Eastern Zone DCSA

that “massive arbitrary arrests have damaged citizens’ relations
with the police” and recommended that police operations become
more targeted 28 .
Figure 23: Reason for choice of traditional elders as the most
trusted informal security provider
This suggests that the high levels of preference for traditional elders
as informal security providers were informed more by the ease of
access than by the community’s prejudice against the police.
Many of the qualitative research participants sympathised with the
Police and Somali National Army (SNA) claiming that the national
security providers are not taken care of compared to their
counterparts (AMISOM) 29 . The elders’ group discussion participants
noted, “Somali security providers neither receive enough or regular
salary nor medical care or compensation when they are injured or
die in service 30 .
Figure 24: Respondents’ level of trust in the formal security
provider (Police) (by gender)
Despite the low levels of preference, the formal security providers
still scored generally well in terms of trust, with 80% of the
respondents citing fairly high and very high levels of trust (Fig 24).
28 Zone Police Commissioner, Key Informant Interview, Eastern Zone, 23
March 2014
29 Traditional Elders, Focus Group Discussion, Eastern Zone, 4 March 2014
30 Traditional Elders, Focus Group Discussion, Eastern Zone, 4 March 2014
18