Independence, aid dependence and Trump's beef with Ilhan Omar
Issue #3: Somalia is still catching strays in Trump’s ongoing feud with Ilhan Omar but a few Somali political figures surprisingly agree with him ...
Good morning & welcome back Acacia readers! Happy independence day to Djibouti (which was yesterday), and best wishes for the ongoing Somali independence week.
Somalia’s prime minister Hamza Barre faced the eternal dilemma of the conservative Muslim public figures this week. To shake or not to shake. We saw it when Syria’s new leader president Ahmed al-Sharaa came face-to-hand with Germany’s Annalena Baerbock. UFC fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov had a moment on CBS Sports a few weeks ago. Then, just this week, Barre found himself in similar territory during the launch of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s vision for what he wants Somalia to look like at its centennial in 2060. Barre swerved politely with the classic wudhu-preserving hand-to-heart manoeuvre. No contact, no controversy (Watch here with some great commentary).
Speaking of Somalia 2060, AI-generated videos have finally done something vaguely useful in Somali spaces depicting a slick, high-gloss, hyper-developed Somalia of the future. The Somali government showed the footage at the 2060 event to an audience of Mogadishu’s elites and foreign dignitaries, and it is now available on the YouTube channel of the public broadcaster, SNTV. There are bullet trains, scientists, massive malls, luxury seafront hotels and Somali troops at a building that resembles the White House (?!). Architectural upgrade for Villa Somalia: loading …
Staying with the topic of East Africans in American politics: Zohran Mamdani just inched closer to the New York mayoralty after absolutely flattening his main rival for the Democratic nomination, Andrew Cuomo. “Alhamdulillah!”, posted Ilhan Omar. Mamdani’s family are of Indian descent from Uganda and part of that complex East African–South Asian diaspora mix. (They’re big in the UK). As one BlueSky user saw it, Mamdani is simply the latest in a line of East African-linked figures, stretching from Kamala Harris to Ilhan Omar, and all the way back to Barack Obama—the original beachhead. “East Africa has been playing the long game and I for one think it's beautiful”, posted Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò, a philosopher and professor at Georgetown University. Faisal Roble noted that Zohran Mamdani’s dad, Mahmood Mamdani, an accomplished scholar of Africa, was tight with Somali intellectual Hussein Aden Tanzania. “Hussein invited Mamdani to one of the Somali studies conferences,” Roble posted on X, “where the latter delivered an excellent paper on Islam, Somalia, and state formation”.
Another East African on his way up this week is Sir Mo Farah, who received an honorary degree from Oxford University, describing it as a “dream come true”. The university congratulated him on X, as did Maya Jama, who also gave a really interesting interview this week on Chunkz’s podcast.
Welcome, if you haven’t heard—this is Acacia, Geeska’s weekly dispatch from the Horn and beyond. We bring you the news that matters to Somalis: from Mogadishu to Minneapolis, Hargeisa to Hounslow. East Africa is our backyard, but we’ll flag what’s driving conversations across the continent too. Think of it as your one-stop shop for all things us. (You’re welcome.)
That’s the entrée. Now for a deeper dive into the stories we’re featuring this week: an examination of aid dependence in Somalia, whether child soldiers are still active, and how the complex politics surrounding Somalia’s independence week have reignited debate over who can claim and celebrate the original event.
Security: Somalia delisted from list of countries that recruit children as soldiers
Good news (sort of): Somalia’s national army (SNA) and police force (SPF) have officially been delisted from the UN’s register of forces accused of recruiting and using child soldiers, according to the latest report from the UN secretary-general on children and armed conflict. The defence ministry hailed it as a “historic announcement.”
There’s a snag though. The same report places Somalia third globally for verified violations against children—behind only Israel, the occupied Palestinian territory, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. More than 2,500 “grave violations” were recorded, largely carried out by federal member state police, security agencies, al-Shabaab, and clan militias. Over 700 children remain active within state security forces and armed groups, and nearly 600 were either killed or maimed. The delisting isn’t permanent. The report makes clear that it hinges entirely on Somalia’s “continued implementation of their action plan and road map.”
