•Elections have not been free or fair in the last two decades
•After independence, two social classes emerged in Africa, the elite and the peasants. Although the peasants constituted over 90 percent of the population, they exercised no political power.
•The murderous gangster Riyaale simply wanting political help, threatened the Elders for a while, and then bribed ca. 30 members of the upper parliament of Somalia. Finally, each of the bribed "elders" got ca. US$ 500000; like this, they – having no authority – "authorize" Riyaale to prolong his tyranny. Their benefit is that they will be able to pay their staffers and militias to further protect them over the next few months.
•In Somalia, corruption is seen as a necessary evil. If someone cannot get what he or she needs such as birth certificates, ID cards or passports as well as other documents, he or she might turn to bribery.
•Somalia, like most other countries in Africa, was colonized by European nations during the late 1800s.
•In the beginning of the 20th century British control of British Somaliland was challenged by native uprisings.
•In 1969 Abdi Rashid Ali Shirmarke, Somalia's second President, was assassinated and in the following days a military coup, led by Major General Muhammed Siyad Barre, tgained control of the country. In 1970 Barre declared Somalia to be a socialist state.
•Somalia currently has no stable government and many of the areas of the country continue to be under self-rule with control held by local leaders.
