State Building in a Somali Region: Galmudug

 The Heritage Institute published in March 2024 a study titled "Galmudug: Governance, State Formation, Conflict Dynamics, and Reconciliation" by Yusuf Sheikh Omar and Ahmed Barre.

The study investigates factors shaping the processes of state formation in Galmudug such as clan politics, economic considerations, conflict dynamics, governance, elections, the condition of internally displaced persons, peace, and reconciliation processes.  

Kenya and 2013 Elections

On 4 March 2013, Kenya will hold general elections, the first since the crisis-ridden elections in 2008. Writing for Pambazuka News, Antony Otieno Ong'ayo, a researcher in international development studies at Utrecht University, argues that the upcoming elections may determine the full implementation of Kenya's new, progressive constitution.

He adds that the elections have the potential for state restructuring and the establishment of the necessary institutional, policy and legislative framework that would safeguard the interests of Kenya's multicultural polity. Finally, he believes the elections present Kenyans with an opportunity for societal transformation and a time to lay a good foundation for social cohesion and state building.

He lays out this analysis in Electoral Politics and Transition in Kenya.

Putting Somali Remittances to Positive Use

The Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation published a report in 2012 titled Capitalizing on Trust: Harnessing Somali Remittances for Counterterrorism, Human Rights and State Building. The authors are James Cockayne, co-director of the Center who leads its work in East Africa, and Liat Shetret, programs officer with the Center. The Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy institute dedicated to strengthening international counterterrorism cooperation. It has offices in New York, Washington and Brussels. The government of Denmark provided financial support for the study.

The Somali diaspora remits about $1 billion to $1.5 billion each year. This report analyzes the Somali remittance industry and offers ideas for improving its regulation, including combating money laundering and countering terrorist financing. The first part provides an overview of the organization of Somali remittance organizations (SROs). The second part explains how SROs are currently regulated and suggests that a decade of distrust has created a trust deficit between regulators and SROs.

Trust is central to the industry's business model, and the Center argues trust is the key to improving its regulation. The report draws on six months' desk research; 27 interviews with SROs working in East Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and North America; and interviews and a survey of regulators in those same regions.

Click here to read the entire report.