Sunday, January 8, 2017

Book Review of the Mayor of Mogadishu

The New York Times Book Review published on 6 January 2017 a review titled "His City of Ruins: The Story of the Somali Leader Who Tried to Remake Mogadishu" by Joshua Hammer.

This is a review of the book titled The Mayor of Mogadishu: A Story of Chaos and Redemption in the Ruins of Somalia by Andrew Harding, a BBC reporter. It is the account of Mohamud (Tarzan) Nur, a leader of the Somali community in London who returned to Mogadishu in 2010 to become mayor. While Nur had many accomplishments, he was sacked in 2014 following allegations that he looted millions from the city's budget. Harding concludes that morally compromised figures like Nur may be the best one can hope for in a country desperately short of heroes.