"Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation."
MOGADISHU – At 18, Farah Osman should not be a battle-hardened soldier. He should not have spent the last seven years fighting for the Somali Islamist extremist group Al-Shabaab, or have been trained by foreign jihadists in handling and repairing weapons and improving his shooting skills.
Hargeisa (Somaliand) – As Somalia starts to emerge from its quagmire of instability and chaos, 20 years of relative peace and stability are starting to pay dividends for its close neighbour Somaliland, as this November it struck its first major oil deal since seceding from Somalia in 1991.
Designated a ‘failed state’ Somalia’s problems lie partly in the geopolitical strategy of Somalia’s neighbours for managing the liberated areas from Al Shabab, which compartmentalizes the Somali territory, politics and devalues citizenship.
Finally, after a long, hard slog through the sand and mud and forests of Somalia, Kenyan soldiers are in Kismayo. This time they come not as captives or corpses being dragged through the streets by Al-Shabaab militants, but as liberating heroes to free the lucrative port from Al-Shabaab’s hitherto iron grip.
Istanbul — From the upcoming Istanbul Conference on Somalia to ground-up nation-building, Turkey provides a new and welcome approach to Somalia.
Nairobi — A massive explosion has rocked a building on Moi Avenue in Nairobi, adjacent to the Mount Kenya University.
Ory Okolloh, the Executive Director of Ushahidi , is from Kenya but currently lives in Johannesburg. Her blog is "outlet for her opinions. While it is primarily focused on Kenya, she reserves to write about whatever she wants."
Sokari Ekine is a Nigerian social justice activist living in Spain, with a background in technology, gender issues and human rights. She is interested in creating a community of grassroots African bloggers as a way for Africans to exchange ideas, share experiences and tell their own stories in our own words.
Native of Cape Town, Sean Jacobs lives in Brooklyn, New York and teaches in Manhattan. He obsesses about the relationship between politics and popular culture, but the main rationale for his blog is to comment on what passes for media coverage of the African continent.
Rosebelle Kagumire is an experienced Ugandan Journalist. She won the best Journalist blogger English category at the Panos hosted competition in 2009. Currently she is a student of MA. Media, Conflict and Peace studies at University for Peace (UPEACE), Costa Rica.
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