GARDO DISTRICT CONFLICT AND SECURITY ASSESSMENTocvp.org/docs/2015/3Wave/Gardo DCSA 2015.pdf · the main tarmac-road which connects Puntlands Bosaso and Galkayo towns, while it is

District Conflict and Security Assessment

Report

GARDO DISTRICT

APRIL 2015

GARDO DISTRICT CONFLICT AND SECURITY ASSESSMENT 2015

AUTHORS AND CONTRIBUTORS

Ismail Abdullahi Elmi (Lead Researcher, OCVP)

Roble Dahir (Researcher, OCVP)

Kenneth Mutinda (Researcher, OCVP)

Disclaimer

This report is not a legally binding document. It is an assessment document and does not necessarily reflect

the views of the institution in all its contents. Any errors are the sole responsibility of the authors.

©The Observatory of Conflict and Violence Prevention

All rights are reserved. Requests for permission to reproduce or translate OCVP’s publications – whether for

sale or for non-commercial distribution – should be addressed to the OCVP via email: [email protected]

Publications of OCVP can be obtained from our offices in Garowe, Puntland, or could be downloaded from our

website www.ocvp.org

mailto:[email protected]://www.ocvp.org/

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Observatory of Conflict and Violence Prevention (OCVP) would like to thank the interviewees and survey

participants who gave us their precious time and shared their thoughts on such sensitive issues.

We also thank the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom, for providing us

with the financial support needed to undertake this survey through the United Nations Development

Programme (UNDP) in Somalia.

Finally, we are grateful to the local authorities in Gardo District for giving us the permission to conduct this

assessment in the district.

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ABBREVIATIONS

DCSA District Conflict and Security Assessment

DDF District Development Framework

DFID Department for International Development

FGDs Focus Group Discussions

IDPs Internally Displaced Persons

JPLG UN Joint Programme on Local Governance and Decentralised Service Delivery

KIIs Key Informant Interviews

OCVP Observatory of Conflict and Violence Prevention

ODK Open Data Kit

PLAC Puntland Legal Aid Centre

SRS Systematic Random Sampling

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

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CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .................................................................................................................................................... I

ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................................................................... II

CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................................................... III

LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................................................... IV

LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................................................ VI

MAP OF STUDY AREA.................................................................................................................................................. VII

DISTRICT PROFILE ...................................................................................................................................................... VIII

SCOPE .......................................................................................................................................................................... IX

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................................. X

SECURITY PROVIDERS.............................................................................................................................................................. X JUSTICE PROVIDERS ................................................................................................................................................................ X GOVERNANCE PROVIDERS ....................................................................................................................................................... X CONFLICT AND VIOLENCE ........................................................................................................................................................ XI

1. METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................................................. 12

1.1. OVERVIEW ...................................................................................................................................................... 12

1.2. SAMPLING METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................................... 12 1.3. HOUSEHOLD SURVEY ............................................................................................................................................ 12 1.4. FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS .................................................................................................................................. 13 1.5. KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEWS ............................................................................................................................... 13

2. PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS .................................................................................................................................. 15

3. SECURITY, JUSTICE AND GOVERNANCE PROVIDERS ............................................................................................ 17

3.1. SECURITY PROVIDERS .................................................................................................................................... 17 3.1.1. Level of Deployment ..................................................................................................................................... 17 3.1.2. Preference of the Security Providers ........................................................................................................... 19 3.1.3. Level of Trust in Security Providers (formal and informal) ........................................................................ 20 3.1.4. Police Performance ...................................................................................................................................... 22

3.2. JUSTICE PROVIDERS ...................................................................................................................................... 24 3.2.1. Level of deployment .................................................................................................................................. 24 3.2.2. Performance of the Justice Providers .......................................................................................................... 26 3.2.3. Perception of the Justice Providers .............................................................................................................. 27

3.3. GOVERNANCE PROVIDERS ........................................................................................................................... 30 3.3.1. Level of deployment ..................................................................................................................................... 30 3.3.2. Performance of the Local Government ........................................................................................................ 31 3.3.3. Perception toward the Local Council .......................................................................................................... 34

4. CONFLICT AND VIOLENCE .................................................................................................................................... 36

4.1. EXPERIENCE OF CONFLICT ..................................................................................................................................... 36 4.2. EXPERIENCE OF CRIME AND VIOLENCE .................................................................................................................... 37 4.3. PERCEPTION OF SAFETY ........................................................................................................................................ 38

5. CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................................... 41

6. ANNEXES ............................................................................................................................................................. 42

6.1. SAMPLE SIZE FORMULA ........................................................................................................................................... 42 6.2 GLOSSARY OF TERMS .............................................................................................................................................. 43

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Respondents by gender ...................................................................................................................... 15

Figure 2: Age distribution of the respondents by gender ................................................................................. 15

Figure 3: Marital status of the respondents ...................................................................................................... 15

