(ERGO) – Salaad Mahamed Hasan, a motorbike taxi rider, has been able to resume work and support his family after the lifting of a blockade on roads connecting towns in Bay and Bakool regions that had lasted for 13 years.
Since 13 April, Salaad has been making $30 to $50 per trip, income that has lifted his family out of uncertainty and allowed them to eat three meals a day.
“I am benefitting from the lifting of the blockade. Before, there were no roads we could use. We couldn’t even use our phones [for safety]. Now, even when I’m on a trip, everything runs smoothly. My life is good now, thank God, before it was so hard,” he told Radio Ergo.
Roads that had been blocked by Al-Shabaab since 2012 were recently reopened after a deal was struck between community elders and the militant group.
Under the blockade, traders and residents were forced to smuggle goods through risky off-road routes that could take up to five days. If Al-Shabaab intercepted the goods, they burned them and confiscated the vehicles.
Salad can now safely ply routes between Hudur, Wajid, Burdhuhunle, and Rabdhure that were previously cut off by insecurity.
“When the blockade started, we used to live in hiding. We turned off our phones or left them behind so our location wouldn’t be known. For three years, I had no job. We relied on whatever little aid relatives gave us. We cooked once every 24 hours — if we got aid. If not, we went hungry.”
In the last two weeks of April, he made four trips transporting goods and passengers from Baidoa to several towns, earning $300.
He is the sole provider for his wife and six children and has been able to start paying off old debts, send his children back to school, and also stop worrying constantly about survival.
“I owed $250 for drilling a well, electricity bills, and school fees from when my children were expelled. Now that I’m working again, I’s paying my debts bit by bit — $5 here, $4 there, $3 somewhere else. God willing, I’ll clear everything soon,” Salaad said.
Four of his children are of school age. He’s already enrolled two, but can’t afford to send all of them yet. He doesn’t own his own motorbike so whatever he earns goes first on food, but he’s hopeful things will improve.
When Salaad last tried a trip in 2022, Al-Shabaab ambushed him and seized the rented motorbike he was riding. They burned the goods he was transporting worth $700 and demanded a $200 ransom to get the motorbike back that he couldn’t pay.
A local agreement that people wouldn’t be held responsible for property burned during such attacks saved him from further loss, as the vehicle owner did not make him pay.
Meanwhile, Sulameyman Muqtar Ibrahim, a father of 10, returned to work on 18 April transporting goods using a donkey cart. He made three trips in two weeks carrying goods from Baidoa to Hudur and Wajid.
“The road has been opened for us, and our situation is better now,” he said. “Donkey carts used to be burned when we travelled, but now we can move freely and safely. Whoever can walk uses their feet. Whoever has a vehicle uses it.”
In 2021 and 2022, Sulameyman lost his donkey cart and goods twice to Al-Shabaab attacks. After that, he had no way to support his family. When the road reopened, relatives pooled together $150 to buy him a new donkey cart, giving him another chance.
He charges between $20 and $30 per trip, depending on the distance, mostly to Abagbeday and Hudur.
Since the road opened, a combination of making a decent income and the smoother flow of supplies to the area has eased the cost of living.
“The half-sack of rice that used to cost $30 is now $16. Prices have dropped. We can buy rice, flour, maize, whatever we need. I no longer depend on aid. I feel relieved,” Sulameyman said.
Market activity has picked up significantly for small traders since the blockade was lifted and roads opened.
Fadumo Dahir Aali, a single mother raising six orphaned children in Wajid district, reopened her small shop, five years after closing it due to lack of supplies and high prices.
“Since 15 April I’ve ordered supplies twice, including clothes, goods, and vegetables,” she said. “Things come easily now. If they are sent in the morning, they arrive by evening. We stand by the road and goods are delivered to us. We place phone orders and they can be brought by motorcycles and cars. We also ask relatives in Baidoa to buy things for us and send what we need.”
“I reopened my business with a loan. What I earn covers daily needs, but not much more. I still need to save for school fees and rent. I’m not self-sufficient yet. We used to get just dinner at night but now we have breakfast and dinner. We hope to add lunch soon, god willing!”
Fadumo plans to enroll two of her school-aged children in classes. She also paid $15 for one month’s rent. Additionally she is working to clear the $200 she owes to local shops when she had to take food for her children on credit during the worst of times.
After 12 years of isolation, livelihoods in Bay and Bakool regions are slowly recovering. Daily labour jobs, small businesses, and transport services have resumed, bringing relief to families who had long been trapped in poverty and fear. The recent Somali government offensive against Al-Shabaab may have added pressure to life the area blockade.
