Mogadishu's citizens have been witness to uncountable insecurity conditions which have different faces such as direct killing, heavy explosions, attacks, and so many other events coming from terrorism groups for almost 15 years. The thing is that life is ongoing in Mogadishu.
Some citizens believe the current security situation is better than in recent years, in spite of the fact that security scholars including me, are concerned about the risk of and high chance of insecurity in Mogadishu and other parts of Somalia for numerous reasons in the following areas:
1. lack of national security strategies as well as other branches
2. Experience with the lowest level of intelligence
3. Not having enough trust and collaboration between society and the police.
4. If there is no strictly confidential security in the government, terrorist groups will seize the opportunity and use it against the government, which means there is no strictly confidential security in the Somali government.
Ordinary people and security analysts see the security threat from similar perspectives. However, the question is, do they feel the same way about it? Take this real example, which the analysts are capable of understanding. For instance, it’s not a big deal to see young people sitting on the side of the main roads in Mogadishu for many reasons. It's unlikely that this place has had so many attacks from terrorist groups and those people are not feeling any concern or worry about attacks that could happen again, so that explains to us there is now awareness about security issues in Somalia. That is why several attacks are carried out in the same manner and have the same characteristic (lack of learning lesson). Apart from that, the insecurity issue in Somalia could make life longer for four reasons.
1. Tribalism is the highest form of belief rather than nationalism here in Somalia.
2. When Somali National Army intelligence approaches a suspect person, his/her cousin, MPS, elderly, and so on, they come to the police station and bring them out, rather than taking them to court, and it happens several times to do against peace again.
3. If citizen shares sensitive information with the police or other branches of intelligence, they aren't comfortable putting their personal details in safe hands and will be assured. They prefer to keep quiet.
The security concerns that exist in Somalia currently are visible. What I mean is that when citizens who do not work in the government sector leave their homes, their main concern is the following questions: Will it be safe where I am heading to? Will it be safe to sit in either hotels or street restaurants as well as walk on the street? Will you encounter an unsafe condition? Those dots represent what ordinary Somalis think and experience throughout the year. Furthermore, the Somali government has spent a lot of energy trying to save society, sorting out the challenges of domestic security, and it is still working to solve that problem.
There is a statement which says, "Any government cannot take a step forward without the support of the community." As a result, the government should prioritize community potential and use it to protect the whole nation.
1. Establish influential community policing at the National level and state
2. Establishing community intelligence networks comprised of the private sector, individuals, and, most notably, hidden students from various backgrounds and schools.
3. Community: mass mobilization within the community about peacebuilding and collaboration with the police.
Farah Muhumed Hirane
Horn of Africa Peace and Security Analyst
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