Figure 4: Respondents' education levels ........................................................................................................... 16

Figure 5: Respondents' education levels by gender .......................................................................................... 16

Figure 6: Respondents’ awareness of police presence ..................................................................................... 17

Figure 7: Respondents' awareness of police presence by sub divisions ........................................................... 17

Figure 8: Respondents knowledge of the number of police stations................................................................ 18

Figure 9: Respondents' estimation of distance to police station ...................................................................... 18

Figure 10: Respondents’ estimation of distance to police station by sub-division ........................................... 18

Figure 11: Respondents' preference of reporting civil matters ........................................................................ 19

Figure 12: Respondents' preference of reporting civil matters by gender ....................................................... 19

Figure 13: Respondents' preference of reporting petty crimes ........................................................................ 19

Figure 14: Respondents' preference of reporting petty crimes by gender ....................................................... 20

Figure 15: Respondents preference of reporting on serious crimes ................................................................. 20

Figure 16: Respondents preference of reporting on serious crimes by gender ................................................ 20

Figure 17: Most trusted security provider in responding to crime and violence .............................................. 20

Figure 18: Most trusted security provider in responding to crime and violence by gender ............................. 21

Figure 19: Respondents' Level of trust in Police ............................................................................................... 22

Figure 20: Respondents' level of trust in the police by gender ......................................................................... 22

Figure 21: Respondents’ perception of the performance of the police-year trend .......................................... 22

Figure 22: Respondents’ perception of the performance of the police-year trend by gender ........................ 23

Figure 23: Respondents’ perception of the performance of the police-year trend by sub-division................. 23

Figure 24: Respondents' awareness of the existence of courts ........................................................................ 24

Figure 25: Respondents' awareness of the existence of courts by sub-division ............................................... 24

Figure 26: Respondents' awareness of the number of courts .......................................................................... 25

Figure 27: Respondents' estimation of distance to closest court ..................................................................... 25

Figure 28: Respondents' estimation of distance to closest court by sub-division ............................................ 25

Figure 29: Usage of justice providers ................................................................................................................ 26

Figure 30: Usage of justice providers by gender ............................................................................................... 26

Figure 31: Respondents' choice of most trusted justice provider ..................................................................... 27

Figure 32: Respondents' choice of most trusted justice provider by gender ................................................... 27

Figure 33: Respondents’ level of confidence in the formal justice system ....................................................... 28

Figure 34: Respondents’ level of confidence in the formal justice system by gender ...................................... 28

Figure 35: Perception of the performance of the court: yearly trend .............................................................. 28

Figure 36: Perception of the performance of the court: year trend by gender ................................................ 29

Figure 37: Respondents' awareness of Local Council ........................................................................................ 30

Figure 38: Respondents' awareness of Local Council, by sub-division .............................................................. 31

Figure 39: Respondents' opinion regarding services provided by the local council ......................................... 31

Figure 40: Respondents' awareness of channels of communication ................................................................ 32

Figure 41: Respondents' awareness of channels of communication by sub-division ....................................... 33

Figure 42: Respondents' participation in Local Council meetings ..................................................................... 33

Figure 43: Respondents’ participation in Local Council meetings, by sub-division .......................................... 33

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Figure 44: Frequency of participation in consultations ..................................................................................... 33

Figure 45: Respondents’ perception towards elected representatives ............................................................ 34

Figure 46: Respondents' perception towards most pressing issues ................................................................. 34

Figure 47: Respondents' perception towards the local council (year after year) ............................................. 35

Figure 48: Respondents' perception towards the local council by sub-division ............................................... 35

Figure 49: Account of witnessing conflict between clans or subgroups ........................................................... 36

Figure 50: Account of witnessing conflict between clans or groups by sub-division ........................................ 36

Figure 51: Account of witnessing conflict between clans or groups by gender ................................................ 37

Figure 52: Number of conflicts witnessed in the last 12 months ...................................................................... 37

Figure 53: Causes of observed conflicts between clans or groups.................................................................... 37

Figure 54: Account of witnessing crime and violence against someone outside of the household ................. 38

Figure 55: Account of witnessing crime and violence against someone outside the homestead .................... 38

Figure 56: Account of witnessing crime and violence ....................................................................................... 38

Figure 57: Perception of safety in the area ....................................................................................................... 39

Figure 58: Perception of safety by sub-division ................................................................................................ 39

Figure 59: Perception of safety by gender ........................................................................................................ 39

Figure 60: Change in perception of safety ........................................................................................................ 39

Figure 61: Change in perception of safety by sub-division ............................................................................... 40

Figure 62: Change in perception of safety by gender ....................................................................................... 40

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Distribution of respondents within sub divisions by gender ............................................................... 13

Table 2: Distribution of focus group participants by gender............................................................................. 13

Table 3: Participants in key informant interviews by gender ............................................................................ 13

