NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s president on Wednesday incorporated the opposition in his new Cabinet, appointing four ministers from the main opposition party in a bid to form a broad-based government that would address governance issues raised in deadly protests. President William Ruto on Wednesday appointed the minority leader in parliament and opposition leader Raila Odinga’s party chairman in his new Cabinet despite a split in the opposition coalition that saw other parties distance themselves from government talks. The weeks of turmoil in East Africa’s economic hub have led to dozens of deaths, the firing of most Cabinet members and calls for Ruto’s resignation. Protests began with Kenyans’ rejecting a proposed bill to impose more taxes as millions in the country barely get by amid rising prices. The president on Wednesday lauded political parties for “their willingness to set aside partisan positions and interests in order to join a visionary partnership for...

Friday July 26, 2024 FILE – Somaliland’s Interior Minister, Mohamed Kahin Ahmed, addresses the recent Houthi attack on a cargo ship docked at the Port of Berbera during an interview. Hargeisa (HOL) — Somaliland has addressed an incident involving a cargo ship attacked by Houthi militants from Yemen while docked at the Port of Berbera. The attack, which took place outside Somaliland’s territorial waters, highlights growing security concerns in the region. Somaliland’s Interior Minister, Mohamed Kahin Ahmed, in an interview with BBC Somali, stated that the Houthis attacked the ship while it was sailing under the flag of Singapore. “The ship was sailing under Singapore’s flag when it was attacked. At the time of the attack, it was not within Somaliland’s maritime jurisdiction nor our boundaries. It was passing through the Bab al-Mandab strait and then returned damaged,” Minister Kahin said. The ship, recently damaged by the Houthis, had set...

Deaths caused by landslides in Ethiopia have risen to 257, but the final death toll is expected to be 500, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Residents dig to recover the body of a victim of a landslide that buried people in the Gofa zone of southern Ethiopia [Handout: Gofa Zone Government Communication Affairs Department via Reuters] The UN agency released the figures on Thursday after the landslides in the mountainous Gofa zone in southern Ethiopia, the first triggered by heavy rains on Monday, the second engulfing those who had gathered to rescue people. The revised death toll is an increase of 28 on figures provided by Ethiopia’s National Disaster Risk Management Commission on Tuesday. Hundreds of people combed through red mud at the scene of the disaster in the Kencho Shacha locality, searching for survivors of the deadliest landslide recorded in Africa’s second most...

Friday July 26, 2024 Mogadishu (HOL) — A diphtheria outbreak in Somalia’s Shabeellaha Dhexe region has claimed the lives of two people and infected more than 20 others, according to the Deputy Minister of Health. Deputy Minister Mohamed Hassan Mohamed confirmed the fatalities and the number of those affected, highlighting the severe symptoms of the disease. “Symptoms of diphtheria include throat closure, difficulty swallowing, fever, and severe weakness that leaves the person unable to move,” he stated. The Ministry of Health is actively working on measures to prevent the spread of the disease, which has been reported in Shabeellaha Dhexe. The Deputy Minister emphasized the contagious nature of diphtheria and urged the Somali population to take necessary precautions. Efforts to contain the outbreak are intensifying and health officials are monitoring the situation closely. Public awareness campaigns are underway to educate the community about the symptoms and prevention of diphtheria. The...

(ERGO) – Thirteen year old Maano wakes up early every morning and walks out of the displacement camp where she lives carrying a small bag of brushes and shoe polish to look for shoe shining jobs in the city. Maano, whose farming family were displaced from Lower Shabelle region, has taken on the role of provider as they struggle to make ends meet in the capital, Mogadishu. Maano, 13, waiting for shoe shine jobs to support her displaced family/Hana Mohamed /Ergo “I go to Tare-biyano, Lanbar-Afar, Soobe, Bakaro, Seybiyano and other crowded areas. My younger brother used to do this work but he was washed away by the ocean and now I work myself. I give the money to my mother. My brother would be working but now I am the provider for my mother,” Maano told Radio Ergo. Maano lives with her mother, Anab Osman Ayad, and her two young...

