Gun prices soar in Mogadishu ahead of Somalia’s presidential elections 

The price of an AK-47, the standard weapon of Somali Army and militias, has soared on gun markets ahead of a fraught ballot this weekend, when the new Lawmakers will select the country’s next president at Afisioni Compound…

Parliamentarians from Somalia’s lower and upper houses will decide on 15 May from a list of 39 candidates that includes two former presidents, an ex-prime minister, as well as the second term-seeking incumbent, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, known as “Farmajo”.

Tensions are high in the run-up to the vote, especially in Mogadishu; the capital, and the stronghold of the powerful Hawiye clan, who are opposed to Farmajo, Armed clashes broke out in April 2021 when politicians resisted Farmajo’s attempt to extend his first term by two years. The president said it was to allow long-delayed elections to be held, but his critics interpreted it as a “power grab”.

The fear is that a disputed vote on Sunday could trigger even worse violence. As a result, the price of a standard AK-47 has more than doubled since last year – up by nearly 40 percent in just the last few months, according to research by The New Humanitarian among gun traders, Demand is also high for belt-fed PKM machine guns and RPGs, the equipment needed for full-scale fighting, said Mogadishu-based gun merchant Ali Nur.

The lawmakers meeting on Sunday will do so in an airport and diplomatic zone protected by African Union forces, deployed for the past 15 years to prop up governments in Mogadishu, If political violence does break out, the “little security gains will be reversed and will strengthen al-Shabab to retake urban towns that had been liberated years ago”, Dahir Hassan, a security analyst and former Somali military officer, told The New Humanitarian. “The group [has already gained] more power because the government has shifted its focus from security to politics.”