Bartamaha (Mogadishu):- Dawn at Nairobi’s international airport. A solitary giraffe outside the perimeter fence. Herds of foreign tourists heading on safari, draped in khaki and cameras.
At Gate 4, a noticeably sombre atmosphere – perhaps 60 Somalis preparing to board a scheduled flight for Mogadishu. One man recognises me and cameraman Phil Davies from a previous trip we made about seven years ago. He used to be a journalist but not now.
Mogadishu has been left in ruins by two decades of conflict
he poll reveals a resilient population – overwhelmingly optimistic about eventual peace, but worried about the short term.
- Ninety-two percent of households say they’re are unable to meet their basic needs.
- More than half feel the world has forgotten Somalia.
- As for al Shabab – the opposition – a full 71% of respondents see them as a force for bad.
- Seventy-two percent are unwilling to see them in power.
- Just over half of all respondents believe African Union peacekeepers now controlling roughly half the city can end years of conflict in Somalia.
- Fifty-seven percent of the randomly selected households live in makeshift camps under plastic or iron sheeting.
- Forty-one percent are illiterate.
- In a country with nothing resembling a social safety net – only 27% of those interviewed consider themselves unemployed.
- And one percent, retired.
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- SOURCE:- BBC NEWS.
