I have worked for the BBC Somali Service as a contributor and staff from 1962 to 1977. I still have so much attachment and nostalgia for the Service for what it has done for me personally and what it has provided its Somali listeners. It therefore pains me to see a Service that I was...
An interview with Ali Bunow Korane who is Vying for the Governorship of Garissa County, North Eastern Province, Kenya
Editor’s Note: With the promulgation of a new constitution for the Republic of Kenya, the political landscape of North Eastern Province, a region dominated by Kenya-Somalis, is about to change. What was once Garissa District has now become Garissa County. Among the political aspirants for the position of Governorship is Mr. Ali Bunow Korane, a figure...
WDN Interview with Nadifa Mohamed: The Author of Black Mamba Boy
Editor’s Note: WardheerNews had the rarest of opportunities to interview Nadifa Mohamed the author of Black Mumba Boy. Black Mumba Boy, the first novel of British novelist and Somali-born author Nadifa Mohamed debuted in 2010, has been long listed for the Orange Prize and shortlisted for The Guardian First Book Prize. It was also shortlisted for...
Black Mamba Boy: A Book Review
By Hassan M. Abukar There are three types of women; those who have little or nothing to say about their fathers; those who revile their fathers and those who lionize them. The American writer/poet Sylvia Plath made it fashionable to excoriate her father in the most corrosive terms. It did not matter that Plath’s father...
An Interview with Yasmeen Maxamuud
Raaz for MMW: I found Nomad Diaries a wonderful introduction to the lives of Somali women living in the United States. There were times where I was reminded of my own immigrant grandmother and mother as I read about Nadifo’s life. As I mentioned in my review of Nomad Diaries, I am not familiar with stories that portray an African...
Bad Bedfellows and corruption of Journalism
[vc_column_text width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”] Is Hiiran Online sleeping with the TFG, or is it a hearsay? Just like many of you, we at WardheerNews have learned recently the attached confidential letter, signed by Sheikh Sharif, is believed to be a directive to hire Hiiraan Online’s Ahmed Gure, so that he could serve at the pleasure of the Sharif-led Transitional Federal Government...
Secret Documents linking the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia to a Planned Recovery of Frozen Financial Assets in Foreign Banks*
Translated by WardheerNews from an article by Khalid Mohamoud of the prominent Middle East Arabic print publication: ‘Sharaq-al-Awsad’ on April 2, 2010. ___________________________ A collection of secret documents, obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat from the office of the president of the TFG, sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, has revealed concerted efforts by the President to use an...
Somali Media: Ethics, Truth and Integrity
By Abdelkarim A Hassan “I haven`t voted since 1964, I don`t want to get my judgment involved in what I do for a living” Jim Lehrer, PBS, News Hour. Background In recent years Somali journalism, Islam and Somali music have become the easiest areas to penetrate without any previous experience or training. In other words,...
Regionalism and Alternative Forms of Governance: A Critique on Centralized, Top Down Approach to the Problem of Somalia
By Abdul Ahmed III It is often counter intuitive and very difficult for many scholars, policy makers, journalist and even politicians to explain or make sense of the collapse of the former Somalia. Many others fail to explain the prolonged socio-political conflict in the most homogenous nations in the African continent. However a close examination...
Eyl: Postcard from the Center of Somali Piracy
WardheerNews editorial– WardherNews special report Garowe, (WDN) – The Somali pirates that have wreaked havoc on the shipping lanes of the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean in recent years have been widely covered in the international media. However, little is known about the basis on the coast of the Horn of Africa where Somali...