Garowe (WDN) – Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni has sharply criticized the Federal Government of Somalia’s push to implement universal suffrage, warning that elections whose outcomes are effectively predetermined cannot be considered democratic. Speaking amid the deepening constitutional and political dispute between Garowe and Mogadishu, Deni said Somalia’s long-awaited transition to one-person, one-vote elections can...
London (WDN) – Global piracy and armed robbery at sea have fallen to their lowest levels in more than three decades, according to a new report by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB). Yet amid the encouraging decline, the report warns that Somali pirate groups are showing renewed activity, raising concerns that one of the world’s...
Mogadishu (WDN) – Somali government forces stated they have killed a senior Al-Shabaab commander during a carefully planned intelligence operation in the Lower Shabelle region, highlighting both the growing sophistication of Somalia’s security services and the continuing challenge posed by the militant group’s entrenched networks across the country. In a statement, the Ministry of Defence...
Mogadishu (WDN) – Somalia’s Ministry of Petroleum has announced that Qatar has been awarded the contract to drill what is expected to become the country’s second oil production well, located in the hydrocarbon-rich Nugaal Basin in the Northeastern Regional Administration. According to the Ministry, the project will focus on the Holhol prospect near the town...
Mogadishu (WDN) – Small groups of demonstrators returned to the streets of Mogadishu for a second consecutive day on Sunday, protesting against the Federal Government and demanding the release of activist Sacdiya Bajaj, who was recently sentenced to three years in prison. The protesters, many of them young women, gathered in several neighborhoods across the...
Hargeisa (WDN) – Somaliland’s long-serving Speaker of the House of Elders (Guurti), Saleebaan Maxamuud Aadan, has formally announced his resignation, bringing to a close more than two decades at the helm of one of Somaliland’s most influential institutions. The announcement came during an extraordinary session of the Guurti on Sunday, where the 92-year-old veteran politician...
Bosaso (WDN)– Puntland’s most important commercial hub has remained at a standstill, with port operations and business activities suspended after a dispute over increased port charges forced traders to halt operations. The shutdown has also sparked growing public protests across the coastal city of Bosaso, raising concerns about the broader economic impact on Puntland and...
Mogadishu (WDN) – Sharp divisions have reportedly emerged within Somalia’s Salvation Forum (Madasha Samatabixinta) over the country’s electoral model, exposing growing fractures in the opposition at a critical juncture in Somalia’s political transition. According to informed sources close to the Salvation Forum, former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed accused former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire and...
Jigjiga (WDN) — Internationally acclaimed Somali football referee Omar Abdulkadir Cartan received a rousing welcome on Friday after arriving in Jigjiga, the capital of Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State, ahead of the highly anticipated Regional Cup final. Hundreds of football supporters, sports officials, and senior representatives of the Somali Regional State gathered at Jigjiga Airport to...
Mogadishu (WDN) – Political negotiations between Somalia’s Federal Government and opposition leaders have produced agreement on several core electoral principles, but significant differences remain over the legal framework and administration of the country’s next elections, exposing a persistent divide over whether the process should be shaped through broad consensus or government-led directives. A comparison of...