Siciid Cabdullahi Deni on Friday delivered a blistering rebuke of what he called the “term-ended Somali president” Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, accusing him of pushing Somalia “in the wrong direction” and endangering the country’s federal system and unity. Addressing reporters in Mogadishu, Deni said he had been waiting for May 15, 2026, and argued that the country’s political standoff had now reached a stage where urgent action was needed to avert institutional breakdown and the…

Saturday May 16, 2026 Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s federal government on Friday said it will press ahead with one-person, one-vote elections, insisting the country has entered a new democratic chapter after three days of talks with opposition leaders collapsed without a deal. The Ministry of Information said the government was carrying out its constitutional obligation to organize free and fair elections that give citizens the right to vote and stand for office. The announcement followed negotiations in Mogadishu between the…

MOGADISHU, Somalia, May 16 — Puntland State President Said Abdullahi Deni departed Mogadishu on Saturday after three days of political talks failed to produce an agreement among Somalia’s leading stakeholders. Deni had joined opposition figures in negotiations with the federal government from May 13 to 15, in an effort to bridge deep divisions over the country’s electoral and political framework. Despite bringing together representatives from both the federal side and the opposition, the discussions ended without a deal,…

Saturday May 16, 2026 UNICEF/UN0591078/Taxta On 3 February 2022 in Somalia, a child feeds on a Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) packet while his mother holds him waiting to receive assistance at Community Empowerment and Development Action Health Centre in Dolow. Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s most vulnerable children are being pushed to the front of a deepening global hunger emergency, with aid agency CARE warning that conflict in the Middle East and the disruption of major shipping lanes are driving up the price of…