Table 4: Respondents' reasons for choice of most trusted security provider .................................................. 21

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Map of Study Area

Map of Gardo District: Adopted from UN OCHA 2012

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DISTRICT PROFILE

In Puntland, districts are graded based on the size, population, and the economy of the district. Puntland

contains nine regions,1 wherein all regional capital towns are ranked Grade A Districts, national level districts

(those established before 1991) are positioned Grade B, while districts created by Puntland after 1998 are

considered to be Grade C. Gardo district is the capital of Karkaar region, hence, it is one of the Grade A districts

of Puntland and therefore has a local government body which is comprised of 27 district councillors. Gardo

was formerly a district under Bari region but In 2003, Gardo became the capital of Karkaar region which was

then created by the Puntland Government.

Gardo is ancient and considered one of the most important districts in Puntland due to its geographic location,

climate and good pastoral landscape and was officially considered as a district in 1930.2 Gardo is located on

the main tarmac-road which connects Puntland’s Bosaso and Galkayo towns, while it is 230 km east of Garowe

and 250 km west of Bosaso.

Gardo district is the cultural centre and the base of the top spritual elder of the traditional leadership in

Puntland, as the 34th King Boqor Burhan resides there. The current king was inagurated in Gardo town in May

2014.

Before the establishment of Puntland, Gardo hosted significant conferences for the traditional leaders and

politicians of the northeastern regions of Somalia (Puntland regions) in 1990s, which resulted in the idea of

establishing an autonomous Somali state which governs the people in those regions and seeks the

reunification of Somalia.

1 The constitution of Puntland in Article 7 (s 1) stipulates eight regions, but Gardafuu was later approved as the ninth region of Puntland by the parliament in 2013. 2 Gardo District development Framework

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SCOPE

The District Conflict and Security Assessment is designed to gather people’s perceptions regarding service

providers and accessibility and effectiveness of the services they provide. Information is gathered according

to four progress indicators relating to service provision: justice, governance, security and conflict. While a

district may contain a major urban settlement (main town) and a number of smaller surrounding villages, it is

the unfortunate reality that the type of public services this assessment is aiming to measure are concentrated

only within the main town of the district, while at the village level they are either inadequate or completely

absent. Keeping this in mind this assessment was designed and carried out in the major urban settlement of

the district; the GARDO town.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Continual assessment of issues directly affecting the community’s safety and security is critical for effective

evidence – based programming, informed decision making and measuring the impact of related programmatic

interventions. It enables a better understanding of what works and does not work at the community level.

With this in mind, the district level assessments map out and provide a better understanding of issues that

affect targeted communities across the Somali regions. By using key indicators for selected thematic areas,

this report provides an assessment on the state of conflict, governance, justice as well as safety and security

in Gardo District. The assessment was conducted from the 8th to 12th March 2015. Key research findings are

presented below.

Security providers

As with other districts in Puntland, the police in Gardo district work under the Ministry of Security Disarmament, Demobilisation and reintegration of the Puntland Government. Other institutions, such as Local Government logistically and financially support police to enhance security provision. Based on the findings of the assessment, the police agency appeared operational in strong collaboration with traditional elders, local government, and the local community, working together to ensure the provision of security in the district. Despite the fact that the police faced several challenges including having only one police station situated in Kaambo Sub division and the absence of fixed telephone lines, the police was the most preferred security provider for reporting issues related to civil matters, petty crimes and serious crimes and were most trusted overall to respond to crime and violence. In fact, most of the respondents felt that police performance was relatively better and showed that police operations had improved compared with the last 12 months.

Justice providers

Although the court is the official formal justice provider which is legally in position to uphold justice and strengthen justice services, informal justice providers (Elders and Sheikhs) are also involved in serving the community in regard to dispute resolution and justice provision. Being the administrative capital of Karkaar region, Gardo has two levels of court; a district court and court of appeal, housed in one building. The research revealed that levels of awareness, usage and confidence in both formal and informal justice providers were high among respondents. IDP residents pointed out that they normally prefer referring civil cases to the informal justice providers while criminal cases are usually referred to courts among all respondents. In line with the formal litigations carried out by courts, there exist the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms such as mediation, conciliation, mini trials and arbitration which are usually conducted by the informal justice providers to resolve disputes at the community level. Disputants play a key role in determining which justice provider they should use or refer their case to.

Governance providers

The local council members in Gardo are normally selected from the different clans of the district by their respective traditional elders and approved by a committee nominated by the president of Puntland. The longevity of the coucil is five years from the day they are formed. According to the findings of this assessment, most of the respondents in Gardo revealed their knowledge of the existence of the local council, consisting of 27 members, four of whom are female. There was, however, noted room for improvement with respect to respondents’ awareness of the services provided by the council as less than one half of respondents in the household survey had been able to identify any of the services provided by the council. Services that respondents were most aware of included sanitation, development of infrastructure, security, health and education. Interaction with the council was also another area for improvement, with only one in ten respondents having participated in local consultations with the council during the past year.

