Somalia’s push to join the East African Community (EAC) has entered a critical stage, with the EAC Secretary General confirming a verification mission scheduled for late January. This marks Somalia’s third application for membership, after previous bids in 2012 and 2019 failed due to insecurity and governance challenges. The EAC treaty sets membership criteria including good governance, rule of law, human rights observance, geographical proximity, and a functioning market economy. Somalia shares borders and longstanding business ties with EAC states, particularly Kenya, and has a large diaspora within the region. Membership could grant Somali citizens visa-free travel, East African passports, and tax-free access to regional markets. Somalia offers strategic and economic potential, with Africa’s longest coastline, rich fishing grounds, major shipping routes, and significant untapped mineral resources. However, the country’s weak production capacity, reliance on foreign aid, and ongoing insecurity remain key obstacles.
In an interview with the BBC that aired on 13 July, Olympic star Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah – Mo Farah, to his legions of fans – revealed that he was trafficked as a child to the UK. Born Hussein Abdi Kaahin in Somaliland, he lost his father to a stray bullet in 1987 during the civil war, when Mo Farah was four. He said that he was flown to the UK from Djibouti at age nine by a woman he had never met. She provided him with documentation that had his photo but a different name – Mohamed Farah – which he used to enter the UK, where he believed he was going to be living with relatives. Instead, he was forced to work as a domestic servant, doing housework and providing childcare.