Mogadishu (AX) — A resettlement drive for families displaced by Mogadishu’s ongoing informal-settlement reorganization has begun, with the Banadir Regional Administration identifying land for more than 1,000 households in Gubadley district.
During an inspection of the designated site on Monday, Mogadishu Mayor and Banadir Governor Hassan Mohamed Hussein Muungaab said the first phase would accommodate 1,058 families.
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The planned settlement will provide essential services and facilities, including clean water, electricity, a mosque, a health centre, a market and a public school.
Officials said the programme is designed to move affected residents into a safer, more structured environment with access to basic services.
Muungaab said the initiative would be sustained and extended to other districts where the administration has obtained land for additional resettlement sites.
The project is part of wider government efforts to improve urban planning and ensure that people affected by redevelopment and settlement clearances can obtain suitable housing and essential services.
The launch follows a call by the Union of Somali Ulema Councils for the federal government to stop actions that undermine citizens’ property rights, amid mounting complaints about land disputes, demolitions and forced evictions in parts of Mogadishu.
The council said it had received numerous complaints from residents who claimed to hold valid ownership documents but said their properties had been contested, taken or subjected to charges without a clear legal basis.
The clearance campaign has displaced hundreds of families and prompted protests as well as political opposition.
Residents and government critics have accused officials of mishandling public land and enabling land grabs connected to private business interests.
Authorities have defended the demolitions, saying the operations are intended to recover public land, remove obstructions from roads and advance urban redevelopment projects.