Politics: Aid dependence in a less generous world
It seems Somali leaders are starting to rethink their long-standing relationship with foreign aid. The deputy prime minister, Salah Jama, didn’t hold back during his recent monologue at the launch of Somalia’s financial governance report. With a mix of realism and resignation, he noted that the old mantra “Somalia needs help, it is facing hardships” just isn’t landing like it used to. “The world’s on fire,” he said, “and it’s unclear whether Somalia will even get noticed.”
Somalia has made solid gains in raising its own revenue, pulling off a 51% increase over four years. But some, 60% of Somalia’s budget still comes from external support. And foreign assistance accounts for nearly a quarter of the country’s income, 40% of which comes from USAid (which Trump has now taken apart). Whilst this is being framed as an opportunity to rethink how African countries are supported (and we encourage you to all read this), the Somali government already struggles to deliver even basic services and this shift will only make life harder for ordinary Somalis who relied on aid.
History: The new politics Somalia’s independence week
Last week Somaliland’s spokesperson, Hussein Deyr, made an intervention on Somali history. “The Government and People of the Republic of Somaliland firmly assert that June 26, 1960, is the official Independence Day of Somaliland,” he posted on X, “and it holds no historical or legal connection to Somalia’s statehood.” He was referring, of course, to the fact that British Somaliland gained independence five days before the Italian trusteeship territory in the south, with the two states voluntarily merging to form the Somali Republic. As a result, most Somalis mark an entire independence week rather than a single day rolling both milestones into one extended celebration. The capital, Mogadishu, has been filled with Somali flags as people have begun celebrating and the president visited a monument marking the event. The Ogaden National Liberation Front, also released a statement marking the day.
The history behind this episode is being re-litigated by Somalis, as Somaliland pushes ahead with its bid for independence, legitimised, in the government’s view, by the fact that it was legally independent from the rest of what became the Somali Republic for a few days. This is why Somaliland officials are increasingly attempting to lay exclusive claim to the meaning of the day. (look at the language in these statements from the Somali foreign ministry and a senior adviser to Somaliland’s current president to get what we mean). A more interesting line of argument was advanced by Somaliland’s representative to Kenya, Mohamed Ahmed Mohamoud on BBC Somali, that Somaliland was the parent state into which the Italian-ruled region merged, on account of having gained independence first and was withdrawing from that. Mohamed Issa Trunji is one of the foremost Somali historians of the period (check his book out), and he tells Acacia the present always impacts how we see the past. “People have different perceptions of what happened today,” he says, “but irrespective at the time everyone wanted it and everyone was happy, so it will remain a day all Somalis celebrate.”
Diaspora: Trump can’t stop using Somalia as a scarecrow in his Ilhan Omar rants
Somalia caught another stray in Donald Trump’s ongoing feud with Somali-American lawmaker Ilhan Omar. In a meandering post on Truth Social, in which Trump gave a digital riposte to several Democrats, he also targeted Omar, with remarks about her “Failed Country” which he added is: “drenched in Crime and Poverty, and is rated one of the WORST in the world”. Omar accused Trump of turning the US into one of the “worst countries” too (and called him a “sad little man” on Instagram), but Trump has a habit of dragging Somalia into his attacks on her, playing it up to spook his base. At a 2020 campaign rally, he said Omar comes from a country with “no government, no safety, no police, no nothing—just anarchy. And now she’s telling us how to run our country.” (read this for more examples).
Trump’s cynical use of Somalia as a scarecrow for his supporters is mostly ignored by Somali political figures, but, there was some reaction to Trump’s initial post. The reaction from Somali officials was mixed and, at times, surprising. Galmudug presidential candidate Hussein Darwish agreed with Trump’s criticism, calling it a “painful truth.” His comment drew rebuke from former minister Adam Aw Hirsi, who urged him to “get a grip.” Meanwhile, anti-corruption campaigner and MP Abdillahi Abib weighed in too posting, “Trump was right: Somalia is a failed state,” directly blaming President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud for the country’s condition.
Politics: Somalia’s president sits with opposition figures to mend rift over elections
Somalia’s political elite usually fall out around election time. Because the elections are typically indirect and the method by which they’ll be held isn’t pre-agreed, they begin jostling ahead of polls to ensure that an electoral model which best serves their presidential prospects is adopted. In recent years, Somalia has used an indirect model that relies on the country’s clans to choose who they send to parliament, with MPs then electing the president. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the incumbent, changed the constitution last April to introduce direct suffrage (first time in four decades), a move that many opposition leaders, as well as Puntland and Jubaland, have alleged may smooth the way for Hassan Sheikh’s return to an unprecedented third term. How you hold a direct election in a country largely ungoverned by the responsible state remains a mystery, triggering concerns about possible tailoring of who gets to vote to rig the outcome. The government says the move is a step towards multi-party democracy, and Ali Omar, a minister, defended it by saying the “clan-based system was a bridge — not a destination”.
Just like in the last election, this led presidential hopefuls (ex-PMs, presidents, and other) to form a group called the Somali Salvation Forum, to pressure the president into negotiating something they could agree on, which in turn led to a political standoff in the capital. This week we saw a small breakthrough, as some members of the group met the president at Villa Somalia and agreed to begin negotiations on those issues. It appeared cordial in the clips as they left, but Harun Maruf, a prominent Somali journalist at Voice of America, noted that observers believe they’re still far apart on the substantive issues. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither are Somali elections which are messy, complex and often very corrupt.
Despite the small step forward, Said Deni and Ahmed Madobe—presidents of Puntland and Jubaland respectively, and important power brokers—boycotted earlier calls for meetings and voiced their frustration, rejecting any political decision made without them. Puntland’s interior minister said the opposition in the capital was “outmaneuvered” by the president. But former president Mohamed Farmaajo welcomed the meeting, calling it a promising step toward resolving key political disagreements.
Across the gees
Virginia Gamba, a special adviser to the UN secretary-general on the prevention of genocide, has told the UN Human Rights Council that the “risk of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan remains very high.” Gamba said that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied Arab militias, who are fighting the Sudanese army, “continue to conduct ethnically motivated attacks against the Zaghawa, Masalit and Fur groups” in Darfur. The US has also determined the RSF has committed genocide in Darfur. They’ve been raping women, executing civilians, shouting racial slurs, and burning villages across the region since the start of the conflict.
Kenya once again witnessed renewed nationwide protests, primarily led by Gen Z, commemorating last year’s deadly anti-finance bill demonstrations, which have so far resulted in 16 confirmed deaths and dozens of injuries, mostly attributed to police violence. The protests saw violent confrontations between demonstrators and security forces, with police deploying tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons and live ammunition. CNN International correspondent Larry Madowo filmed police using tear gas and other violent measures against protesters. The unrest was further fuelled by public outrage over the recent death of blogger Albert Ojwang in police custody, which led to murder charges against six suspects, including police officers. Kenya’s interior minister, Kipchumba Murkomen, said the protests were “terrorism disguised as dissent” and likened them to a coup. William Ruto, the president, offered to step down if he could be persuaded that the protesters have a better plan for the country.
The US and Qatar have brokered a peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda in Washington, ending a decade‑old conflict dating back to the Rwandan genocide and the upheavals of the 1990s. The dispute regained international attention early this year when Rwanda‑backed M23 rebels seized parts of North and South Kivu in eastern DRC, in a rampage which killed and displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Donald Trump later bragged that the US would secure “a lot of the mineral rights from the Congo” as a result of the deal. When it comes to critical metals for future industries, the DRC is both a key supplier and but also of the world’s most exploited countries.
Africa
A month after his death, former Zambian president Edgar Lungu still hasn’t been buried because of a long-running grudge with the incumbent, President Hakainde Hichilema, who Lungu said he did not want at his funeral. Hichilema wants to hold a state funeral for Lungu which he must preside over, but Lungu’s family have honoured his wish, eventually attempting to bury him in South Africa. Lungu had Hichilema jailed when he was an opposition figure, before being defeated by him in the 2021 election. After coming to power, Hichilema was similarly accused by Lungu of placing him under house arrest, frequently targeting him with repressive measures (read here) and blocking his attempt to return to frontline politics, fuelling deep resentment between the two. The funeral went ahead this week at a cathedral in Johannesburg but was halted at the last minute after Zambia lodged a legal complaint, leaving attendees in limbo.
Tangents
This week on tangents, we want to flag this: Iman Fartum, a Somali tech entrepreneur and founder of ShoppyMonkey, shares her journey of breaking into tech and launching an accessible, empowering e-commerce platform in conversation with the Somali Circle.
That is all from us. Nabad gelyo.
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