My brother just came back from Mogadishu

[SultanOrder]

He gave a very dark and drastic picture than what has been floating around. Mogadishu, the one that we are led to believe is moving forward rapidly is bs. He said the whole city is destroyed, everywhere you go, with zero infrastructure. The places that use to have roads, people have built on the roads, alleyways, every little place they could find. All the beautiful places he remembers back in 90 are destroyed, the city is just complete wasteland. He nearly cried remembering how it use to be.

The people are malnourished, dark, sun burnt, and very fearful. You can't trust anyone there, alshabab are everywhere and nowhere, they attack, kidnap, and target anyone that is against them or works/connected to the government. He said government civil service are constantly attacked, and killed. And sometimes it's not even alshabab behind it but someone that wants your position. To the point where he said they were shocked to hear of a young somali girl who worked for a turkish aid agency, being the only breadwinner to her whole family, was executed in her home by a group of armed men. All because someone was jealous of her position and wanted it.

The inflation is so bad that people are probably going to start rioting and the govt is doing or can do nothing to tackle the issue. They simply can't afford such expensive prices. Imagine now that the livestock are starting to be shipped abroad. That creates a new market, and further competition in the domestic sales. Food is going to go through the roof especially meat, this will cause people to be further malnourished and/or rioting.

He said that no one travels at night, no one dares to. Some districts in Xamar are no go areas, and huge alshabab sympathizers, to the point that it has come down with qabil. Though you don't go into abgal neighborhoods, they are generally aligned with the gov, while habargidir, murursade are huge alshabab sympathizers and make the bulk of alshabab there. He mentioned the government troops, and how they are hardly paid, and these are same moriyaans who had checkpoints before they became "troops". The govt hardly controls the city, but it's 100% that keeps alshabab at bay.

Any place worth going is heavily guarded, like those restaurants, which he said is too expensive and doesn't even taste good. He went by some properties, and didn't even go inside, some squatters were living there, and he didn't even bother with it. In another property next Bakara market, people asked for 150k but decided against any selling.

The weather was absolutely horrible according to him. It was unbearably hot and especially humid. He had to take 3 or more showers a day, because he would sweat so much. In the night you have to worry about mosquitoes. The only nice place in the whole city was the beach. But other than that, there is hardly anything to do there.

He said that everyone who goes there regrets it, according to him all the diaspora people regret being there. Waan naxay when he told us all this.

[SultanOrder]

On his way back he was in Dubai for a week, when Xassan sheikh came there. He told them about the plight of his government, and how they can't even pay the salaries of the troops. Xassan sheikh asked the somali buisness community over there for about 20m.



I'm still laughing at how he said he couldn't find find a single light person in Xamar, they were so dark, he didn't know whether it was because they were abgal, bantu, war, or the sun.

[The_Patriot]

Tell him to visit Jigjiga.

PO a freind of mine who is in Xamar, Just said exactly the same.

[original dervish]

Not surprising.....this Govt is only a charade....a business opportunity for the same people who profited during the last 20 years.

[Titanium]

My mother and cousin are there at the moment and they say they are having a blast. Obviously Muqdisho has it's flaws. What was your brother expecting? An African Dubai?

Biases and exaggerations. So the weather in Muqdisho was unbearable but no mention of the weather in Dubai?

[FAH1223]

My dad came back nearly 3 weeks ago and said things are going great and has a whole bunch of pictures showing the different construction in the city.. albeit moving at a slow pace. He was there for 7 months and will probably be back next month cause of the construction of a new venture he got into.

Your brother must have been expecting a city back on its feet and something similar to the late 1980s in how it was shaped.

The biggest issue is the dollar-shilling exchange rate being out of whack and the gap of the haves and have nots all over the place. It's putting a strain on people's budgets because of workers needing to be compensated even more just to make ends meet.

Despite some of the positivity, My dad also said he got bored as hell over there and didn't trust a soul. He was close to a couple suicide bombings like a mile or so over the last 6 months but alhamdullilah he was fine and one of those attacks didn't net many casualties

[SultanOrder]

niyow, I asked him if he took pics, he said there is nothing worth taking pics of, the whole city is destroyed.

Titanium, remember that his last memories was in the early 90's when it was still a city, and remembers vividly how it use to be. Also, your mother and cousin have a weird definition of "having a blast". My brother has been to Addis ababa, Nairobi, Kampala, in and around the horn. Xamar is by far the worst. There is absolutely zero reason to go there other than for family. It's not safe, nor does it have the infrastructure for normal "fun" activities.

