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Showing posts from January 8, 2019

Is clan-based politics inevitable in Somaliland?

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(Hargeisa)-  It is evident that clan politics is undermining the stability of Somaliland and challenging good governance and citizenry. Clan-based politics harbour nepotism, favouritism and corruption. Instead of delivering services to the public, politicians invest time and energy in bribing middlemen and enriching themselves. Clan leaders are given money and privilege, and businesspersons are awarded luxurious government contracts. Senior government officials and employees are rewarded to supporters. Clans compete hard and bitterly to gain the power to rob.  The ill-fated collapse of Somalia created a vacuum in 1991. The rebel movements that ousted Dictator Mohamed Siad Barre lacked political legitimacy and organization to fill the space. It was clan leaders who stepped in to salvage the people of Somaliland from the wreckage. The celebrated traditional bottom-up approach achieved to end wars and established the government of Somaliland (Shinn, 2002). In all conferences hel

Somalia's Jubbaland leader met KDF contingent

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(Kismayo)-Somalia’sJubaland state leader Ahmed Mohamed Islam, known as Madobe met Kenya’s Defence Forces contingent in Afmadow district under the AMISOM mission in Somalia, local Sources said. Local sources suggest that both sides have discussed about how to launch a new offensive against al-shabab armed group in the area and regaining back the Bu’ale town. Bu'ale is a strategic town in the Middle Juba region of Somalia. It is the capital of the Jubaland State Bu'aale district and the capital of the Jubaland State region as well, situated in the southern Jubba River valley, the city is known for its farming land on the banks of the river Juba .

Oil-Rich Somali Region Set to Elect New President

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Lawmakers will elect a new president Tuesday in the semi-autonomous Somali region of Puntland, which is battling factions of al-Qaeda and Islamic State.  More than 20 candidates are taking part in the vote, including Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, 53, who has ruled the Horn of Africa region since 2014. Ali is seeking a second term and has pledged to develop infrastructure, improve security and the management of public finances.  Situated on the Gulf of Aden near the entrance to the Red Sea, Puntland became semi-autonomous in 1998 and had escaped the worst of Somalia’s civil war. It’s now tackling an insurgency by al-Shabaab, the al-Qaeda-linked group that’s inflicted mass casualties in southern Somalia, as well as a breakaway faction that swore allegiance to Islamic State and has been targeted by U.S. airstrikes. Ali’s main rivals in the contest include Said Abdullahi Deni, a former minister of planning in Somalia, General Said Mohamed Hersi, a former head of Puntland’s army who has co