(ERGO) – The imposition by the Al-Shabaab group of additional payments on the owners of vehicles transporting sand in Baidoa has prevented hundreds of displaced workers from making a living for their families.
Jamal Hassan Mohamed, with a household of 10, says he has been unable to provide sufficient food for his family since July. He extracts sand at sites outside the city and transports it for construction use – but cannot afford to pay the new tax.
“Our living conditions are extremely difficult,” he said. “People in the areas outside the city have prohibited the work, and we’ve been forced to stay at home. Before, we had a source of income to support our household expenses, but now we are unemployed.”
Jamal, 50, said he earned $7 to $10 a day from the work, enabling him as sole breadwinner to provide three meals a day for his family. They struggle to get water, as he can’t afford the $0.25 per 20-litre container of water at the Deg-umur IDP camp where they live. He and his wife now walk for an hour to a privately owned shallow well to ask for a single 20-litre container of water.
“We used to cook three times a day, but now we only cook once,” he complained. “I go around the city asking people for help saying, brother please help me with one dollar or a kilogram of sugar or whatever you can.”
Three of his children were expelled from school and Koranic classes this month after he was unable to pay their fees of $30. He is worried about their future with no education. He has not managed to find any casual labour jobs in the city.
Jamal’s family was displaced in 2022, from Berdale in Bay region where their five-hectare farm failed due to several consecutive seasons of drought.
Nuradin Macalin Aadan, another sand excavator, is struggling to provide for his family of eight. He goes round appealing for assistance in the neighbourhoods but gets very little. He even has to beg for water.
For the past four years, he had earned $7 to $10 a day selling sand. He has no other job skills. The family is burdened by $35 in outstanding fees owed to a Koranic and a regular school for two months. He has been refused credit for food from a local shop.
Nuradin, who has lived in Doygaab IDP camp for two years, said he can only hope that something might change.
“What worries me most is how I will meet our household expenses and provide for our lives. Since we lost our jobs, we have accumulated many debts, and our children’s lives have become extremely difficult. We keep praying that God will make it possible for us to find work,” he said. “What is most important for us now is to be allowed to return to work.”
Vehicle owners have attempted to continue transporting sand discreetly, but their efforts were halted when Al-Shabaab seized three vehicles, heightening fears among others for their safety and property.
Nuradin’s family was displaced from Goof-gaduud Buurey, Baidoa, in 2024 after severe drought destroyed the four-hectare farm they depended on.
A member of the transporters’ committee representing the workers, Abdinasir Abdi Ali, told Radio Ergo that the restrictions have had a major impact on families with no alternative sources of income.
“We are currently facing serious challenges due to excessive payments that have been imposed on us, which we are unable to afford. There are now even vehicles being held by Al-Shabaab because of these payments and related issues. We are facing extremely serious difficulties as a result of these circumstances,” he told Radio Ergo.
Abdinasir said many poor displaced families depended on the sand excavation and transportation business. He said each vehicle had been required to pay $200 per month that was unaffordable to the operators. He called for their grievances to be addressed urgently.
