The Political Situation in Somalia

Somali Shillings Are Worthless: “Our Currency Is Dead”

Somali shillings have become essentially useless in large parts of the country, reports The Guardian.

Muse Omar Jama, 49, works at a currency exchange office where the simple safes are filled with completely useless banknotes.

“It will never be the same,” he says.

“Our currency is dead and so is our way of life.”

The use of US dollars has been widespread in Somalia for a long time, but recently shopkeepers, buses and other everyday services have stopped accepting traditional shillings altogether.

This has in turn caused prices to skyrocket. Earlier in May, protests were held in the capital, Mogadishu, against the government’s handling of the currency. Demonstrators chanted “Somalia is the only country without a currency.”

New drought in Somalia: “Considered leaving my family”

The drought spreading in Somalia could be one of the worst in the country’s history, reports the AP. Millions of people are affected as crops wither and rivers dry up.

According to the news agency, the US decision to cut its international aid has hit Somalia’s most vulnerable hard. Almost half a million children are believed to be at risk of what is technically called severe acute malnutrition, the most serious form.

The situation is also being further exacerbated by the war in Iran: Somalia buys almost all of its fuel from the Middle East.

– I have considered leaving my family because I cannot provide for them, says 70-year-old Ahmed Farah, who has 22 children.