Kisenyi: a haven for Somali tranquility or scams?

By Patrick Jaramogi

MANY people perceive Kisenyi, a shanty neighbourhood in Kampala city to be nothing more than a haven for thugs, pick-pockets and those who snatch people’s bags and phones. As such, it is a place to be a dreaded or so we believe.

But this, admittedly one of the filthiest and supposedly the largest crime-ridden slums in Kampala, located just a stone’s throw away from the central business district is a paradise to the Somali refugees who call it home.

An estimated 10,000 Somali refugees and nationals inhabit the wooden shacks and shanty residential blocks strewn across the maze of dusty streets and pot-hole ridden roads in Kisenyi.

To these Somali nationals, who are no ordinary refugees, the slum is a welcome home way from home. “Somaliland”, so they call it.

It is common to see groups of between three to five Somalis seated and standing together, a sign they say depicts solidarity, togetherness and unity.

As the wind blows through the dusty streets and the noise from the banging of steel fills the air, sending chills in the brain, a cross section of the refugees are busy smoking cigarettes and chewing miraa (a local drug).

Since the early 1970s, the Somalis have left behind a trail of influence in this filthy slum, leaving many Ugandans who could not adopt to their culture, no option, but to abandon the area.

“We tried to adapt to the culture of Uganda but found it rather hard. So we had to devise means to continue with our usual Somali life,” says Mahmud Hassan, a hotel proprietor in Kiganda zone Kisenyi.

The refugees lead a typical Somali life; they have huge families, some with more than three wives but all living in harmony under one roof.

Prayer is conducted faithfully at the nearby Tawhid mosque. Most families have between five to eight children.
It is common to find camel meat and milk on sale in Kisenyi. It is a delicacy for the Somali . Camel meat costs sh5,000 a kilo and the milk costs sh3,000 a litre. But the supply rarely meets the demand here.

Camel meat sells like hot cakes.
The milk, which is purchased daily from Kenya is known to last up to six months without going bad even when not refrigerated.

“The milk arrives in Kampala by 7:00am everyday by an Akamba bus, while the camel meat is slaughtered right here every weekend,” says Hassan Hussein, the chairman of the Somali Community in Uganda. The camels that weigh over 500 kilos are transported in fuso trucks from Moroto every week.

“A few Ugandans who have acquired a taste for camel meat flock here every weekend for the meat, especially the hump that has special oil,” says Hussein.
This flourishing Somali culture is supported by an equally prosperous economic life, at least for some.

Kisenyi is among the places in Kampala synonymous with metal fabrication and flour milling machines.

Many of the Somalis who have earned themselves Ugandan citizenship, own huge businesses, shops, buildings, as well as lodges, guesthouses and hotels, but their source of wealth is still shrouded in mystery.

The rising guesthouses have put a positive mark on Kisenyi, dispelling the belief that Kisenyi is a haven of crime. In fact, Hussein claims that at least $3m (sh5.2b) is in circulation among the refugees in Kisenyi.

Hussein attributes the success of the Somalis to the fact that they are united and work as a team. “They are refugees, but many lead even better lives than some Ugandan nationals.

Because they are hard working, they are able to save and start businesses on their own,” he says.

Moses Nkoyoyo, the defence secretary, Muzata Zone in Kisenyi says: “These Somalis have lived here for as long as we know.

They are refugees but they are hard working. They own businesses and we have no problem with that, as long as they maintain peace, which they do.”

But many observers maintain that Hussein’s assertion is far from what actually happens in Kisenyi. They claim that the life Somalis live is so luxurious for the jobless refugees.

Somalis attribute their survival to businesses, but questions linger about how their wealth was acquired.
“We know for a fact that these refugees operate in secret and you need an owl’s eye to ascertain how they attain their wealth and how much it is,” said a senior Internal Security Organisation official who preferred anonymity.

A special branch police officer at Old Kampala Police Station attached to Kisenyi says: “We can’t rule out crime. We have received reports of money laundering, drug abuse, fights and sexual abuse, but whenever we try to establish the truth and apprehend the culprits, we fail to get sufficient evidence to pin.”

The New Vision independently established that it takes less than three minutes for one to get over $500,000 (sh852m) wired from America, Canada or the UK to Uganda.

Money laundering is the act or practice of engaging in illegal specific financial money transactions, metaphorically termed “cleaning of money”. It involves the transfer of money through several countries in order to obscure its origin.

The most common types of criminals who launder money are drug traffickers, embezzlers, corrupt politicians and public officials, mobsters, terrorists and con artists.

“People get money wired from any part of the world in minutes. And the money is cashed in dollars. Now even prominent Ugandan business personalities throng these places for dollars,’ says Hussein.

In one of the shops that serves as a forex bureau as well as offices, computers with internet access are on display to hoodwink law enforcers and local authorities. But just inside the inner room, the real transaction of illegal money transfers take place.

Just about a week ago, Mohammed, aged 17, was kidnapped and whisked away in a speeding vehicle soon after getting $10,000 (sh17.5m) from one of the shops.

Notably, a case of kidnap was reported to Old Kampala Police Station, though it was reported that only $1,000 (sh1.75m) was snatched from him.

Hussein, however, defends the transactions: “The money that they receive is from their relatives who migrated and settled in Europe.”

This type of transaction is worrying to the Bank of Uganda, the controllers of cash flow in the nation, who say such a scenario can lead to inflation.

“What they are doing is wrong and it is against the law. Once we get proof, we shall alert the relevant authorities to avert that,” says a senior bank official in charge of foreign exchange.

Disaster preparedness state minister Musa Ecweru, who is responsible for refugees, recently sounded a warning to the Somalis: “As refugees they are not supposed to engage in activities that may jeopardise their status.

In any case, they are supposed to live in settlement camps unless they have urban refugee status,” he said.

Refugees with urban refugee status are those granted permission by the Prime Minister’s Office to engage in gainful employment in urban centres.

Ecweru, who promised to investigate the saga warned those involved: “This should act as a warning. Those nabbed will have their refugee status evoked and they will be deported.”

But as we wait for the investigations to yield results, it is business as usual for Somali refugees.