Mogadishu’s largest open-air market remains closed for the first day running due to taxes that the Somali Federal Gov’t imposed on the local traders. Some of the local traders at the Bakaara Market who spoke to the local media pledged not to turn up until the government addresses their concerns. The government interfered the tax row and spoke against the traders strike. The ministers responsible for internal security, religious affairs, and the information held a press conference in Mogadishu and rejected the strike that the local traders at the Bakaara Market organized. The deputy information minister said in the press conference that the government is aware of the local traders that are in close working cooperation with Al Shabab militant group. The minister reiterated that the government will take swift actions on those traders implicated that they closely work with Al-Shabab. He said: “The government has the information that people who directly or indirectly work with Al-Shabab.” The minister in charge of security, Mr. Abdilahi Ismail Fartag stressed that those who finance Al-Shabab will be held accountable. The religious affairs minister, Mukhtar Robow, said that the local traders have no excuse to support Al-Shabab by paying taxes to them. The traders expressed frustration over the failure to resolve the issue, citing new levies and “arbitrary” fees imposed by the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labor, police, and other government agencies. They highlighted that these additional burdens compound the dozens of existing taxes already stifling their operations, exacerbating inflation, eroding purchasing power, and fueling unemployment.
