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Welcome to Heritage’s audio page. We bring you our flagship Heritage Podcast, as well as short-run special documentaries and analyses.
The Heritage Podcast, hosted by Hussein Mohamed, Communications Specialist at Heritage Institute, delves into the most recent research and their findings. Regular programmes will return in early 2023, but you may listen to our past collection of episodes on current issues.
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In this episode of the Heritage Podcast, host Hussein Mohamed speaks with Dr. Afyare Elmi, Executive Director of the Heritage Institute and co-author of the study “Security Sector Reform in Somalia: Challenges and Opportunities,” and discusses the key findings and recommendations of the report.
After a protracted, hotly contested and sometimes violent electoral transition process, in mid-May 2022, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud assumed the presidency of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) for the second time. He arrived at a time when al-Shabaab remained a potent military force across significant parts of Somalia. Between 16 December 2020 and 6 September 2021, for example, al-Shabaab’s fighters conducted 1,047 attacks on Somali and African Union (AU) targets, according to the UN Monitoring Group on Somalia. This represents an average of about 4 attacks every day.
In response to al-Shabaab’s persistent violence, the new administration moved quickly to establish a more united front with leaders of the Federal Member States (FMS) (Jubaland, South West, Hirshabelle, Galmudug, and Puntland). President Mohamud also made the controversial decision to appoint Mukhtar Robow, a former senior figure in al-Shabaab, to a cabinet position as minister of religious affairs.
At the same time, the AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) was also undergoing a transition, changing its name to the AU Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) on 1 May 2022. This reflected the AU’s renewed focus on supporting the implementation of the latest Somali Transition Plan and ultimately withdrawing its military operation by the end of 2024.
Host/Producer: Hussein Mohamed

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