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Conflict and violence

There were reportedly few incidences of conflict and violence in Gardo District. However, small portions of respondents in the household survey had witnessed conflict and violence in the twelve month period preceding the assessment. Family disputes, revenge, and crime were identified as the main reasons for the conflicts that had been observed by respondents. Participants in focus group discussions also singled out land disputes as one of the primary reasons for conflict in the area. With respect to crime and violence, rape and robbery, particularly theft of mobile phones were identified as the main concerns. The police, however, pointed out that they did their best to respond and capture offenders in these cases. Overall, most respondents indicated that they felt safe in the area and also that there had been a general improvement in the level of safety over the past year.

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1. METHODOLOGY

1.1. Overview

As a part of its continual assessment of issues directly

affecting community security and safety, OCVP

conducted an extensive collection of primary data in

Gardo District, the capital of Karkaar region of

Puntland.

In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of

the thematic areas under investigation, a mixed-

method approach was employed to allow the

research team to triangulate information uncovered

in both the data collection and subsequent analysis

phase. The household survey aimed at obtaining a

representative picture of the target populations’

perceptions regarding the thematic areas under

exploration, and Key Informant Interviews were used

to probe deeper into and cross-validate issues that

emerged from Focus Group Discussions.

The quantitative data was analysed by the OCVP

Research and Analysis team using the Statistical

Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22, after it

had been collected using smart tablets that were

running ODK Collect – an open source mobile data

collection tool The qualitative data was subjected to

thematic analysis, using a largely deductive approach

(qualitative research being a smaller component of a

larger quantitative study). The main themes of

coding were developed before the mission, in line

with the questions, but further coding was done

during analysis.

1.2. Sampling Methodology

A district household estimation provided by the local municipality enabled the application of a sampling formula3 to determine a representative sample size for the district. The study took into account certain statistical parameters such as the level of confidence desired (95%), sample design effect (1.5), margin of

3 See Annex 6.1

error (+ or – 8%) and the assumption that some security correlations existed within the sub divisions.

The p-value of 0.3 in the formula assumes a security

correlation above a random normal distribution of

0.5 within the district clusters (sub-division). This is a

reasonable assumption based on the topic of the

survey – respondents within the districts are likely to

exhibit a correlational relationship between their

perceptions and the surrounding security

environment. This is further backed by OCVP’s past

experience in which individuals from the same area

tend to exhibit similar perceptions on security,

justice, governance and conflict and violence.

A prospective sample size of 190 respondents was

derived from the calculation detailed above. The

final sample comprised 196 responses.

1.3. Household Survey

A household quantitative survey covering randomly

selected houses was carried out in Gardo by OCVP's

Puntland research team with the use of trained

enumerators who received help from two local

enumerators hired from the target district.

Assistants from village centres also helped in the

identification of the delineations between sub

divisions.

Discussions with a representative of the local

government of Gardo regarding the demorgraphy of

the town helped the team to select the four sub

divisions of Gacan-Libaax, Kaambo, Qoryocad and

Xingood. In addition, Internally Displaced Persons

(IDPs) were sampled from some selected IDP

settlements.

The team employed Systematic Random Sampling

(SRS) where enumerators randomly selected every

5th household after a random start point and

interviewed one respondent above 18 years old in

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every selected household. Furthermore, in the

absence of gender proportion statistics, the

researchers aimed at equal representation of both

genders. Table 1 illustrates the distribution of

respondents by sub division and gender.

Table 1: Distribution of respondents within sub divisions by gender

Area/Subdivision Gender (Number of respondents)

Total

Male Female

IDPs 19 23 42

Kaambo 23 18 41

Qoryocad 25 14 39

Gacan-libaax 24 14 38

Xingood 9 27 36

Total sample 100 96 196

1.4. Focus Group Discussions

The second research tool (qualitative) utilised was a

series of Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) aimed at

capturing participants’ perception on security and

justice providers (formal and informal), governance

providers and the dynamics and experiences of

conflict and violence. The FGDs were conducted on

the 08th and 10th of March 2015 at the Local

Government Conference hall. Each discussion group

lasted for about an hour.

A total of six groups were interviewed in the FGDs:

women, elders and religious leaders (in one group),

youth (male and female in one group), justice

providers (formal and informal in one group), IDPs

and governance providers (formal). Each group

consisted of 10 participants (See Table 2). A local

organiser assisted in the recruitment of the

participants based on clan-lines, geographic

coverage, social class, gender and age group (as well

as profession in the case of justice and governance

providers).

