Fidow

Very proud day at #Buckingham Palace with @adammatan representing the Somali culture at Buckingham Palace as he picks up #OBE. It was great seeing and taking pictures with @HKane who also received his MBE from the Duke of Cambridge today.

Somalia’s political crisis is sliding into dangerous territory. Manageable disputes are turning into armed mobilisations and clan standoffs in places like Beledweyne/Hirshabelle. Elite rivalries are eroding security while Al-Shabaab waits. Somalia deserve better than this.

It’s sad & absolutely tragic that Somalia is sliding into deeper political crisis, constitutional chaos & insecurity. Term fights, federal tensions, AlShabab gains and a worsening humanitarian crisis are eroding progress. Somalis deserve better than endless so called elite games

Somali passengers keep landing in Mogadishu without their luggage after flying @TurkishAirlines via Istanbul. Medicines, valuables and personal belongings are left behind often with almost no explanation or follow-up. This is not just an inconvenience. It puts people’s health and dignity at risk. I watched an 80-year-old mother arrive from London without her medication. It was in her checked bag. Her family had to arrange for someone coming from Nairobi to bring replacement medicine. No one should have to go through that. Many others on the Istanbul - Mogadishu route report the same problem. Bags get left behind and when they finally arrive, today’s bags are often yesterday’s flight, while today’s come tomorrow. Even after the bags reach the airport, no one delivers them. Ordinary people then have to go back to the airport to collect them, which is difficult and costly for most families. They simply endure it. Somalis pay full fare. Turkish personnel on the same flights do not seem to face this at the same rate. If the system works for some, it should work for everyone. Where is the accountability from Turkish Airlines, the airport authorities and the Somali government? Who is actually looking into this and fixing it? We are not asking for special treatment. We just want the same basic service every other passenger who paid for their ticket gets. Our parents’ medicines, our children’s clothes, the things we worked hard to bring home , they matter. Watching the same problem happen over and over, with almost no one taking responsibility is exhausting and heartbreaking.

The most beautiful thing about America is that every two years, the people get a chance to hold their leaders accountable. Power is never permanent and democracy always gives the people a voice. That's the beauty of a system where no leader is above the will of the people.

For how long will the UK and other international partners continue to be needed to shape Somalia’s economic future? At some point, Somalia, its government and society must develop the capacity to stand on their own feet and take responsibility for shaping their own future.

As the political landscape shifts this week, are we witnessing the birth of a truly independent Somali dialogue or the unraveling of a fragile consensus? Can a new electoral framework genuinely unite the system or will it merely redraw the lines of contention?

Funny how some of those who once presented HSM as Somalia’s saviour are now among his loudest critics. When positions, privileges & access to resources were flowing, HSM was their hero. Now that those benefits are gone, they want us to see him differently. Has HSM changed or have their interests changed?