A president for Somalia

last updated 8 January 2015

Nairobi, Kenya

The Kenyan government this week presided over the inauguration of a transitional president for Somalia, which has had no central government for more than a decade. Former warlord Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, 67, was elected by a new parliament whose members were appointed by Somalia’s clans. The milestone comes after two years of peace talks overseen by Kenya, which has been trying to help its war-wracked neighbor find some stability. After the fall of Mohamed Siad Barre, in 1991, warlords divided Somalia into separate, largely lawless fiefdoms. Since then, nearly 2 million people have been left homeless. The capital, Mogadishu, is a ravaged wasteland with almost no infrastructure, so the new president will set up temporary headquarters in the nearby city of Baidoa.