Table 2: Distribution of focus group participants by gender

Focus Group Gender Total Male Female

Women - 10 10

Elders/Religious Leaders 10 - 10

Youth 9 1 10 Justice Providers (formal and informal) 10 - 10

Governance Providers 9 1 10

IDPs 5 5 10

Total 43 17 60

1.5. Key Informant Interviews

The third method utilised for data collection was

personal interviews with key informants who

possessed experiential knowledge on the themes

under investigation. The aim was to go deeper into

the subject areas and cross-validate the issues raised

in the FGDs.

A local organiser assisted in the scheduling of the

interviews which were then conducted by OCVP

researchers. Interviews began with questions that

were tailored to the interviewee and then generally

cut across the thematic areas of governance, justice,

security, and conflict and violence. The interviews

were conducted between the March 8 and March 12,

2015 at the respective offices of the interviewees. A

convenient venue was selected for those who did not

have offices. Each interview lasted for about half an

hour.

Five key informants were interviewed. Table 3 below details a list of the key informants.

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Table 3: Participants in key informant interviews by gender

Key Informant Gender

Male Female

Mayor 1 -

Regional Police Commander 1 -

District Court Commusioner 1 -

Peacebuilding Activist - 1

Traditional Elder 1 -

Total 4 1

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2. PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS

The sample in the Gardo household survey was almost evenly distributed along gender lines. Male respondents made up of 51% of the entire sample (100 respondents) versus 49% females (96 respondents). (Fig. 1.)

Figure 1: Respondents by gender

Respondents in their twenties made up the largest proportion of the entire sample, with more than one-third of respondents (36%) falling in this age category - males and females in this age category accounted for 20% and 16% of the overall sample respectively. A little less than one-quarter of respondents (23%) were in their thirties and approximately 18% in their forties. Respondents who were fifty and older also comprised 18% of the sample, while only 5% were below the age of 20 years (Fig.2).

Figure 2: Age distribution of the respondents by gender

The married respondents comprised the highest percentage (68%). The second largest group was comprised of single respondents (15%) and those who were widowed or divorced made up 9% and 8% respectively (Fig. 3).

Figure 3: Marital status of the respondents

A little more than one quarter of the respondents

stated that they had never been educated (26%).

Those who had attended Quranic Madrasa and

Intermediate level each made up 22% of the sample

while another one quarter of the respondents

attended either primary or secondary school (13%

and 12% respectively). Self-schooled respondents

(4%) and those who had been educated to the

tertiary level (1%) comprised the smallest groups.

(Fig. 4)

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Figure 4: Respondents' education levels

Men were more likely to have received formal

education than women as 25% of males versus 34%

of females had never been educated or had been self-

schooled. Also, when compared with males, a greater

proportion of females had attended Quranic madrasa

(18% males vs. 26% females). In contrast, more than

one half of males (55%) compared with 40% of

females had received primary, intermediate, or

secondary level education. Approximately 2% of male

respondents had also attended tertiary school

whereas none of the females had received tertiary

education (Fig. 5).

Figure 5: Respondents' education levels by gender

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3. SECURITY, JUSTICE AND GOVERNANCE PROVIDERS

3.1. SECURITY PROVIDERS

3.1.1. Level of Deployment

When asked about the presence of the police in

Gardo, 95% of the respondents reported that they

were aware of police presence, while the remaining

respondents stated that they were not aware (2%) or

that they did not know (3%) whether the police were

present or not (Fig. 6).

Figure 6: Respondents’ awareness of police presence

The highest levels of awareness in terms of police

presence were seen in Kaambo Sub division (100%),

while with similar percentages of 97%, Qoryocad and

Xingood Sub divisions came second. Gacan libaax

showed a relatively lower level of awareness

regarding police presence with 87% of the

respondents there stating that they were aware of

the police.

IDP residents in the focus group discussions stated

that they do not have police stations within their

respective settlements but that they depend on a

security committee formed for the sake of reporting

security issues to the police when necessary.4

Nonetheless, there was a high level of awareness of

4 Internally Displaced Persons in Gardo, Focus Group Discussion, 8th March 2015.

the police presence among IDPs in the household

survey (93%), see figure 7.

Figure 7: Respondents' awareness of police presence by sub divisions

The majority (84%) of the respondents who had

indicated an awareness of police presence in Gardo

reported that they knew of one police station. Only

6% estimated that there were two, and respondents

who claimed awareness of three and four police

stations each made up 1% of the total number. Those

who said that they did not know how many police

stations are in Gardo comprised 8%. (See Fig. 8.)

There was, in fact, one police station in the district.

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Figure 8: Respondents knowledge of the number of police stations

The Gardo police commissioner did not believe that

one police station was sufficient to meet the needs

of the population based on the size of the town and

the density of the population:

“The Town is big and has one Central Police Station. It is divided into four main sub divisions and eight branches therefore it would be much better to increase the number of police stations from one to two or three but so far we have not accomplished this. There have been many attempts to do so.”5

Youth corroborated the police commissioner’s

argument that there is a shortage of police presence

as Gardo has one central police station which cannot

smoothly cover the needs of a large population.6

A cumulative majority of 74% of Gardo respondents

stated that they could reach the police station within

an hour (24% under 20 minutes, 26% in 20-40

minutes and 24% in 40 minutes -1 hour). Those

respondents who estimated that they needed over

one hour to reach police stations made up 19% of the

sample, while 6% were unsure of how far away they

were from the closest station (Fig.9).

