Summary
Highlights
Arrival in Mogadishu, one of the world's most dangerous cities. The team is immediately escorted by Yuke, an ex-special forces soldier working for a private security company, traveling in an armored B6 vehicle. They experience an explosion shortly after arrival, underscoring the daily threat of attacks. Their hotel is a fortress with a panic room, housing mostly Somali officials seeking refuge. Yuke's operations room monitors the city through GPS and social media, which provides the most current information regarding attacks. The recent car bomb attack, just 100 meters away, resulted in twelve deaths and thirty injuries, highlighting the routine violence in the city.
Somalia has been plagued by civil war, piracy, Islamist terrorism, and famine since 1991, resulting in over 500,000 deaths. Since 2006, the Islamist group Al-Shabaab has terrorized the country, controlling two-thirds of the territory and frequently launching bomb attacks in Mogadishu and even neighboring Kenya. These attacks have caused hundreds of deaths, with Al-Shabaab fighters being imprisoned in crowded, dangerous conditions in Mogadishu's central prison.
Mogadishu's city center still bears the scars of war, with public services almost non-existent and a stagnant economy. The 2.5 million inhabitants struggle daily, with an average wage of $2 per day. The majority of the population is under 25, many aspiring to leave the country due to violence and lack of opportunity. Young Mohamed, a tuk-tuk driver, exemplifies this hardship, working long hours to support his family after his father was killed by Al-Shabaab. Corruption is rampant, with police officers extorting money from drivers like Mohamed at checkpoints. Financial transactions are largely cashless, conducted via SMS using the EVC system.
Mohamed's attempt to flee to Europe ended in Sudan where he was held by bandits. His clan leaders, known as sultans, intervened to secure his release and helped him buy a tuk-tuk to encourage him to stay in Somalia. In the absence of a strong central government, over 2,000 clan chiefs act as authorities, arbitrators, and even marriage counselors, mediating disputes and administering justice. These sultans are unpaid, with many, like Sheikh, working as Koranic school teachers to earn a living. Clan traditions, such as paying 'blood money' (equivalent to 100 camels or €45,000) for murder, often bypass the official judicial system.
A new generation of politicians, exemplified by Mogadishu's mayor, Abdirahman Omar Osman, risk their lives to restore effective administration. Despite a peaceful life in the UK, he returned to Somalia to serve his country. He earns $15,000 monthly, including risk premiums, but faces constant threats from Al-Shabaab. His efforts to improve security are met with daily challenges, and a public walk to demonstrate confidence turns into a massive security operation. Tragically, three weeks after the filming, the mayor is killed in a suicide attack by a long-term Al-Shabaab infiltrator.
A former Al-Shabaab member reveals the organization's deep infiltration into all levels of Somali society, including government officials who pay them. This individual, now a government informant, stresses Al-Shabaab's strength due to their willingness to deploy suicide bombers. Police forces constantly work to secure Mogadishu, conducting rigorous checks at city entry points and within neighborhoods, but lack equipment to detect explosives. The high risk is evident from the destroyed vehicles at checkpoints, reminders of past car bomb attacks. Intelligence agents use laptops with informant-provided photos to identify suspects, leading to arrests and transfers to the central prison.
Mogadishu's central prison, a two-century-old facility, houses 700 criminals and terrorists, mostly Al-Shabaab members, in extremely overcrowded cells (30-50 prisoners per cell). Conditions are harsh, with temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius and inadequate sanitation. Despite United Nations reports denouncing these conditions, the director showcases reintegration programs. Prisoners work in workshops (ironwork, carpentry) and attend school (CM1 level), earning $2 a day. Some, like a former Al-Shabaab militiaman, learn new skills like zigzag stitching, aspiring to use them after release. Musicians, including a veteran Al-Shabaab member, participate in an orchestra with police officers, aiming to change their mentality and facilitate reintegration.
International organizations operate in ultra-secure, high-cost environments near Mogadishu airport, with expatriates earning over €8,000 monthly. Security costs consume nearly half of humanitarian aid budgets, significantly reducing funds available for Somalis. Transparency International consistently ranks Somalia as the world's most corrupt country, with a minister revealing that only 30% of aid reaches its destination. This corruption hinders the impact of aid, as seen in a understaffed maternity ward run by Action Against Hunger, where three midwives handle 140 consultations and ten deliveries daily in unsanitary conditions, relying on a basic medical guide for complex cases. One in ten babies in Somalia dies at birth.
Abdelkader Haden, a dentist, founded Aamin Ambulance over 30 years ago, the city's only ambulance service. With twenty old, basic ambulances and no doctors, his team of drivers and nurses (trained by him) conducts twenty life-or-death interventions daily. The tragic story of a four-year-old girl whose condition worsened in a small dispensary highlights the lack of proper medical care. Despite being rushed to the only hospital with a pediatric department, she dies en route. Her family, living in a refugee camp outside Mogadishu, buries her the same day, a poignant reminder of the pervasive pain and loss. Presidential elections in February 2021 will be decided by clan parliamentarians, leaving the Somali people without a direct say in their future.