|
Mogadishu, (insidesomalia.org) Residents in Mogadishu show concern over the all-out looting in the Bakara Market, the main market in Somalia by the Transitional Federal Government troops on Sunday.
Business people resumed in the last few days relocating their business into other places safer than the Bakara market which government forces cleared after taking out most of valuable things including money, gold, electronic materials including mobile phones along with prepaid scratch cards, computers and food commodities including rice, sugar, pasta and wheat they had up loaded on pick up wagons, say witnesses.
"Earlier, we had had heard Watergate Scandal and Contra Gate
Scandal but now, we have a new scandal called Bakara Gate by Somali military of the TFG" said Mohamed Elmi. A Somali scholar in Mogadishu.
Now, many of business people in Bakara Market restarted their business mainly in Suuq Ba'ad in northern side of Mogadishu which is the second main market in Mogadishu.
Somalia's interim Prime Minister, Nur "Adde" Hassan Hussein, has admitted that government troops took part in all-out looting of the capital’s largest marketplace, Bakara.
Prime Minister Nur Adde told a BBC Somali Service interview that soldiers involved in the looting will be "punished."
He said the government soldiers' behavior was "regrettable" and apologized for their misconduct, adding that a Cabinet-level committee had been appointed to speak with the affected business groups and find an amicable resolution.
TFG committee and business groups met more than twice but with out tangible results despite that businessmen's' committee requested compensation for the economic damage done by the government forces.
Many people in Mogadishu believe that small elite of officers in the army who are clan oriented were behind the mass looting in the market and were motivated by clan enmity which goes far behind 1991's when the military regime led by General Mohamed Siyad Barre who belonged Darood clan was ousted and Hawiya clan., a dominant clan in Mogadishu and its surroundings came into power.
Transitional Federal Government was established in Kenya after a two year long Somali Reconciliation Conference there and Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed who belongs to the Daarood Clan and a former warlord in Puntland became President of Somalia in 2004 after he was elected in overwhelming votes.
Analysts warn against that the looting in Bakara market may result a new rift between Daarood and Hawiya clans especially the Majeerteen sub calan of Darood and Habargidir, a sub clan of Hawiya if the crisis over Bakara Gate scandal were not resolved immediately.
The armed forces who looted the market were not directly attached to the ministry of Interior, military command or the police and they were directly attached to the presidential place and National Security forces under the command of General Darwish, the most powerful figure in Mogadishu.
Darwish is an ally of General Gabre, the commander of the Ethiopian forces and Mohamed Dhere, mayor of Mogadishu, and all of the three are in common that they are fiercely against the Al-Shabaab Islamic group and their supporters fighting Somali government and Ethiopian troops in the Somali capital.
"Looting the Bakara market is a provocative action and could lead bad consequences" said Mohamed Hassan Hadd, chairman of the Hawiya Traditional Council.
The council demanded from the TFG that those officers ordered the looting should be put before trial and punished but the government calmly said that investigation is underway but nobody know what is next.
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed