Somali government begins removing illegal roadblocks outside Mogadishu

By Abdi Moalim in Mogadishu

Government soldiers search cars at a military roadblock on Wadnaha Road in Mogadishu in 2007. [Peter Busomoke/AFP]

The Somali government last week began a three-phase campaign to remove illegal roadblocks set up by militia members on the roads connecting Mogadishu to the Lower Shabelle capital of Marka and the Bay capital of Baidoa.

For many years, these roadblocks have made travel costly and dangerous for traders, bus drivers and regular citizens who routinely travel between Mogadishu and the regional capitals, oftentimes leaving them robbed of the their possessions and sometimes far worse.

Citizens for the past two months have implored the federal government to remove the roadblocks, but nothing was done. To pressure the government to act, the Lower Shabelle Transport Association Committee, a local organisation that represents commercial drivers, forwarded its concerns to the government and organised a strike that started May 12th. The government responded the next day.

"We have selected special forces to remove the roadblocks that have been placed on the roads," General Abdirisaq Khalif Elmi, commander of the Somali military forces, told reporters May 13th.

Chairman of the transport association Yusuf Abdi Omar said the government's move was a positive step.

"Military officials told us that they will conduct the anti-roadblock operation in three phases," Omar told Sabahi. "In the first one, roadblocks between Afgoye and Mogadishu will be removed. In the second phase, they will tackle the road between [Mogadishu] and Marka and the final phase will be between Afgoye and Baidoa."

"The roadblocks located between Afgoye and Mogadishu have been removed, except for two checkpoints in Lafole and Bar Ismail, where legal tolls will be collected," he said.

 

Still a long way to go

Khadar Mufow, 34, routinely drives a 20-person minibus across the 250 kilometres between Baidoa and Mogadishu. He said the government's efforts have been commendable but need to be expanded.

"The administration has made some progress so far in lowering the number of illegal roadblocks, but has yet to succeed in completely removing the problem roadblocks pose to travel," he told Sabahi. "There is still a big problem facing us on the road, particularly when we want to travel to Baidoa. We spend more than 1 million Somali shillings ($55) on illegal roadblocks between Baidoa and Afgoye during each round trip."

Mohamud Sultan, a driver who works on the road connecting Mogadishu and Marka, said drivers are often injured and robbed by militia members.

"Two drivers were killed in the past two weeks and a group of motorists and passengers was injured after it was suddenly shot at by militiamen dressed in military uniforms. Passenger vehicles are also regularly robbed," he told Sabahi.

Ardo Ali, a 50-year-old businesswoman who transports foodstuffs between Mogadishu and Marka, said the government has taken positive steps towards fighting militias that place roadblocks on the roads.

"We were extremely wary whenever we left Mogadishu to travel to Lower Shabelle because we were always afraid of being shot at by militias wanting to stop the vehicle [to force us to pay]," she told Sabahi.

"The bandits demand money from the vehicles [passing through the checkpoints] that we cannot afford, and when we refuse to pay, they rob us and take what we have."

Nur Ahmed commutes from his home in Afgoye daily to Mogadishu, where he works as a private guard for a local non-profit organisation that provides food to displaced persons.

Ahmed said the roadblocks have made travel an unpredictable financial burden for travellers because they bear most of the additional costs bus operators incur at roadblocks through the fluctuating fares they are charged for tickets. "We are asking the government to remove all remaining roadblocks and prevent them to be reinstalled by monitoring the roads consistently [after this operation is completed]," he told Sabahi.

Last December, Somali security forces successfully removed more than 60 illegal roadblocks across Mogadishu.