The Somali government mandates the compulsory installation of CCTV cameras on homes

[Deeq A.]

A CCTV camera installed on a retail outlet in a Mogadishu market.

Mogadishu (PP News Desk) — Several months ago, the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) issued instructions obliging retailers, wholesalers, and business outlet owners in Mogadishu to install CCTV cameras on their premises. Businesses were initially reluctant to follow these instructions from NISA. However, threats of heavy fines for non-compliance caused the number of CCTVs installed in shops and food stores to increase rapidly.

By issuing the directive, NISA failed to consider the fears of business owners who faced reprisals in the form of targeted explosions on premises fitted with CCTV. Anti-government forces view CCTV as a powerful surveillance system and deterrence used by security forces to foil planned assassinations and suicide bombings in Mogadishu. “Unlike government offices, businesses do not have a 24/7 security detail. That is why we fear being targeted by forces that oppose the installation of CCTV on business premises,” said a merchant in Bakara Market. Explosions intended to dissuade business owners from installing CCTV cameras on their premises have resulted in the deaths of many people and significant loss of wealth.

Keen to pass the cost of securing Mogadishu onto its citizens.The Mayor of Mogadishu, Yusuf Hussein Jimale.

NISA deployed plainclothes officers in different parts of Mogadishu’s main streets and the Bakara Market. The Federal Government of Somalia has resolved to extend the CCTV scheme to residential areas. Residents in Mogadishu districts have been instructed to install CCTV cameras, a move seen as enriching a select group of businessmen who are planning to import CCTV equipment to profit from the soon-to-be mandatory CCTVs for residents in Mogadishu.

The Mayor of Mogadishu, Yusuf Hussein Jimale, is reportedly aware of and in favour of this scheme to put pressure on every family to buy a CCTV camera, despite already facing higher electricity bills for lighting the exterior of their buildings at night. The plan includes installing CCTV cameras in ordinary residential areas. NISA officers knock on doors and tell residents that they must install CCTV cameras on their houses. The Federal Government of Somalia is unnecessarily passing the cost of securing Mogadishu onto its citizens.

© Puntland Post, 2024

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