Eastern Zone DCSA

A proportion of respondents reported that the performance of the
police had actually improved compared to the previous year. Almost
half (48%) of the sampled population acknowledged improvement
with a further 40% stating that there had been no change (Fig 25).
Figure 25: Respondents' perception of the performance of the
police - yearly trend (by gender)
sustainable over a long time, the funding could be diverted to build,
train and pay the Somali National Army (SNA) 31 .
A Women’s focus group discussion participant surmised that the
“Somali army can chase after the enemy and deal with them, but
the AMISOM officers just protect senior government officers and
[occupy] the country’s most strategic areas such as the airport,
seaports, military bases and schools. They are never serious about
32
their fight against Al-Shabaab” .
There is an assumption with the presence of AMISOM, peace is
gradually being restored to Mogadishu; however, many (not all) of
the qualitative research participants disagreed - arguing that the
mission has had a deleterious effect on the security situation: “the
emergence of suicide attacks and other atrocities is new and did not
33
precede AMISOM” .
Those who supported AMISOM argued that the mission is successful
and claimed that the gradual restoration of peace to the country
would not have existed without this mission: “When there is a
strong wind, one needs protection and AMISOM offers protection
34.
against insecurity” said one participant
3.2.4. Perception of AMISOM
Researchers sought participants’ perception of the African Union
Mission in Somalia (AMISOM); a proportion of the participants
disparaged the mission. The reasons varied from the perceived huge
sums spent on AMISOM operation that was not commensurate with
performance, to the argument that since such operations are not
One participant pointed out that if AMISOM withdraws from an
35
area, local residents move with AMISOM - though this indicates a
lack of sustainability surrounding the security operations.
31 Women Group, Focus Group Discussion, Eastern Zone, 3 March 2014
32 Women Group, Focus Group Discussion, Eastern Zone, 3 March 2014
33 Men’s Group, Focus Group Discussion, Eastern Zone, 3 March 2014
34 Business Group, Focus Group Discussion, Eastern Zone, 3 March 2014
35 Business Group, Focus Group Discussion, Eastern Zone, 3 March 2014
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