Life in present-day Somalia

[Lanthano]

Hello all,

 

I'm someone who has followed events in Somalia since 1991 (after the fall of Siad Barre) with keen interest, even though I'm not actually Somalian. Partly it's because I'm interested in how societies and individuals organise themselves in the absence of government.

 

The trouble is, it's very hard getting an idea how day-to-day life is in Somalia - all you hear about in the news is about the conference in Kenya, or sporadic fighting between warlords, or links between Somalia and terrorism. But I'm not really interested in this - I'm more interested in how people are making a living in Somalia. I realise that in effect, what used to be Somalia has been split into roughly three territories - Somaliland, Puntland and the rest of Somalia, so just to clarify, the questions I'm going to ask concern 'the rest of Somalia'.

 

1. What's the security situation like? Do people in towns form civil defence groups to protect themselves against armed gangs? Are there community recognised courts that deal with disputes between people? What about the countryside? Is there any sign that the various factions are getting tired of fighting each other - is the fighting less that at the beginning of the 1990's?

 

2. What's the role of Islamic groups and societies in present day Somalia? Are they largely replacing the government in providing much of the amenities needed by the populace, like health and education?

 

3. How do businessmen operate? Do they have to organise their own security? Is it still difficult for foreigners to do business in Somalia? I heard recently that parts of Somalia have mobile telephony and the Internet. If this is true, how do they protect the infrastructure against damage? Also, someone from Puntland was telling me several months ago that some private companies supply electricity to homes - what they do is to assess how many appliances you have, then based on that they charge a flat fee. Does this happen in places in the rest of Somalia as well?

 

OK, I will leave off the questions for now, but if I can think of any more, I'll add them to this post.

 

Thanks for any answers,

 

Lanthano

[nuune]

HEEY, welcome first to somaliaOnline,

 

 

those questions are very tough indeed, i would like to know them as well, hope some will answer them!

[Lanthano]

Hmm... more than a day gone, and no answers yet. I think I'll try posting this on the Politics board, then.

[Jaabir]

I wish I could tell you about the day to day lifestyle in Somalia....

i suggest you try and post your question in other forums u may find someone who is willing to share information with you..

 

 

[HONEY-D]

I dont think any1 here knows the answers to those questions but if you are serious about this the best thing to do is to go to somalia i can assure you by the end of your visit you'll be more knowledgeable than all of Us.

 

 

There is no guartee you'll come back save so i suggest you do a proper good bye to ur loved ones oh relax i'm only kidding.

[Sophist]

The questions which the chap above had posted are need detailed analysis of which I personally can not afford to spare at this moment of time.

 

They are not difficult to respond to; but in order to educcate someone who is not Somali about aforementioned issues; one has to be delicate to write about these sensetive issues--for example the role of the Islamic groups in Somali society;;;; I hope with great deligence that the poster knows Somalia Islam is big part of the society and governs most none blood thirsty hoodlums in big cities.

 

 

Where are the other heavyweights?

 

Yaa maali jirayeey???

[LixAfar iyo Nus]

God willing I will answer most of your questions if not all. That is because I have gone back to Somalia in 1995 to summer 1999. I went to Mogadishu and the neighboring cities and visited the countryside. I’m also one who is interested in the affairs of Somalia and have followed it to an extent. However, I will need time and will answer each segment of questions separately. I hope that is fine with you.

[Lanthano]

Hello,

 

I just thought I should follow up on this thread, after LixAfar's kind offer to furnish me with more information on the questions I asked. Any info?

[OG_Girl]

Originally posted by Lanthano :

 

I realise that in effect, what used to be Somalia has been split into roughly three territories - Somaliland, Puntland and the rest of Somalia, so just to clarify, the questions I'm going to ask concern 'the rest of Somalia' .

Just to help the brother , He is asking about 'the rest of Somalia' NOT somaliland and Puntlan...means just Mogadisho and sorounded area!...Where those people from Mogadisho? help the brother , Agga

 

Salam

[Jumatatu]

I realise that in effect, what used to be Somalia has been split into roughly three territories - Somaliland, Puntland and the rest of Somalia, so just to clarify, the questions I'm going to ask concern 'the rest of Somalia'.