5 Gardo police commissioner, Key Informant Interview, 10th March 2015

Figure 9: Respondents' estimation of distance to police station

Respondents in Kaambo Sub division appeared to be

in closest proximity to the police station, with more

than two thirds (68%) stating that it was within 20

minutes of their homes. Those in Qoryocad and

Xingood indicated the furthest distances with 81%

and 60% of respondents respectively in those sub

divisions stating that they were more than 40

minutes away. Among the IDP community, the

portion of respondents stating that they did not

know the distance to the police station was notably

higher (at 21%) than those within the sub divisions

(Fig. 10).

Figure 10: Respondents’ estimation of distance to police station by sub-division

6 Youth Group, Focus Group Discussion, 8th, March 2015

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3.1.2. Preference of the Security Providers

This sub-section assesses respondents’ preference in

terms of reporting incidences of civil disputes, petty

crimes and serious crimes to the different security

providers.

3.1.1.1. Civil Matters

More than one half of Gardo household respondents

(52%) preferred to report civil matters such as those

concerning family and business disputes, and

trespass to the police. Traditional elders and the local

authority were preferred by almost equal portions of

18% and 17% respectively, whereas religious leaders

and the courts were each preferred by 5% of the

entire sample. A small portion of 4% did not state a

preference (Fig. 11).

Figure 11: Respondents' preference of reporting civil matters

When disaggregated by gender, it was noted that a

higher proportion of male respondents (55%)

indicated a preference for reporting civil matters to

police than females (49%). On the other hand, 21%

of females versus 15% of males stated that they

would report such matters to traditional elders.

Women were also more likely to opt for the local

authority at 20% compared with 14% for the males

(Fig. 12).

Figure 12: Respondents' preference of reporting civil matters by gender

3.1.1.2. Petty Crimes

Pertaining to reporting petty crimes such as theft and household violence, over one half of Gardo respondents preferred to report such matters to the police (53%). Traditional elders were chosen by slightly over one quarter (27%), while 8% and 4% of the entire sample stated that they would prefer to report to the local authority and religious leaders respectively (Fig. 13).

Figure 13: Respondents' preference of reporting petty crimes

Gender disaggregated data illustrates that a larger

proportion of men compared with that of women

(58% to 47%) had mentioned the police as their

preferred choice for reporting petty crimes. While

the police was also the leading choice for women, a

larger proportion of women than that of men (33%

females versus 21% males) identified traditional

elders as their preferred security provider for

reporting of petty crimes (Fig. 14).

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Figure 14: Respondents' preference of reporting petty crimes by gender

3.1.1.3. Serious Crimes

More than one half (55%) of respondents identified

the police as their preferred security provider for

reporting of serious crimes, traditional elders came

second (21%), followed by the court which was

mentioned by 10% of respondents. The local

authority was preferred by 8% and only 2% said they

would prefer to report to religious leaders (Fig. 15).

Figure 15: Respondents’ preference of reporting on serious crimes

When disaggregated by gender, similar patterns

were observed with respect to respondents’ order of

preference. However, a greater portion of men

(62%: men compared with 48%: women) stated that

they would prefer to report serious crimes to the

police. In contrast, the percentage of women who

indicated a preference for reporting to traditional

elders was notably higher than that of men (26%:

women compared with 16%: men). A higher

proportion of women also indicated a preference for

reporting to the court (13%: females compared with

8%: males), see figure 16.

Figure 16: Respondents preference of reporting on serious crimes by gender

3.1.3. Level of Trust in Security Providers (formal and informal)

Almost one half of the respondents trusted the police most in relation to responding to security issues (47%). Traditional elders were most trusted by 27% of the respondents while almost equal proportions of a little less than one in every ten respondents (9% and 8% respectively) reported that they trusted the local authority and religious leaders most (Fig. 17).

Figure 17: Most trusted security provider in responding to crime and violence

Gender disaggregated results indicated that both males and females identified the police, followed by

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traditional elders as their most trusted security provider. However, a larger proportion of men identified the police as their most trusted security provider (55% males versus 40% females). On the other hand, women mentioned traditional elders more than men (34% women and 21% men), while similar proportions of both sexes (9% each) mentioned the local authority. Religious leaders were most trusted by 10% of male and 6% of female respondents (Fig. 18).

Though most of the household survey respondents emphasized that the police was their preferred security provider, traditional elders in their focus group discussion expressed that they are overwhelmed by an abundance of cases for resolution on a daily basis.7

Figure 18: Most trusted security provider in responding to crime and violence by gender

It was further enquired of the respondents what reason they could ascribe to the trust of the security provider they had stated. Trust in the police was most likely to be attributed to ease of access (47%) and then fast response fast (36%). For traditional elders, the two most commonly cited reasons were easy access at 31% and respect at 29%, while among respondents who said that they trust religious leaders most, lack of bias was most frequently cited as the reason for this trust (69%). See table 4 below which gives a breakdown of the reasons for trust in different security providers.

7 Traditional Elders, Focus Group Discussion, 8th March 2015

Table 4: Respondents' reasons for choice of most trusted security provider

Reason for trust of security provider

Most trusted security provider in responding to crime and violence

P o l i c e Traditiona

l elders Religious leaders

Local authority

Fast response 36% 19% - 11% Unbiased enforcement 4% 15% 69% 6% They are respected 9% 29% 19% 11% Ease of access 47% 31% 13% 72% Reliable 1% 6% - - Don’t know 2% - - - Base 91 52 16 18

Despite the favourable perception of the police’s

ease of access and fast response, IDP discussants

expressed that delays occur in terms of police being

deployed to the crime scenes. They further

elaborated that communication challenges such as

lack of hot lines or permanent phone numbers

hindered the quick response to incidences.8

It was also noted that the police were sometimes faced with challenges when they managed to respond to issues within the community. An example was given wherein the police went to intervene in activities concerning illegal charcoal production and were met with resistance. It was not until the elders intervened that there managed to be a peaceful resolution.

“Police agencies, organized to stop charcoal activities in Gardo area; travelled to remote off road villages; unfortunately charcoal groups had their guns to protect themselves and businesses. Police were faced with the option to either fight or leave and later opted to leave without implementing the mission. This case was later resolved by traditional elders from the respective clans of the militia which indicates that informal security providers play key role in dispute settlement”9

8 IDPs, Op. Cit. 9 Traditional Elders, Op. Cit.

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3.1.1.4. Trust in the Police

Respondents’ level of trust towards the police in

responding to crime and violence was high, as 81% of

the respondents had felt trustful (48%: very high and

33%: fairly high). Respondents who had ‘fairly low’

trust composed 9% of the sample and those who had

‘very low’ trust towards police made up 5% as did

those who did not offer an opinion (Fig. 19).

Figure 19: Respondents' Level of trust in Police

When gender lines were investigated in regard to respondents’ trust towards the police in responding to crime and violence, it was observed that the majority of both males and females expressed high levels of trust in the police. It was also noted that a greater proportion of women expressed very high trust (52% women versus 44% men) while there was a marginally higher portion of men than women expressing fairly high trust (34% men and 32% women). Conversely, 11% men and 6% of women showed fairly low levels of trust, while equal proportions (5% each) of both genders expressed very low trust in police (Fig. 20).

Figure 20: Respondents' level of trust in the police by gender

3.1.4. Police Performance

In terms of respondents’ perception of the performance of Gardo police, 44% felt that the performance of the police had improved in the last 12 months preceding this assessment and approximately one third (32%) believed that there had been no change. Similar proportions of respondents expressed either that there had been a decline or stated that they did not know how police performance had changed during this time (12% each). See Fig. 21.

Figure 21: Respondents’ perception of the performance of the police-year trend

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Figure 22: Respondents’ perception of the performance of the police-year trend by gender

The majority of respondents in Kaambo and Xingood

perceived that there had been an improvement in

police performance over the past year (71% and 58%

respectively). Respondents in the Gacan Libaax were

least likely to perceive that there had been an

improvement (18%); however, those in the Qoryocad

Sub division were most likely to perceive that there

had been a decline (31%), see figure 23.

Figure 23: Respondents’ perception of the performance of the police-year trend by sub-division

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3.2. JUSTICE PROVIDERS

Puntland, as with any other Somali region, is

characterized by both formal and informal justice

systems. During the Siad Barre regime, Gardo was a

district under the Bari region and had a district level

court, but after the establishment of Puntland, it was

announced as the capital of Karkaar region in 2003.

In keeping with its status as a regional capital, a court

of appeal, which also serves as a regional court, was

introduced. There are three judges in each level, a

leading judge along with two other judges.

While the courts are considered the legitimate

justice providers, the Somali community has always

utilised the informal justice system which has

traditionally accepted features. Although the

informal justice system does not have uniform

standards of practice as in the formal justice system,

it is largely considered reliable among community

members. However, since the establishment of the

Puntland state, there has been an increase in

familiarity with the formal justice providers among

people and the usage of courts is increasing day after

day.

This section examines the deployment of justice

providers in Gardo, their performance and

interaction as well as the perceptions and

preferences of the community with regard to justice

provision.

3.2.1. Level of deployment

The District Court (for district-level cases) and Court

of Appeal (regional court) are housed in the same

building.

