Horn of Africa🇩🇯🇪🇷🇪🇹🇸🇴☆ Critical commentary welcome. Guulwadayaal and lazy ad hominem attacks will be blocked.
Nairobi, Kenya
Joined November 2009
- Tweets2.3K
- Following1.1K
- Followers7.6K
- Likes5K
There is a reason that the Supreme Court is named the ‘Supreme Court’ and ranks above the Executive Branch, including the Office of the Attorney General, in the draft constitution.
#Somalia #democracy #ruleoflaw
Matt Bryden retweeted
Free to read commentary from @SahanResearch's The Somali Wire published on Wednesday that prefigured how Somalia's constitutional deadlock might evolve...
Matt Bryden retweeted
Somalia's Supreme Court rules on petition filed by opposition leader Sheikh Sharif.
Concurs with opposition that incumbent President Hassan Sheikh in office illegally, determines his term ended in May 2026 and parliament's in April 2026.
The court further ordered political stakeholders to agree an electoral framework within 30 days and hold fresh elections within 90 days.
teapawt.net/Somsupremecourt/status…
This quoted post is unavailable.
How does a government conduct elections when it controls less than 15% of the country, the Supreme Court rules that its mandate has expired, and the draft electoral law has been rejected by every other political actor? #Somalia #conflict #security
Matt Bryden retweeted
President Mohamud Says Government Will Not Abandon Direct Elections
en.goobjoog.com/president-mo…
This is possibly HSM’s last chance for an honourable off-ramp: elections within 90 days on an agreed, negotiated model. The likely alternative? Abandon Somalia as a failed state, like his predecessor, Gen Mohamed Siyaad Barre. #Somalia #conflict #state_failure
This quoted post is unavailable.
Matt Bryden retweeted
BREAKING: Somalia’s Supreme Court has ruled that President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s mandate expired on May 15, 2026, while those of parliament and the federal government ended on April 14. The court ordered political stakeholders to agree on an election framework within 30 days and hold elections within 90 days.
Matt Bryden retweeted
The unanimous ruling by the bench appears to be the real trigger behind the Facebook dismissal”, marking one of the most consequential interventions by a Somali court since the 2012 Provisional Constitution came into force.
In spite of the capture of both the legislature and the executive, the struggle over legitimacy has now moved directly into the judiciary. Interestingly, the judiciary has responded as a single body.
@HassanSMohamud will find it difficult to dismiss or ignore the fact that all five judges of the Constitutional Division signed the judgment; with no dissenting opinion recorded and no member breaking ranks under the obvious pressure applied.
A unanimous bench is far harder to wish away and will deprive the regime its narrative that the ruling was a the product of a partisan bench.
#Somalia
#BREAKING: Somalia’s Supreme Court judges have ruled that constitutional changes adopted in 2026 did not extend the four-year mandates of the current federal institutions. They said Parliament’s and the government’s mandates expired on April 14, 2026, and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s on May 15. The ruling declares decisions taken under their constitutional and legal powers after those dates invalid, while allowing the government to handle routine affairs in a caretaker capacity.
The judges directed political stakeholders to agree on a consensus electoral framework within 30 days and hold elections within 90 days. They accepted former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed’s challenge to mandate extensions but rejected his challenge to the constitutional amendment procedure because he lacked legal standing to bring that part of the case.
If the Supreme Court Chief Justice can be replaced on the order of the (expired) president, what does this mean for independence of the judiciary?
President @HassanSMohamud has appointed his legal adviser, Ibrahim Idle Suleiman, as Supreme Court chief, replacing @Bashe_Ahmed, as tensions mount over the disputed federal electoral process. The change reportedly follows the court’s decision to annul Galmudug’s recent election.
I visited Uganda’s Mountain Gorillas in 1991 near Kisoro, when they were in danger of extinction. It was one of the most magical experiences of my life and I will never forget it. Thank you for the wonderful work you and your team have been doing.
I became Uganda's first wildlife veterinarian in 1996, there were only about 650 mountain gorillas left in the world.
Today, there are over 1,063.