By this I suppose you mean you know the answers to your questions in regard to what u dont term as being 'the rest of Somalia. Hence if you do then fill in the blanks with the same answers cause they are the same. And if are you saying they are not, then you are probably well informed to refuse the comparison.

I could have honestly answered your questions sincerely but the thought it would not be mutual crossed my mind.

[NGONGE]

I’m not sure why you didn’t “google” for the answers for your questions?

A quick search on the Net yielded the following results (and I only spent less than a minute looking through them). I’m sure you’ll find the answers to your questions if you did a bit of research on the Net. Most of my search was on the Somali Private Sector. You can do the same with the security situation and the role of Islamic groups. In fact, I bet you’ll have more results on those two questions. I advice you to do that because any answers others and I give you on this site will mostly be subjective, speculative and slightly biased.

 

Somali Facts

Somali Info.

 

Somali Government

More Info.

 

 

PS

Out of pure curiosity, do you mind telling me where you from? :confused:

[Chief]

Salaams!

 

I am Suprised no one has asked this quetsion to the poster,

 

why are you interested in all this to begin with?

whats in it for you?

why do you wanna know?

wy?

[Tuujiye]

Bro good questions..

 

People if you can't answer the guy's question, please ignore it and don't waste his time by answering a question with a question. What the man asked is something realy amazing, I mean we have no government and we are serviving better than some countries with a government. Somalia has the cheepest telacommunication in east Africa..look at phone cards, lol.. we have electricity almost every were in somalia now and before the civil war, you would have found electricty only in the major cities (Mogadisho, Hargeysa, Bosaso, barbara,kismayo,) and they were not even profect. But now they are close to profect..people have caple,phone lines, lights not (feynuus).. and amazingly their is no government..lol..waaw..

 

Bro you have said your not Somalian. So i have asumed that you are studying something about somalia or doing some kind of re-search. I could help you so can Lixafar..he is good at this kind of things..I'm a political student and I love to talk about third world countries..

 

I will be back with some info and facts about somalia now after 1991 government - 2004 life style in somalia...

 

you could PM me if you need more info after I post answers from your questions...

 

But 1 question...what made you to do a re-search on somalia?...

 

1

[Lanthano]

Hello,

 

I'm pleased to see that my repost has got a response. Let me respond to each of you one by one.

 

Jumatatu,

 

Of course, I know something already of Somalia - it would be inconsiderate for me to come asking questions and expect to be furnished with all the answers without having done some prior research. The reason I have asked the questions I did is because I haven't been able to find the answers on the 'Net.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by filling in the blanks - perhaps you think I come with a hidden agenda? I have already explained my motivation for asking these questions when I said in my original post:

 

"...it's because I'm interested in how societies and individuals organise themselves in the absence of government."

 

However, if you do not wish to answer, that's OK - I hope someone else will be more willing.

 

 

Ngonge,

 

As I mentioned earlier in my reply to Jumatatu, I have done some research on the 'Net. All the links you supply give information that I'm already familiar with - area, geography, history and current political situation, etc. However, your idea of doing a search on 'Somali private sector' threw up some interesting pages that I will look at later.

 

But I'm still on the lookout for more views - just as looking at a statue from more than one side will give you a better idea of its shape, so also the more views/information you get about a topic, the better understanding you have of the topic. So I don't mind whether the views I receive from people on this site are 'biased' or not - let me be the judge of the bias. In fact, it is natural for everyone to have a bias in their views!

 

Ah, and before I forget - I'm a fellow African myself - I hail from Nigeria.

 

 

Chief,

 

Your reply made me smile. I've already spoken a bit about why I want to know at the top of this post. I'm just a naturally curious person - in fact, I'm interested in things that most people don't pay attention to. But I understand your puzzlement - really, not many people are interested in goings on in Africa, never mind Somalia.

 

So I'm afraid I'm won't be making any money from my findings.

 

 

Garab Tuujiye,

 

Thank you for your kind offer. I hope my replies earlier explain why I'm interested in the information I asked for. Seriously, I think we can all learn a lot about how Somalians have organised themselves to cope in the very tough situation they find themselves in.

 

I'll be on the lookout for your answers, and thanks once more.

 

Cheers all,

 

Lanthano