Author: Abdihakim Siyad

Mashujaa Day celebrations in Korondille, Wajir North, may have been organised to honour Kenya’s heroes, but the political conversation that unfolded on the podium offered something far more consequential: a glimpse into the calculations, ambitions and possible alliances that could shape Wajir County’s political future ahead of the 2027 General Election. At the centre of the unfolding political drama is Governor Ahmed Abdullahi Jiir, whose possible transition from the county’s top office to the Senate is increasingly becoming a subject of political discussion. Alongside him stands Wajir North MP Ibrahim Abdi Saney, whose public endorsement of Jiir for the senatorial…

Garissa County is heading towards the 2027 General Election with a gubernatorial contest that is increasingly being shaped by clan negotiations, competing political ambitions and efforts to build alliances beyond traditional community boundaries. At the centre of the unfolding succession battle are Senator Abdulkadir Mohamed Haji, former ambassador Mohamed Shidiye, former governor Ali Bunow Korane and former Principal Secretary Abdi Dubat. Each brings a different political history, professional background and community network to a race that will determine who succeeds Governor Nathif Jama Adam when his second term ends. The contest is also drawing attention to the wider Ogaden political…

Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi’s tenure as chairperson of the Council of Governors (CoG) has come to an end, closing a significant chapter in Kenya’s devolved governance. On Monday, 12 October 2026, Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki was elected to succeed him, with Bungoma Governor Kenneth Lusaka taking the deputy chairperson’s position. Abdullahi’s departure follows two consecutive one-year terms, having first assumed the chairmanship in October 2024 and secured re-election in October 2025. His leadership placed a governor from Kenya’s Somali community at the forefront of one of the country’s most influential intergovernmental institutions, offering Wajir and the wider North Eastern…

As Wajir County moves towards the 2027 General Election, the contest for the governor’s seat is developing into a complex political struggle involving established politicians, public servants, business figures, diplomats and emerging leaders seeking to build countywide support. Behind the public declarations and grassroots meetings, a parallel process is unfolding: clan elders and community leaders are consulting, endorsing preferred candidates and negotiating political positions, raising questions about whether the county’s influential political communities can reach consensus or whether competing ambitions will once again fragment their support. The Fai sub-clan of the Degodia community has already endorsed businessman Dr Hassan Mohamed…

There was a time when influence in Africa was measured in soldiers, military bases, political alliances and billions of dollars in development assistance. Today, influence can arrive quietly in the cargo hold of a military transport aircraft, take off from an airstrip hundreds of kilometres from the capital and appear in the sky as a small, almost silent machine capable of changing the balance of power on the ground. That is the new language of warfare in Africa: the drone. And few countries have mastered the diplomatic power of the drone as effectively as Türkiye. From Ethiopia to Mali, from…

Ethiopia’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Somalia, Suleiman Dedefo, has departed Mogadishu after just over a year in office, bringing an unexpectedly short diplomatic tenure to an end at a particularly sensitive moment in relations between the two neighbouring countries. The Ethiopian Embassy in Mogadishu announced on Saturday, August 29, that embassy staff had bid farewell to Ambassador Suleiman following the “completion of his tenure” as he departed the Somali capital. The embassy did not provide further details on the circumstances surrounding his departure, and Ethiopia had not, at the time of the announcement, named a successor. The development immediately…

Somalia and Qatar have agreed to deepen their bilateral relationship and expand cooperation following high-level talks between Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre and Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, in Doha. The meeting brought together senior leaders from the two countries at a time when Somalia is seeking to strengthen international partnerships to support its economic recovery, security efforts and broader development agenda. The talks underscored the growing importance of Qatar as a key Gulf partner for Somalia and highlighted the two governments’ shared interest in turning their close…

The debate over Kenya’s Equalisation Fund has burst into the open, exposing a deeper question at the heart of devolution: can Kenya truly achieve equitable development by distributing resources through formulas that do not fully account for the country’s enormous differences in geography, population density, infrastructure and historical marginalisation? The question has gained fresh urgency after Eldas Member of Parliament Adan Keynan delivered a blistering attack on the Equalisation Fund, declaring that the mechanism has failed to deliver its constitutional promise and should, in his words, be considered “dead completely.” Speaking in the presence of Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi,…

Somalia’s Supreme Court has once again entered the centre of the country’s political storm, and the timing could hardly be more consequential. On August 24, the court annulled the results of the July 30 elections for Galmudug’s House of Representatives and local councils, ruling that the process had not been conducted in accordance with the Constitution and electoral law. Chief Justice Baashe Yusuf Ahmed ordered fresh elections and directed that the existing Galmudug institutions remain in place in a caretaker capacity until a legally compliant electoral process is completed. On the surface, this is an electoral dispute. At a deeper…

As Wajir, Garissa and Mandera slide deeper into the heat of negotiated democracy, a disturbing question is confronting the region’s media fraternity: who is watching the politicians when the people assigned to watch them are increasingly accused of becoming part of the political machinery? There is a dangerous silence developing behind the microphones, cameras and social-media pages of North Eastern Kenya. It is a silence that does not come from the absence of news, but from the possibility that the people entrusted with reporting the news are increasingly becoming participants in the very political battles they are supposed to cover.…