MOGADISHU, Somalia — Former President of Federal Republic of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has been accused of giving away country’s air-forces’ land to private and foreign companies in Mogadishu.
Mr. Mohamud allegedly gave away the land that belonged to the Somali Air-force to companies, such as Hormuud Telecom company and
The disputed land locates near country’s airport in Mogadishu.
Somali air-force chief, Mohamud Sheikh Ali Mohamed says the country’s land was given away to Somali private and foreign companies based in the capital of Mogadishu.
Mohamed says it had also been seized the land for government use only to reallocate to private businesses, politicians and wealthy people.
70% of Mogadishu court cases are related to land disputes, after the fall of government in 1991, private citizens saved almost all the land records and titles from being destroyed, according to Mohamed.
The current government led by President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has allegedly so far failed to return land to the Somali Air-force.
Last year, Mogadishu regional court chairman Aweys Abdullahi Wehliye vowed to expedite the hearing of all land cases to ensure the rightful owners of land and property in the city get justice.
Wehliye said the court will seek to end illegal land and property ownership and ensure the original owners get them back.
Mogadishu has for more than two decades been one of the most highly contested cities in the world.
Since the collapse of President Siyad Barre’s government in early 1991, it has been the object of both military and political struggles almost without interruption.
Land disputes are not simply a result of the conflict that engulfed the city following the 1991 state collapse—land administration was weak and open to abuse long before the outbreak of conflict, and poor urban planning had prompted the disorderly growth of the city since the colonial period.
Land matters in Mogadishu argued for a sustainable, long-term and holistic approach to land and property rights.
It concludes that, while there are no quick fixes, there are immediate steps that can be taken.
