Author: Abdihakim Siyad

In Mandera, a goat that sold for Sh10,000 just months now goes for as little as Sh1,000 if a buyer can even be found. That single fact captures the scale of a humanitarian disaster unfolding across North Eastern Kenya, where drought has stripped livelihoods bare, erased years of resilience, and pushed entire communities to the edge. This is no longer a warning. It is a full-blown emergency happening in real time. Across Mandera, Wajir, Garissa and neighbouring pastoral zones, the land has turned unforgiving. Water pans are dry, grazing fields are dust bowls, and the animals that once sustained families are…

The drought ravaging North Eastern Kenya is no longer a slow-moving disaster waiting for attention. It is an emergency unfolding in real time, dismantling livelihoods, breaking families, and pushing already vulnerable communities toward irreversible loss. Across Mandera, Wajir, Garissa and surrounding pastoral areas, the signs of collapse are everywhere in markets, in homes, in empty water pans, and in the bodies of animals that once sustained entire households. In Mandera, a goat that sold for Sh10,000 only days ago now struggles to fetch Sh1,000, if it can be sold at all. This dramatic price crash is not just a market fluctuation;…

The dramatic scenes that unfolded inside Somalia’s Federal Parliament today were not merely an episode of legislative disorder, they were a loud political verdict. When lawmakers ripped apart the parliamentary agenda, traded blows on the floor, and forced the Speaker to abruptly adjourn the sitting, the institution of parliament itself sent a signal that the constitutional process under President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has reached a dangerous breaking point. What played out was not spontaneous chaos. It was the eruption of long-simmering political resentment, mistrust, and unresolved federal tensions that have been building since the president pushed through earlier constitutional amendments…

On January 28, 2026, former U.S. President Donald J. Trump reignited global anxiety with a dramatic and highly provocative public message directed at Iran. Posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account, Trump announced that a “massive Armada” led by the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln was heading toward Iran, warning that it was ready to carry out its mission “with speed and violence, if necessary.” He framed the deployment as a final warning, urging Iran to “come to the table” and negotiate what he described as a “fair and equitable deal” focused on one central demand: no nuclear weapons. The language…

For decades, Northern Kenya existed at the far edge of the Kenyan state politically distant, economically sidelined, and developmentally frozen. Roads thinned out and disappeared, public hospitals were scarce and under-equipped, access to clean water was unreliable, and education infrastructure was minimal. Where the state did appear, it was often through security operations rather than service delivery. When devolution was introduced in 2013, it did not deliver instant equality to Northern Kenya; it delivered an opportunity to begin correcting a history of deliberate neglect. It is this historical context that Wajir Governor and Council of Governors (CoG) Chair Ahmed Abdullahi…

Life inside the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) after Raila Odinga is no longer theoretical. It is lived, contested, negotiated, and, increasingly, openly questioned. For decades, Raila Odinga was not just the party leader; he was its ideological anchor, electoral compass, and unifying force. His exit from frontline party leadership has left behind more than a vacancy it has exposed unresolved tensions about authority, direction, democracy, and succession. It is within this fragile and transitional moment that EALA MP Winnie Odinga stepped forward to speak, granting Citizen TV’s Yvonne Okwara her first major interview since Baba stepped aside. The interview was significant…

In Kenyan politics, nothing is said casually especially by a sitting president. Every word, every compliment, and every public endorsement carries political weight. In recent months, President William Samoei Ruto’s increasingly emphatic praise of his Deputy President, Kithure Kindiki, has attracted attention across the political divide. To the casual observer, it may appear as routine appreciation of a loyal deputy. But to the politically attentive mind, it signals something deeper: a carefully choreographed message aimed at shaping coalition negotiations ahead of the 2027 General Election. President Ruto’s repeated references to Kindiki as a workaholic, an accomplished scholar, and a dependable…

Northern Kenya is often portrayed as a region of resilience, hardship, and deep marginalization. Its people have endured decades of conflict, drought, insecurity, and political neglect. For this reason, the region has always needed strong journalism media that amplifies its pain, exposes injustices, and forces the state to respond. But what happens when journalism itself becomes part of the problem? The recent incident involving a planned joint media interview with a former deputy President was supposed to be a milestone. It was an opportunity for Northern Kenya’s media to finally show the nation that the region could host serious political conversations,…

Somalia once again finds itself standing at a familiar but dangerous crossroads where dialogue is proposed, but trust remains fragile; where national unity is invoked, yet political divisions continue to deepen. The decision by Somalia’s National Future Council, meeting in Nairobi, to conditionally attend talks proposed by the federal government marks both a potential breakthrough and a stark warning about the direction the country is heading. The council’s position is clear and calculated, it is willing to engage, but only if President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud halts all changes to the 2012 Provisional Constitution and redirects the national conversation toward urgent…

Somalia is once again approaching a decisive political moment as President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud presses ahead with additional amendments to the country’s provisional constitution amid a deepening election standoff. What the federal government presents as a continuation of long-overdue constitutional reform has instead ignited a serious national dispute, drawing sharp resistance from opposition leaders and key federal member states. With just four months remaining before the scheduled presidential election, the controversy has exposed long-standing tensions over power, federalism, and the legitimacy of Somalia’s political institutions. At the center of the crisis is President Mohamud’s decision to instruct the Constitutional Review…