Mogadishu qat market, Somalia

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Somalia is featured in The Long Road to Cullaville

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Chapter 11 · Operation Pepernoot

Somalia is one of the most intense chapters in my award-winning book The Long Road to Cullaville: at the foot of the ruins of Mogadishu, I connected with people determined to build a better life in one of the world's most challenging destinations.

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[Visited: December 2014]

We have seen stalls selling qat at several places around the city, but we are now parked in a street leading to the main qat market of Mogadishu and, inevitably, the entire country. Just when I start wondering why the driver has left the car, and the guide is on the phone, a big truck with guys standing on its load passes by. I want to get out, but for the first time, one of the armed guards in the back of our pick-up truck pushes me back in; apparently, it is not safe. The daily cargo plane from Kenya has landed, and its cargo is fresh qat. More trucks pass by, and minivans with women, plus a crowd of people with bags made of cloth on their back. My guide tells me that they contain money.
When the madness outside gets a little less, the driver jumps in, starts the car, and we stop after another hundred metres. To our right, we see stalls with beige coloured linen on top; to our left, an open space, with dust whirling above it. The men on top of the trucks are now throwing big bags with qat down, and other men put them on their backs, and run away, towards the stalls. To me, it seems amazing: all these bundles represent a high value, yet, they are thrown overboard without hesitation. How can they know that the person standing on the ground, is the right one? I want to walk to the market, but according to both the guards and the guide, this is not safe. There is a frenetic energy here, there is lots of money involved, people are nervous, and I guess that they are right.
The men run directly from the trucks to the stalls, where the supply of fresh qat is directly taken out of the jute bags, and traded to the hawkers who will take it to their stalls and sell the stuff. Just in time for buyers to have a bunch of freshly imported qat to chew on in the afternoon. In a matter of minutes, the trucks have disposed their cargo; it feels like we have seen a movie played fast forward. Tuk-tuks drive away with a big bundle of qat next to the new owner, men run by with a bag on their shoulders: the qat will now quickly find its way to whoever wants to chew it, wherever he is. I am not surprised to see the guards in the back of our pick-up with a small bundle, too.

Mogadishu qat market, Somalia

Somalia is featured in The Long Road to Cullaville

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