East Africa

Saving lives through consciousness, Somalia's leading telecommunication, Hormuud, plays an important role in the fight against COVID-19 When the first case of COVID19 was discovered in Somalia in March 2020, there was a serious concern about the news, especially in a country where medical facilities are limited and existing facilities are severely under-resourced and poorly equipped.…

The UN Security Council will meet on Thursday, April 15, in New York at the request of the United States to review the situation in Tigray province in northern Ethiopia. Diplomats will try to find a common position after learning that a new massacre involving the Eritrean army took place last Monday. Two issues are on the agenda of the UN Security Council meeting to discuss the situation in Ethiopia: access to civilian assistance, first but also the announced withdrawal of the Eritrean army from Tigray. However, this…

Dominic Ongwen comes out of his silence. The former head of the LRA is still on trial in The Hague before the ICC, which in early February found him guilty of 61 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in northern Uganda between 2002 and 2005. As criminal hearings have taken room since Wednesday, this former trust man of Joseph Kony told his story and shares his problems and regrets.…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Outgoing President Farmajo met the new police chief in Mogadishu on Wednesday amid tensions in the Somali capital following an illegal extension of his tenure by the House of Commons in a move that has sparked war in the country. Farmajo had its term extended as the lower house insisted that the country would now hold direct elections within two years, a move that technically overturned the September bargaining agreement, which among other things had approved an improved clan-based election model.…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - At least 17 civilians have been killed in Middle Shebelle, a region that has struggled with stability following a bomb blast aimed at a minibus traveling from the capital Mogadishu, amid a running stalemate before the country’s election. Officials said the incident took place near Gololey about 50 kilometers north of Mogadishu, the country's capital, which has been battling insecurity for the past few months. The dead traveled from Mogadishu to Jowhar, the regional administrative capital of…

HARGEISA, Somalia - In the midst of ongoing political upheavals in Somalia, the self-proclaimed state of North Western of Somaliahas released Mogadishu's brewing tensions as "unprecedented" and dismissed the government of outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo as "oppressive" and "tyrannical". In a statement from the Foreign Ministry, North Western of Somaliasaid it was "seriously concerned" about undemocratic and destabilizing events in "our neighboring country" Somalia, in another step that could trigger more…

In the Comoros, the Interior Minister made an update on Wednesday about the death of a retired soldier during an interrogation in a barracks. The case has shaken the country for a week as the body was buried without prayer and then exhumed by the family for identification. The opposition accuses the government of covering up a major mistake between the armed forces, led by the chief of staff, in violation of Islam, the country's constitutional religion. After canceling a stay abroad to return to ask about the…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The federal government of Somalia announced that it is deeply discouraged to see statements from some of its international partners that paint Farmajo's term extension illegal. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry called "Inflammatory" partners' statements full of threats, which weakens the political independence and sovereign rights of national institutions. The statement further said that the response of the international community will serve to encourage terrorist groups and encourage foreign…

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, has once again witnessed an increased presence of troops on Wednesday night is the latest sign of a possible breakdown of the opposition. Turkish-trained Haram'ad police with armored vehicles have been deployed on the streets at several major intersections, following the immediate former Mogadishu police chief Braiger General Sadik John protected by dozens of soldiers moved from the airport facility to the Circolo Ufficiale area. The unusual army movement has…

Somalia Northeastern State - Said Abdullahi Deni, the president of Somalia's northeastern federal state, is expected to speak to parliament after his return from Mogadishu, where he spent a month in electoral negotiations that ended without a result last week. Speaking to Garowe Online, lawmakers have confirmed that President Deni will deliver a speech on Northeastern State's position on the current standoff in Somalia at the State Assembly on Thursday. "MEPs have been notified of the key session via a text message…