Mogadishu (WDN) — Shock and despair are spreading through the Buulo Eelaay neighborhood of Waaberi district, where hundreds of mostly low-income families say they have been ordered to leave homes they have occupied for decades, amid fears that bulldozers could soon arrive to demolish the properties.

Residents say they were given only a few days to vacate their homes. Many families have already begun moving their belongings, using small vehicles and donkey carts to transport what they can salvage.

For families living on the margins, the order has created an immediate humanitarian crisis. Women, children and elderly residents are among those being forced to confront an agonizing question: Where will we go?

Some families say they have neither the money to rent alternative accommodation nor the resources to cover the cost of moving. Others say they have received no clear information about whether the government has prepared relocation sites, compensation or any form of assistance.

“We do not know where we are supposed to go,” residents told WDN, describing a growing sense of fear and uncertainty across the neighborhood.

Buulo Eelaay, part of the Hantiwadaag area of Waaberi, is one of Mogadishu’s older neighborhoods. Its densely packed homes and narrow streets reflect decades of urban growth, with many residents saying their families have lived there for generations.

Residents argue that successive governments, including previous civilian administrations and the former military government, refrained from forcibly removing long-established families because of the economic vulnerability of the communities and the particular circumstances surrounding the area.

The latest developments have nevertheless reopened a much larger and increasingly bitter debate over land ownership in Mogadishu. Buulo Eelaay is reportedly not the only part of Mogadishu where residents have faced eviction or demolition in recent weeks. Similar complaints have emerged from parts of Tokyo neighborhood in Yaqshiid district, Karaan district and areas behind Juba Hotel.

Opposition politicians have also accused the Federal Government of pursuing a broader campaign to reclaim or reorganize land occupied by civilians, warning that the approach could trigger a new wave of displacement among some of the capital’s poorest residents.

Former President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, now a prominent opposition figure, has sharply criticized the government’s handling of land disputes, accusing the administration of what he described as the “auctioning” and seizure of public and privately occupied land.

“This is a major disaster that we condemn,” Sharif said, arguing that the government had moved from public land to settlements established during the collapse of the state and was now targeting properties that citizens claim to legally own.

Development or Displacement?

For families in Buulo Eelaay, the distinction is becoming increasingly difficult to see. Urban redevelopment may require roads to be widened, land to be reorganized and informal settlements to be regularized. But where families have lived for decades, any intervention raises difficult questions about property rights, due process, consultation and compensation.

Without clear answers, the bulldozer becomes more than a construction machine. It becomes a symbol of state power confronting people with little political or economic influence.

Residents are therefore calling on the government to suspend the eviction process, consult affected communities and establish a transparent mechanism for determining ownership and resolving disputes.

They also want authorities to clarify what will happen to families who are removed: Will they receive alternative housing? Compensation? Relocation assistance? Or simply be left to fend for themselves?

So far, residents say they have received few convincing answers. The controversy comes at a particularly sensitive moment for Somalia, when political tensions are already high and public confidence in state institutions remains fragile.

For a government seeking to strengthen its legitimacy, the treatment of vulnerable citizens during urban redevelopment could prove politically consequential.

Mogadishu needs roads, modern infrastructure and orderly land administration. But it also needs something equally fundamental: a government that protects its citizens while developing their city.

For the families of Buulo Eelaay, that principle is no longer an abstract question of governance. It is a question of whether they will still have a home when the bulldozers arrive.

WardheerNews