Friday July 26, 2024 Journalist and head of Dawan TV, Alinur Salaad, was detained by regional police in Mogadishu on 22 July on charges of false reporting and insulting the armed forces. Salaad was taken to court on 23 July and remanded in custody for 45-days while investigations are undertaken and potential charges prepared. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), condemn this arbitrary arrest as an attack on press freedom and demand Salaad’s immediate and unconditional release. Journalist Alinur Salaad was detained shortly after a one minute video report published on Dawan TV and his personal social media account went viral, drawing significant public and media attention. In the video, Salaad accused Somali soldiers of trading khat, a mild narcotic plant, which led the authorities to charge him with false reporting and insulting the armed forces. The journalist has also published several...

By Abdullahi Ahmed Nor Introduction Al-Shabaab, also known as Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, is a jihadist fundamentalist group based in East Africa. Since its emergence in the early 2000s, Al-Shabaab has become one of the most notorious militant organizations in Somalia and the greater Horn of Africa. Al-Shabab fighters sit on a truck as they patrol in Mogadishu, Somalia, Oct. 30, 2009. (AP Photo/Mohamed Sheikh Nor, File) This article delves into the history, ideology, operations, and impact of Al-Shabaab in Somalia, with a particular focus on how government corruption and the divisive constitution have exacerbated the group’s influence and hindered counterterrorism efforts. Historical Background Al-Shabaab originated from the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), a coalition of Sharia courts that gained control over much of southern Somalia, including the capital Mogadishu, in 2006. The ICU’s success was short-lived, as Ethiopian forces, backed by the United States, intervened later that year to support Somalia’s...

Thursday July 25, 2024 Mogadishu (HOL) – Somali Council of Ministers approved an audit of government agencies for the 2023 financial year during its weekly meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre, in Mogadishu on Thursday. The Council discussed the report concerning the processes and procedures undertaken to ensure transparency and accountability within government institutions but did not share the report with independent media. During the meeting, the Council ratified a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Fisheries and the Blue Economy and the Abu Dhabi Ports Group. This MoU is based on cooperation and development in Somalia’s maritime sector. However, specifics about the MoU were not provided. The Council also addressed recent security concerns, particularly the recent seizure of weapons by residents in the Abudwak district in the Gedo region. This followed a clash between government forces, who were escorting two truckloads of weapons seized from...

By Hassan Zaylai President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud was reelected on a slogan, “Somalia at peace with itself and the world.”  However, more than two years into his second term, Somalia is neither at peace with itself nor with its biggest neighbor, Ethiopia. The country continues to grapple with internal strife, rampant corruption, political fragmentation, and persistent insecurity. In addition, relations with its most significant neighbor, Ethiopia, have deteriorated, further complicating Somalia’s quest for regional stability. Domestically: Owing to his predecessor, who left him with a rebuilt, professionalized, and well-paid armed forces, President Hassan Sheikh ordered an immediate and sustained attack on Al-Shabab, the armed militant group against peace in Somalia. At first, attacks against Al-Shabab by the Somalia military and its allies (AMISOM, ATMIS and Others) centered in the Hiiraan region of Hirshabele State (with the help of indigenous local clan forces called Macawisley). Gradually, the fighting against Al-Shabab’s focal...

Thursday July 25, 2024 A woman casts her ballot in the historic one-person-one-vote elections in Puntland’s Nugaal region, marking a significant milestone in the region’s democratic process. Garowe (HOL) — The United Nations has congratulated Puntland’s people on peacefully conducting one-person, one-vote elections in the Nugaal region’s Garowe, Dangoroyo, and Godobjiraan districts. The milestone marks Puntland as the first regional state in Somalia to hold such elections for local government councils. “The UN in Somalia congratulates the people of Puntland for the peaceful conduct of ‘one person, one vote’ elections in the Nugaal region’s Garowe, Dangoroyo, and Godobjiran districts. Puntland’s experience with direct elections can inform the expansion of inclusive democratic participation across #Somalia, at all levels of government,” UNSOM stated on Twitter. The elections were initially scheduled for the previous year but were postponed due to significant security concerns and political disputes. Allegations of election materials being seized and...