Africa: What Al-Shabaab Understands About Somali Authority

[African Arguments] In south-central Somalia, a trader knows what to expect at an al-Shabaab checkpoint.

The rate is fixed, set out in a published schedule.

The receipt allows passage through the next checkpoint without paying again.

If the assessment seems unfair, there is a court the trader can appeal to.

This is how a Mogadishu-based NGO director described the system to The New Humanitarian last September.

At a federal government roadblock, by contrast, the soldier demands a bribe that he pockets himself, which means the ...