As for the temp in Dubai compared to Xamar, Dubai is a well built city and has air condition in every building, Xamar does not.


Fah, my bro the same thing about the security. He said people are being kidnapped, and murdered all over the place. It's just no one is reporting it. He also said it is extremely boring, and there was nothing to do, even the hotels sucked.

[BlackRain]

I also know this Hawiye friend of mine who came back from Moqdisho and he said the exact the same thing. He said the only save part of the city is Government controlled area and Bantu jareer army areas. This is just a lull and it's just a matter of time before it gets back to where it was.

I won't believe Moqdisho can have three years lasting peace until they prove me wrong.

[AhlulbaytSoldier]

We should believe ur siyadist friend over news agencies such as Aljazeera, CNN, BBC and many others reporting the construction booming, the peace and the nightlife in Xamar?? Is that your whole point???

[Titanium]

Perfect_Order,

Just because your brother didn't enjoy his time doesn't mean the thousands of diaspora Somalis have not. He didn't like it but a lot have said they did. Somalia has always been a dirt poor nation. Anyone would have been aware that their quality of life would have plummeted going to Africa, especially Somalia.

Secondly, where in Somalia are most buildings equipped with air conditioning? It isn't America. A/C is a luxury in Africa. A few homes and a few businesses have it but it is seen as a luxury in Muqdisho, just like in the rest of the country. The weather today for Muqdisho is 28 degrees. Sure an air conditioner would have been nice but 28 degrees Celsius isn't going to kill you.

If Xamar was boring, what do you expect of the other cities in Somalia, especially the small little villages some people here might be from I found Xamar a bit boring too but I also found other Somali cities boring.

The majority of the issues you highlighted had little to do with Xamar and a lot to do with Somalia as a whole.

[SultanOrder]

caqli hutu, why are you bring maxamed siyad barre aun into this? Do you understand the concept of relativism? When the city has been being destroyed for 20 years, any kind of construction is a news worthy tale, by the fact that it is extraordinary. That enough should tell you what mogadishu is really like. Don't take my word for it, go there and see for yourself.


Titanium, calm down. I'm only challenging this myth that xamar has risen from the ashes of it's dark history. It really hasn't, and it has been blown over proportion. 28 Degrees seems comfortable enough until you add humidity. Trust me, my bro is well traveled, and he knows what he was talking about.

[The_Patriot]

On his way back he was in Dubai for a week, when Xassan sheikh came there. He told them about the plight of his government, and how they can't even pay the salaries of the troops. Xassan sheikh asked the somali buisness community over there for about 20m.



I'm still laughing at how he said he couldn't find find a single light person in Xamar, they were so dark, he didn't know whether it was because they were abgal, bantu, war, or the sun.

20 million? where does the International fund go? What about revenues raised from the ports come on this is more of a cartel.

Its time uruurka dumarka qurbajogta donated a container full of Diana to the residents of Xamar.

[Titanium]

Perfect Order,

Your intentions were obvious. You went even as far as suggesting that it wasn't known whether the people were dark because of being "Abgal or Bantu". Who will take you serious other than the obvious Hawiye haters?

Half the problems you posted had nothing to do with Xamar but Africa/Somalia as a whole. The only valid point you brought up was the security issue but what town in south-central Somalia isn't experiencing that at the moment? Hundreds of diaspora folk are returning to the capital every week. If it was so bad, they would have been told so.

There's no myth. Muqdisho is soaring. Construction is booming. Tens of thousands of diaspora have come back to open their businesses and start their new lives. Roads are being paved. Schools are being built. Hammers are hammering away. The security forces are making Al Shabab arrests regularly. The situation in Muqdisho is indeed as rosy as the diaspora and the international media and the photos have painted for us. Problems lie ahead but they will be solved by the inhabitants. Thank you for your "concern". Nice bait for the Hawiye haters I must add.

[STARKAST]

Another reason for Sl to stay 10000 miles away. The capital i remember is no more .

[AhlulbaytSoldier]

Advice for PO:
Leave Xamar out of ur stinking quule mouth, tell that siyadist to stay out from our city and go built Gaajoxaarey

I was saddened to see the small grave of your savior and the ugly mud houses from the year 4 B.C behind the grave