We are proud to have contributed to this positive growth trend though our #OneHealth approach to conservation. One of my first cases as the first Veterinary Officer of @ugwildlife was a scabies outbreak in the mountain gorillas. I learned that we cannot protect gorillas without caring for the people who live next to them.
Through
@CTPHuganda we started to Improve health care for families around Bwindi, so diseases like scabies don't pass from people to gorillas.
We train Village Health and Conservation Teams and Gorilla Guardians to monitor both human and gorilla health. We also help communities find livelihoods like Gorilla Conservation Coffee, so the forest becomes a benefit, not a burden. When communities are healthy, gorillas are healthy. That is One Health.
I am humbled to be named a Top 5
@CNN Hero for this work. The winner is decided by your vote.
Please vote at: CNN.com/Heroes 10 votes every day until November 29th.
Thank you for protecting the mountain gorillas and supporting the local communities with us.
#CNNHeroes #WalkingWithGorillas #OneHealth #CTPH #Bwindi
Matt Bryden retweeted
Shifting alliances and new drone capabilities are changing the course of Ethiopia’s conflict.
The Horn Edition examines the regional implications and the case for political accommodation.
Read The Horn Edition at sahan.global/issues/the-horn…
Matt Bryden retweeted
A guest commentary by Somali MP Dr Mursal Khalif examines how political tensions are shaping Somalia's security and state-building prospects.
Read The Somali Wire at sahan.global/issues/the-soma…
Matt Bryden retweeted
Thanks to @SahanResearch for again featuring my article as the Editorial for this week’s Somali-Wire!
Desperation Conundrum:
How @HassanSMohamud is unraveling Somalia
“Leaving a fragile state—beset by deep-rooted clan grievances and significant territorial control by transnational terrorist groups—to resolve its complex political disputes under an entrenched, legitimacy-starved regime is a recipe for catastrophe. Ultimately, when HSM vacates office, the profound implications of his cumulative actions may render Somalia entirely ungovernable. Consequently, both regional stability and global security are bound to suffer severely.”
Matt Bryden retweeted
The Somali Wire this week looks at escalating tensions in Mogadishu and FGS moves to 'disarm' opposition leader Sheikh Sharif.
Commentary, headlined "Using Force Against Sheikh Sharif a Bad Idea", cautions against a unilateral, rushed, heavy-handed disarmament campaign in Mogadishu, warns it could act as the immediate catalyst for armed insurrection.
Matt Bryden retweeted
Former US Ambassador to Somalia Larry Andre provides a withering assessment of current situation in Somalia.
Candid, no punches pulled.
Have a listen.
Matt Bryden retweeted
US Embassy in Eritrea warns Americans in Eritrea to “Have evacuation plans that do not rely on U.S. Government assistance.”
er.usembassy.gov/security-al…
Matt Bryden retweeted
“Somaliland is strategically located across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen. And the Houthis from Yemen now control a [nearby] maritime chokepoint, the Mandeb Strait, through which a not-insignificant amount of global trade passes every single day,” says CFR Middle East and North Africa expert @stevenacook.
Cook explains the history of the self-declared nation, and notes that President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi recently traveled to Washington and New York to make the case for U.S. recognition.
Matt Bryden retweeted
President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi discusses Somaliland's bid for international recognition and the regional security landscape in a conversation at CFR.
teapawt.net/i/broadcasts/1yxBePQle…
Matt Bryden retweeted
Kenya and Canada lead push for a new global alliance to salvage multilateralism.
The ideas animating the proposed "Partners for Multilateralism" (P4M) - contained in new joint op-ed by Ruto, Carney, Lula and Costa.
👇
Matt Bryden retweeted
🇪🇺 🇨🇦 EU chief Ursula von der Leyen raised the prospect on Wednesday of Canada becoming the 27-nation bloc's first "associate member", as she pitched closer cooperation on tech, defence and energy to Canadian leader Mark Carney ➡️ u.afp.com/Sj6e
ALT European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (L) gives her annual State of the Union address as Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney (2R) listens during a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France on September 16, 2026