By Fuad Ahmed
Friday, August 22, 2014
Mogadishu — Since the Somali Ministry of National Security started offering cash rewards to citizens for providing information on al-Shabaab, ten attacks have been prevented in Mogadishu in the past two months, ministry officials said.
Based on the success of the cash rewards programme, the ministry said it intends to continue offering monetary compensation to informants.
"This programme is spearheaded by the ministry, but it is something that the administration is aware of and has welcomed and encouraged," Somali government spokesman Ridwan Haji Abdiweli told Sabahi. "It is a good step, which shows tremendous progress. We hope to boost the reward [programme] and any other effort aimed at combating criminals."
Abdiweli reassured citizens that the identity of informants would be kept confidential and that terrorist suspects would not be released without due process. He said the public should feel satisfied with the government's efforts to maintain security and seek justice.
Government officials declined to reveal the amount of money awarded.
"For various reasons, we are not prepared to disclose the [amount of] money we are giving, however it is a high reward," Ministry of National Security spokesman Mohamed Yusuf Osman told Sabahi. "The individual who is given a reward is a person who provides information that leads to the arrest of a criminal or the capture of illegal weapons."
Retired Somali army Colonel Dahir Timaadde said he welcomed the Ministry of National Security's efforts, but expressed doubt about its ability to continue offering rewards.
"This is not the first time we have heard that the government is going to give rewards to people who share information on acts that threaten security, and I think the public should be educated more on how they can all take part in [ensuring] security since it is their lives and property that are being protected," he told Sabahi.
"But the Ministry of National Security's unwillingness to provide additional information about the [amount of] money to be awarded to people who provide al-Shabaab intelligence indicates this programme was rushed," he said.
Timaadde urged the ministry to make sure it delivers on its promise and pays the monetary reward to citizens who invest a lot of time and effort into preventing acts of terror.
'Stand together against al-Shabaab'
Shamso Mohamed, a 27-year-old resident of Mogadishu's Hamar Weyne district, said the rewards programme is a step in the right direction since the way to defeat al-Shabaab is for the government to establish closer ties with citizens who want to provide intelligence.
"If the Somali Ministry of National Security continues giving out this reward, many unemployed people will take advantage of the opportunity to spy for the government and share information about al-Shabaab," she told Sabahi, adding that al-Shabaab uses similar financial enticement to attract spies against the government.
Mohamed called on the public not to see the rewards as advancing private interests, but as a general effort to protect the people of the country against terrorism.
Warsame Ali, a 51-year-old traditional elder from Mogadishu, says he welcomes every effort to protect the Somali people.
"As a traditional elder, I am calling on all the Somali people to work together to ensure the safety of the capital, Mogadishu," he told Sabahi.
"If we are successful in collaboratively ensuring the safety of Mogadishu, we can certainly be a good example for the people of the other regions of the country so they can emulate us and stand together against al-Shabaab," he said.
Shukri Mohamed contributed to this report from Mogadishu