Eastern Zone DCSA

4. CONCLUSION
Though there has been a marked reduction in armed conflict in
Mogadishu’s Eastern Zone, the state of security still remains
volatile. There were reports indicating the proliferation of small
arms and illegal operations carried out by unknown militia groups
for the purposes of extortion. Petty theft and targeted killings were
the most common security concerns put forward by the qualitative
research participants.
A largely ineffective security apparatus: lacking in facilities,
equipment, resources and an effective coordination mechanism;
only serves to exacerbate the volatile security problem. It was
claimed that the police seldom respond to violent crimes. The
presence of AMISOM troops did not effectively fill the security
provision gap in the opinion of the research participants, perhaps
because the participants were not well informed as to the extent of
the mission’s mandate. AMISOM nonetheless was perceived to have
had a deterrent effect on potential violent elements.
The local administrations also suffer in terms of service delivery and
outreach within the community. Most of the respondents were not
aware that there is any form of local government and those who
were, were not particularly knowledgeable about the sort of
services provided.
In sum, while there are indications that the holistic situation is
improving in the districts there is still a long way to go in delivering
adequate justice, security and governance services. There is a need
for investment to strengthen the security apparatus, empowering
the formal security and justice providers, as well as taking steps to
tackle the proliferation of small arms.
In addition to this, the justice system has suffered adversely from
years of conflict and lacks the trust of the community. The courts
have fallen into disrepair and are under-funded, and the judges fear
that carrying out their mandate puts them in danger of reprisals.
The void they leave is filled by traditional elders who, whilst
managing to maintain some semblance of peace and order, are also
accused by the police of interference and can be perceived to be
undermining the formal justice system.
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