Al-Shabaab threats stall Kenya-Somalia border trade

By Boniface Ongeri

Sulub Ahmed regarded an entry point on the Kenyan-Somalia border as his 'farm' while the State viewed it as a goldfield.

The more than 800km border stretch buzzes with lucrative trade involving second hand cars, spare parts, petroleum, textiles, electronics, foodstuffs, construction materials and satellite dishes and other imports from the war-torn Somalia.

Rain or shine, war or calm, the border has always produced a bumper harvest.

But since an onslaught by the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia on al-Shabaab militants last March, cross border trade has suffered to the detriment of North Eastern Province dwellers.

Trade in the region has been affected after al-Shabaab barred business between Kenyans and Somalis. [PHOTO: BONIFACE ONGERI/STANDARD]

And the worst off are Mandera residents. Geographically being remote from Nairobi and the port of Mombasa, residents relied on Somalia for almost everything.

However, Somalia inland traders, who did business with their counterparts in this tail end of Kenya, have been denied access to the border by al-Shabaab.

"Al-Shabaab have issued a decree that anyone found defying the order will face tough consequences," Mohammed Hassan Ali, a trader from the Somalia border town of Burhache, told The Standard on Saturday on the telephone. "We fear because their threats include beheading or public flogging," he added.

For the first time in nearly two decades, Kenyan manufactured goods have either made a comeback or debut in local business premises despite selling at prohibitive prices.

"Since that order, we have been buying Kenyan goods at more than double the price," said Habiba Hujale, a resident.

"Just last February, we used to buy a kilogramme of sugar at Sh60 but now the same goes at Sh140. A kilo of rice was Sh50, now it is Sh120," she said.

Heavy artillery

Motorists have not been spared either. Hassan Hussein, a taxi operator, says a litre of diesel used to retail at Sh80 but it now sells at between Sh140 and Sh160. "Despite being expensive, it is also scarce as some pump stations say they haven’t received supplies or their stock is stuck along the road," he said.

He added: "If those in other parts of the country complain they are reeling from high prices, then they need to be here."

Suleiman Mahamud Issak, the co-ordinator of Nomad Life Foundation Programme in Mandera, said goods — especially food — are cheap in Mandera because they came from Somalia’s port of Kismayu, where no duty is paid.

"It is a matter of fact that cross border trade is an essential part of the economy. The Government got revenue from imports and traders raked in profit but now that has also been affected," he said.

The sanctions came as the county counted losses after a bloody confrontation between al-Shabaab militants and Somalia and Ethiopian troops in Mandera.

During the fighting, heavy artillery was used on Kenyan soil, with two locals reported dead and the district hospital attacked.

Now with the al Shabaab’s illegal sanctions, traders like Aliow Kerrow have turned their sights to Nairobi. "It is expensive transporting goods from Nairobi, but we have to do business," Ali said.

"It is illogical to transport goods from Nairobi or Mombasa hundreds of kilometres away over bad roads when we have a border next door. But since the al-Shabaab have threatened our business partners in Somalia, we are now forced to go that far," he said as he supervised goods being offloaded to a store in Mandera. He said the goods took 15 days on the road.

A bigger part of the more than 1,000km road from Nairobi to Mandera is dilapidated and most transporters shun it.

Those who take risks charge heavily to take care of mechanical problems.

Abdille Sheikh, the local chairman of Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mandera branch, says: "Because it is expensive to transport the goods from Nairobi due to fuel and possible breakdown, expenses traders incur are transferred to consumers."

Ahmed Mohammed Yussuf Burkus of the Somalia border town of Bulla Hawa said attempts to negotiate with the militants to allow trade have not borne fruit.

Donkey routes

"It is not only our brothers in Kenya who are suffering. We are in the same boat because goods are not reaching us because of the al-Shabaab sanctions. At least, our Mandera brothers have Nairobi as an alternative but for us, we have nowhere because vehicles are being ambushed. The little goods reaching us are also expensive because traders pay illegal cess at road blocks from Mogadishu and Kismayu to reach here," Burkus said.

Al-Shabaab, which lost grip on regions they controlled to Somalia and Ethiopia soldiers, reportedly resorted to the sanctions to fuel discontent. An al-Shabaab leader in charge of lower Juba said: "Normal business would resume once we have taken back control of the territories from infidels (TFG soldiers and Ethiopian backers) holding them."

However, Farah Hussein, a Kenya-trained Somalia police officer, said normal business would resume. "We are in control now and it is a matter of time before we completely overrun them. These are desperate measures and al-Shabaab is on its deathbed," he said on the telephone.

In the meantime, Mandera, which was until then a thriving business hub of legal and illegal goods, is almost a ghost town with more premises facing closure.

Shelves that were once bulging with goods from Somalia are now shells. Along the roads, several lorries carrying goods have stalled.

Although the Government indefinitely closed the Kenya-Somalia border in 2007 to prevent militants from entering Kenya after they were deposed by the TFG, it is business as usual and the al-Shabaab order has been effective.

Immigration and Customs officials and Kenya Bureau of Standards officers say the standoff in Somalia has seen little or no activity in the border.

Commercial banks

At its peak, Mandera town alleys were clogged with humanity and moneychangers with wads of foreign currencies (Euros, Ethiopian Birr and US dollars) conducting brisk business.

Commercial banks and several unregistered mobile forex, remittance and transfer bureaus — locally called Hawalat — were busy. Illegal routes, locally known as donkey routes, were used to sneak in goods from the border.

Heavy commercial trucks that crisscrossed the border on a 24-hour basis carrying goods have since parked.

It is not only traders and residents who have been hit hard by the sanctions. Unscrupulous people, who worked in cahoots with dishonest revenue officials, corrupt law enforcers and Provincial Administration officers to deny the Government revenue are also complaining.

"The border line is a dream posting for Government officers who want to get rich quickly. But if the situation won’t stabilise, many who resisted transfers from this place won’t mind one. I feel like fleeing or taking leave until the situation normalises. It is an anxious wait," an officer who sought anonymity said.