Roads Network

Content

General Conditions

Somalia has a road network extending over some 15,000 Km, which almost all the main roads are in a severe and very bad condition due to lack of proper maintenance caused by the prolonged civil war. There are five major roads in the country, which connects the main water corridors to the inland towns. Two are from the port of Mogadishu, one from the northwest port of Berbera, and single routes from both Bossaso and Kismayo. The corridors are entirely served by road since Somalia has no railway line. There are also two routes connecting to Djibouti and Somaliland respectively.

Road Network

From Mogadishu To Baidoa

This route is paved and in good condition runs to Baidoa (246 km) from the port of Mogadishu. From Baidoa all the roads to other various districts and adjacent regions are either gravel road or dirt roads. There are three main trade routes, which link the region, and its main districts and the neighbouring regions. One runs towards Lug, which is under gravel and then proceeds to the border (Ethiopia-Somalia) town of Dolo. The second route passes through Qansaxdhere to Bardera which then proceeds to the Border (Kenya-Somalia) town of Mandera. This road up to Bardera its gravel however, due to lack of proper maintenance it is impassable during the rainy season. The third one runs through Wajid and the rest of Bakool region. This road is gravel, however quite accessible during the dry seasons.

All these roads have suffered lack of maintenance. There are quite a number of big holes, which cause frequent and dangerous detours to heavy trucks. During rainy season all the above roads are impassable and are extremely dangerous. There are two bridges one is in Afgoi (30 Kms) from Mogadishu, the other one is close to Bur Hakaba, which is 180 Km from Mogadishu, and both bridges are currently in very good shape. The security situation is an area of concern. The tarmac road, which connects Mogadishu to Baidoa, is totally closed since the war between RRA and Aidid's faction broke out in 1998. Most of the secondary roads to and/or from Baidoa/Huddur are infested with mines by both the two warring groups. WFP accordingly has to utilise the longer route to deliver humanitarian assistance to Bay/Bakool community, which enormously increases the transport costs for humanitarian aid organization or the commercial cargoes.

To Gorowe, Through Jowhar - Beletweyne - Dusamareb - Galkaio

This is the main internal route network linking the capital to the central and northern regions. It also connects to Ethiopia through Feer-Feer after Beletweyne. This route basically serves the central regions of Somalia. The road although paved, it is in bad condition. Between Mogadishu - Jowhar (90 Kms) the road is very rough and uncarpeted which creates a lot of detours to the heavy trucks. During rainy season the road becomes impassable and thus, both commercial cargo and WFP utilizes coastal sandy routes which, runs through Adale-Biyo Ade-Jowhar or Adale-Aden Yabala-B/Burte/J/Laqasi. The road then continues through J/Laqsi to B/Burte, fairly in good condition. However, it is passable during all seasons. Up to Beletweyne, the road is paved and in good condition. From Beletweyne, the road runs towards Dhusomareeb to Galkaio.

Security is the main concern. Since the total pullout of the multinational forces there has been chaos in the area. In the aftermath of UNOSOM, it has been appointed a precarious local administration in the various districts that benefit this particular route to look after the security in the area. However, it has failed to maintain security after UNOSOM Era. There are currently free lance militias from the faction leaders who control the area who have erected different checkpoints to extort money from the bypasses.

To Kismayo, Through Jilib

This road serves and connects the two ports in the southern Somalia Mogadishu - Kismayo ports (500 Kms). On the eve of the Somali civil war, the hosted government tried to maintain this road but it could not complete it on time to repair this vital road which links between Mogadishu, Merca and Kismayo. From this main road, there are other feeder roads, which go to the Banana and crop production areas. Road condition between Mogadishu and Shalambod (10 Km from Merca) is very poor condition. Heavy trucks and light mini busses perform very difficult trips to reach to Merca Natural Port. Since there is no efficient administration to maintain roads in the last ten years, traders who mostly utilise the road had once tried but failed to do so.

Beyond Bulo and Golwein, the road continues to be passable with the exception of some points where trucks either proceed with low speed or bypass road. There are two bridges; one was completely destroyed during the early days of the civil war while the other one was recently destroyed. Later on some local traders have succeeded to repair Kamsuma Bridge by lying up and erecting wooden trestles removed from trailers over the river. Presently the bridge is used to move food commodities and other building materials. The route also serves the other two southern natural ports along the southern coast of Somalia, namely Merca and Brava. It was both used and was discovered by the Portuguese/Italian invaders during colonial period. By the time they landed in Brava, they fixed their base in Brava and used the facility for different purposes including military.

From Barbera To Hargeisa.

The port of Berbera is connected to the hinterland but an all tarmac road via Darburuk to Hargeisa (147 Km) which is the principal town in northwest Somalia (Somaliland). The first 20 Kms from the port is in good condition especially within Berbera town. Thereafter, the condition of the road is satisfactory except the flash flood cross sections, broken edges, and sand deposits. All bridges between Tarbuuk and Hargeisa - four were blown up during the civil wars, which are currently being repaired. In practice, the vehicles have to make detours from the main road and pass via side tracks to cross the steep riverbeds at the bridge points before climbing to join the main road again. The soft sand deposits across such riverbeds make crossing difficult particularly for loaded cargo trucks.

From Djibouti To Hargeisa, Through Boroma-

This route has a paved surface and which forms part of the circuit of the Berbera-Hargeisa-Djibouti loop. According to available information indicates that the daily traffic level on the road between Djibouti and Hargeisa average around 20 trucks.

To Berbera

This route runs along the Gulf of Aden coastline joining the two parts. Before the war, EU had set an agreement with Government of Somalia for upgrading this road to asphalt surface. However, this was discontinued after the outbreak of the civil war in 1991.

From Bossaso To Galkaio, Through Garda

This is the main internal network linking the northern states of Mudug, Nugal and Bari to the central states of Middle Shabelle, Hiran and Galgaduud. The road joins the ports of Bossaso and Mogadishu. This road route provides important linkages between the fertile agricultural and food surplus areas of Juba, Shabelle Bakool and Hiran with the deficit areas in the north. Many of these major roads are in a poor condition. Roads have suffered from lack of maintenance and hence, greatly deteriorated. This has been exacerbated by the deliberate destruction of the bridges along the main truck roads in the country. Recent flooding has washed away the few remained sections of the main roads especially in the southern parts of Somalia. This necessitated transport vehicles utilise bypass roads and proceed through difficult and dangerous detours. Similarly, some road sections are covered by sand deposits during rain season, particularly, along the flat road sections. Also, due to the continuous clashes and clan rivalries in parts of Somalia some major road linkages were mined, as was the main road connecting Mogadishu to Baidoa region.