NAVIGATING TRADE CONTROLS - THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF CHECKPOINTS ALONG SOMALIA’S GARISSA CORRIDOR

The corridor likely found its current form when the British colonial administration built the road from Kismayo to Garissa in the 1940s to expand its control over the Somali territories.3 Colonial authorities often maintained control posts to monitor the movement of people and livestock and impose the indirect taxes on which they largely relied. [...] Control of the port of Kismayo and associated checkpoints, which were vital to financing the militias, frequently changed hands in the power struggle between the major Darod clans: Ogaden, Majerteen and Marehan.9 For example, the UN Monitoring Group reports that the warlord Bare Hiiraale, extorted approximately USD 362,000 in annual revenues from control of the checkpoint at Kismayo airport during. [...] This included: the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) for the Majerteen clan; the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM) for the Ogaden clan; the Somali Democratic Movement (SDM) for the Raxanweyne; and the Somalia National Front (SNF) for the Marehan. [...] Most of the checkpoints in government- controlled territory are operated on behalf of the JSS by the Jubaland Security Forces (also known as Darwish) and are staffed by soldiers who may or may not belong to the clan residing where the checkpoints are located.44 A truck driver in Kismayo explains: ‘The clan of the current [Jubaland] president dominates the Jubaland administration. [...] To streamline the flow of goods, the bulk of the fees on the Kenyan side is not paid to the soldiers at the checkpoint but directly to their superiors by the client receiving the goods.