With the recent election of Somali president Hassan Mohamud, there appears to be renewed government focus on not just weakening Al-Shabaab, but eliminating it. As part of this effort, the government has “hailed” mobilisation efforts by local militia (called Ma’awisley) against the group.
AuthorDaisy Muibu
Dr Daisy Muibu is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Alabama and a Research Fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Her research examines the relationship between terrorism/insurgency, domestic security sector actors, the public, and civil conflict using quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The three streams of her research address the following questions or themes: (1) How can we improve public confidence in domestic security forces in states affected by insurgent-terrorist violence and prolonged civil conflict?; (2) What impact do foreign fighters have on conflict violence and local insurgent-terrorist groups operations?; (3) What impact does the continued expansion of the private security industry across sub-Saharan Africa have on domestic security sector responses to terrorism?
Dr. Muibu received her PhD in Justice, Law and Criminology from the American University (AU) in Washington D.C. (2016), her MA in Intelligence and International Security from King’s College, London (2015), and her BA in International Relations from the United States International University – Africa (2014). Daisy was also Peace and Violence Research Fellow at AU’s School of Public Affairs and a recipient of various research grants including: the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education (NCITE) – a DHS Center of Excellence – research grant award (2022-2023); the United Nations’ Initiative on Peace and Reconciliation in Somalia grant (2017); the Association for the Study of The Middle East and Africa research grant (2018; 2019; 2020; 2021); and the American University Doctoral Student Research Scholarship (2019). Dr. Muibu also has years of experience working on rule of law and criminal justice reform, as well as counterterrorism, in regions of Kenya and southern Somalia.