Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Supporters of Somalia’s new President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, a veteran diplomat and former prime minister, hope he can be the answer to corruption and extremism in the world’s most notorious failed state. The 55-year-old father of four, better known as Farmajo, holds both American and …
Read More »Ex-PM Abdullahi Farmajo wins Somalia presidential vote
Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Former Somali prime minister Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo was elected president Wednesday after incumbent Hassan Sheikh Mohamud admitted defeat in a second round of voting by lawmakers. He has been sworn in. After six hours and two rounds of voting, Farmajo failed to win the required …
Read More »Somalia election for president goes into second round
Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Somali lawmakers were choosing a president under tight security Wednesday, with roads closed and residents urged to remain indoors over fears of a strike on the capital by Shabaab militants. Freshly elected MPs and senators held a first round of voting in a hangar at …
Read More »Shabaab attacks Kenya army base in Somalia
Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Islamist Shabaab fighters attacked a Kenyan military base in southern Somalia on Friday in their latest assault on foreign and national army outposts. The attack on the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) base at Kolbiyow, close to the Kenyan border in Somalia’s Lower Juba region, began …
Read More »28 killed in Shabaab attack on Mogadishu hotel
Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Twenty-eight people were killed Wednesday when Al-Shabaab fighters attacked a popular Mogadishu hotel, setting off two car bombs and opening fire on security guards, according to the city’s main ambulance service. The attack, claimed by the Al-Qaeda-aligned Shabaab insurgents, began when a car loaded with …
Read More »VIDEO: Gen Katumba Wamala speaks on Somalia situation
Twin suicide car bombs claimed by the Al-Qaeda aligned Shabaab insurgent group wounded nine people Monday at the entrance to Mogadishu’s fortified airport and a nearby hotel, officials said. The explosion took place soon after Uganda’s army chief Gen Katumba Wamala arraived in Somalia to visit the country’s troops, part …
Read More »Suicide bombers dead after blast close to Mogadishu airpot
Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Twin suicide car bombs claimed by the Al-Qaeda aligned Shabaab insurgent group wounded nine people Monday at the entrance to Mogadishu’s fortified airport and a nearby hotel, officials said. The first blast occurred at the Medina Gate entrance to Mogadishu airport, home to the UN, …
Read More »Somalia sets yet another date for presidential vote
Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Somalia’s top political leaders have announced the presidential election will be held on December 28, the fourth date so far set to conclude drawn-out, delayed and limited polls. The new timetable was laid out in a joint statement issued late Thursday by the government, the …
Read More »Men made a mess of Somalia, now women want to fix it
Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Raped, abused and subjected to genital mutilation, many women suffer terribly in Somalia, an unrepentantly patriarchal country shown by successive surveys as one of the worst places to be female. A quota reserving 30 percent of parliamentary seats for women in current elections is supposed …
Read More »In Somalia, voting under way but democracy delayed
Baidoa, Somalia | AFP | With its security-sealed plastic boxes and cardboard polling booths, Somalia’s election –- under way since last month and still ongoing –- has the trappings of democracy, but few of the functions. Last week in the western city of Baidoa, 51 handpicked representatives of the Reer …
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