In the shadow of world political events, one of the biggest offensives against terror in over a decade and a half is currently taking place in Somalia. For almost two decades, Al-Shabab, a terrorist organisation linked to Al Qaeda, has had a stranglehold on the country. International projects could not be implemented or could only…
Category: Somalia
On 19th November 2022, the africanlegalstudies.blog launched the Asli-Ahmed-Award in close cooperation with the Verein für Entwicklung und humanitäre Hilfe Somalias e.V. Thanks to the gracious support of the Verein für Entwicklung und humanitäre Hilfe Somalias e.V., this award will recognize outstanding articles on issues concerning Somalia and is rewarded with a US-$ 100 financial…
COMMENT René Brosius 10 June 2022 In the evening of 8 February 2017, it was clear: Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed also known as “Farmaajo” is Somalia’s 9th president. People in Mogadishu were excited, the streets were filled with joyous pedestrians that were celebrating the feeling of hope which Farmaajo represented. There was no feeling of fear,…
ANALYSIS 29 April 2022 René Brosius Somali politics is experiencing exciting times. However, they could be the birth pangs of a positive turn of times: With the controversial and long-delayed election of the two parliamentary chambers (just a few seats missing) nearly complete, speakers of the two chambers were elected on April 26-27, 2022, according…
ANALYSIS 15 April 2022 René Brosius Somalia’s complicated election process is ending – and remains complicated. After many delays, Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble recently announced his intention to complete the electoral process by April 14, 2022. After a one-and-a-half-year delay, this would create the basis for electing the speakers of both chambers as well…
ANALYSIS René Brosius 26 November 2021 Somalia is considered the prototype of a legally pluralistic environment. Nevertheless, the proper handling of legal diversity has not yet succeeded. While traditional finding of law remained essentially untouched during the colonial period, there have been various attempts to incorporate the Xeer and religious law into a state legal…
ANALYSIS René Brosius 12 November 2021 The latest news from Somalia could not be contradictory. On the one hand, the first democratic “one person, one vote” elections since 1969 took place in Puntland, the semi-autonomous state in north-eastern Somalia, on 25 October 2021; on the other hand, there was bloody fighting in central Somalia. Admittedly,…
ANALYSIS René Brosius 17 September 2021 In April 2021, after Somalia was on the brink of civil war, it seemed for a long time that the solution would be found in a tough (s)election process. The May 27, 2021 agreement and Prime Minister Roble’s timetable presented at the end of June stipulated that this process…
ANALYSIS René Brosius 23 July 2021 If you ask older Somalis about the time shortly after the country’s independence, they often advise you very politely: Firstly, that Somalia was never really colonised. Secondly, that it was one of the most peaceful periods in Somalia’s recent history. Yes, sometimes you hear that Somalia was the Switzerland…
ANALYSIS René Brosius 25 June 2021 In the inner-Somali discussion, the term “4.5 system” comes up again and again, and for outsiders it is not easily recognisable what concept lies behind this terminology Therefore, I want to offer a brief explanation to keep up with the ongoing developments. The 4.5-system is a mechanism for sharing…