MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s media fraternity is mourning two veteran journalists, Hassan Kafi Sheikh Abdirahman and Mohamed Aweys Mudey, whose deaths were reported within hours of each other.
Abdirahman, a former HornAfrik journalist who later reported for Voice of America’s Somali service from Mogadishu, was reported to have died following a sudden illness. His death prompted tributes from Somali journalists and former colleagues on Saturday.
His work for VOA can be independently verified in the broadcaster’s archives. VOA credited Hassan Kafi Abdirahman Qoyste with reporting from Mogadishu on major developments in Somalia, including security and political affairs. Archived reports show him covering AMISOM in 2013, the Jubba reconciliation process and, in 2014, Somalia’s preparations against the Ebola outbreak.
The circumstances and location of Abdirahman’s death have not yet been detailed by major international news organisations, and official information on his illness remains limited.
His death came as Somali journalists were already mourning veteran broadcaster Mohamed Aweys Mudey, popularly known as “Boqorka Bartamaha”, who was killed in Germany.
Hiiraan Online reported on Saturday that Mudey had been killed in Germany. Social-media reports from members of the Somali community also said he was stabbed, although detailed confirmation from German police identifying the circumstances of the attack was not immediately available in sources reviewed by LiveNow Africa.
Mudey had a long and turbulent career in Somali journalism.
He worked as a reporter for Somaliweyn Radio and was among journalists wounded in the December 3, 2009 suicide bombing at Mogadishu’s Shamo Hotel. The attack killed more than a dozen people, including journalists, government ministers and graduating medical students. Reporters Without Borders listed Mudey among the media workers injured in the bombing.
He subsequently fled Somalia for Ethiopia because of security concerns. In 2013, Ethiopian authorities arrested him and later prosecuted him under the country's anti-terrorism legislation.
The case attracted international attention after Mudey was sentenced to 27 years in prison.
The International Commission of Jurists reported that he had been convicted of participating in terrorism activities after allegedly receiving information concerning Al-Shabaab. It said he had reportedly been denied access to his family and a lawyer during the proceedings, while other detainees alleged that he had been tortured in custody.
The National Union of Somali Journalists campaigned for his release, gathering more than 24,000 signatures and arguing that the case represented persecution of a journalist rather than a legitimate terrorism prosecution.
Mudey was eventually released in December 2017 after spending about four years in Ethiopian detention and returned to Mogadishu, where fellow journalists and relatives welcomed him.
He later lived in Germany. VOA Somali's archives show that as recently as October 2024 it featured Mudey in its Caweyska Washington programme, where he spoke about Banadiri music and culture.
The deaths of Abdirahman and Mudey have particular resonance for a Somali media community that has endured decades of violence, displacement and instability.
HornAfrik itself suffered some of the darkest episodes in Somalia's media history. Its managing director and co-founder Ali Iman Sharmarke was killed by a roadside bomb in 2007, while station director Said Tahlil Ahmed was shot dead in Mogadishu in 2009. Reporters Without Borders said at the time that HornAfrik had repeatedly been targeted during one of the most dangerous periods for Somali journalists.
For colleagues who worked through that era, the deaths of Abdirahman and Mudey mark the loss of two journalists whose careers were closely intertwined with Somalia's turbulent recent history.
Authorities in Germany have yet to publicly provide, in sources located during this review, a detailed account of the circumstances surrounding Mudey's death or announce whether a suspect has been arrested.
Category: International
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