David Gough
Ten years after the outbreak of civil war in Somalia, there is growing optimism in the capital, Mogadishu, that Islamic groups, in partnership with the business community, are on the verge of restoring a semblance of order to the city.
In the past month Islamic militias operating under the auspices of self-appointed Islamic courts and financed by business have closed down hundreds of checkpoints set up by the warring factions. Thousands of men who manned the checkpoints, designed to extort money for the warring factions, have been arrested and imprisoned, and in some cases executed.
The chair of the Islamic courts, Hassan Sheikh Mohammed, said this was just the first step towards bringing an Islamic government to the country, ungoverned since the flight of the former dictator, Siad Barre, in 1991.
Eight years of anarchy have left this once- beautiful city and its inhabitants in a state of physical and psychological ruin, and if the Islamists succeed in bringing peace to Mogadishu then the people will welcome their political ambitions with open arms.
During the worst years of the civil war, from 1991 to 1994, Mogadishu degenerated into a mass of competing clans. Those who had the means to do so fled the city; those who did not remained holed up in the ruins, eking out whatever life they could.
“The situation in Mogadishu had become so bad that we had to do something,” said Mohammed, adding that the business community was the source of the more than $1-million a month it costs to run the courts.
Today Mogadishu remains a fractious, isolated and dangerous place – heavily armed bodyguards are still a necessity for foreign visitors – but there is now a degree of calm. Exiles have returned carrying dollars in one hand and the ambition to take advantage of the chaos they fled in the other.
They come to do business in a climate of pure capitalism, unrestrained by government and regulations. Abdi Sabrie, who is building a pasta factory in the capital, said he had little trouble finding the $500 000 he needed for his business. “The problem is security, and anybody who can prove to you that he can provide security in Mogadishu is your friend.”
After the collapse of the government, warlords provided the only security, but they also demand taxes; and the inter-clan fighting does not create a favourable climate for business.
“Our power is increasing year by year and now we are able to protect ourselves,” said Hirse Mohammed Awale, the vice-chair of the Mogadishu Business Association.
In the past month businesspeople allied to the south Mogadishu warlord, Hussein Aideed, have imported more than 120-billion Somali shillings (about $12-million), a move that threatens the fragile economy. The shilling has since lost 30% of its value against the dollar.
“For [the business leaders] life is great, but that’s because they only care about money,” said Musa Sudhi Jalahow, a clan leader whose militia controls much of north Mogadishu. “They import expired medicines and foods and they have no ethics.”
Asked where he thought the solution to Somalia’s problems might come from, he said: “Force will be the ultimate answer.”