The vast majority (89%) of Gardo household

respondents reported that they were aware of the

presence of courts in Gardo; whereas 5% stated that

they were not aware of the courts and 6% did not

offer an opinion (Fig. 24).

10 Ibid

Figure 24: Respondents' awareness of the existence of courts

The majority of respondents across all sub divisions

(more than 75% in each) indicated that they were

aware of court presence in Gardo (Fig. 25).

When asked whether there is a legal aid facility in

Gardo, IDP residents reported in their FGD that they

know of one legal aid facility, a branch of Puntland

Legal Aid Centre (PLAC) which provides free

advocacy for those who cannot afford to hire a

lawyer.10

Figure 25: Respondents' awareness of the existence of courts by sub-division

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Nearly all respondents in the household survey who

had been aware of the court’s presence said that

they knew of only one court11 among the general

population in Gardo (96%). (Fig. 26).

Most participants in focus group discussions and key

informant interviews also indicated awareness of the

court in Gardo. Traditional elders and religious

leaders, for instance, stated that they are aware of

the presence of two levels of courts (district level and

regional level) in Gardo, housed in one building.12

However, although indicating that they were also

aware of the court, IDP residents stated in their

respective focus group discussion that they know of

the existence of only one court in Gardo.13

Figure 26: Respondents' awareness of the number of courts

Among the respondents who were aware of the

location of the court, 81% estimated that it was less

than one hour’s walking distance away, 18% said that

they need over an hour to reach the court and only

1% said they did not know how far away the court

was (Fig. 27).

11 The district court and court of appeal were housed in the same building

Figure 27: Respondents' estimation of distance to closest court

Proximity to the court appeared closest in Kaambo

where about seven in every ten respondents (70%)

estimated that they were less than twenty minutes

away from the court. Conversely, all the respondents

in the Xingood Sub division estimated that they

would need more than twenty minutes to reach the

court (Fig. 28).

Figure 28: Respondents' estimation of distance to closest court by sub-division

12 Traditional Elders/Religious Leaders, Focus Group Discussion, 10thMarch 2015. Gardo 13 Gardo IDPs, Focus Group Discussion, 8th March 2015

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While approximately two-thirds of IDP respondents

(66%) in the household survey estimated that the

court was within one hour of their homes,

representatives in the focus group discussion stated

that they are relatively far from the court compared

to the other sub divisions because their settlements

are located outside the town. They estimated that

they would need more than an hour to reach the

court if they want to file a lawsuit.14

3.2.2. Performance of the Justice

Providers

The different justice providers in Gardo had been

used by almost equal portions of the household

survey respondents (7% courts, 8% traditional elders

and 7% religious leaders) over the 12 month period

preceding the assessment (Fig. 29).

Figure 29: Usage of justice providers

Usage of the courts and religious leaders was higher

among men (10% each) than women (4% courts, 3%

religious leaders). In contrast, a higher proportion of

women had engaged traditional elders (14% females

versus 4% males) (Fig. 30).

Traditional elders and religious leaders play a key

role in resolving disputes among the community

individuals as according to the participants of youth,

14 IDPs, Op. Cit. 15 Youth, IDPs and Women Focus Group Discussions 16 Traditional Elders/Religious Leaders. Op. Cit.

IDPs, and women’s focus group discussions, there

was a general preference for the informal/traditional

justice providers on account of their impartiality and

neutrality.15

During their focus group discussion, traditional elders and religious leaders spoke of how they are perceived by the community.

Community members always come to us for the settlement

of disputes more than the courts because they believe that

we are more trustworthy than any other justice provider,

but there is a good collaboration among us and the

courts. They sometimes refer cases to us and we do the

same.16

On the other hand, the district court commissioner

of Gardo also reported in his key informant interview

that the usage of court is increasing day after day

among the society and people are getting more used

to the court. He further added that more than fifty

civil and criminal cases are resolved on a monthly

basis in the court.17

Figure 30: Usage of justice providers by gender

Among the respondents who had used justice

providers within the past twelve months, the most

common issue referred to each justice provider had

been household violence, followed by youth

violence. Table 5 presents a breakdown of the issues

17 Gardo District Court Commissioner, Key informant interview, 12th March 2015.

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which had been referred by respondents to each

justice provider.

Table 5: Issues referred to justice providers

Issues referred to

different justice

Providers

Justice providers

Court Traditional

Elders

Religious

Leaders

Land dispute 7% 13% 15%

Business Dispute 14% - -

Robbery 14% 6% 15%

Youth Violence 29% 19% 23%

Household violence 50% 56% 46%

Assault 7%- - 8%

Other - 6% -

Refused to answer - 6% 8%

Base 14 16 13

3.2.3. Perception of the Justice Providers

One third (33%) of the respondents in the Gardo household survey identified traditional elders as their most trusted justice provider. Almost equal portions of 23% and 22% of the respondents respectively trusted the court and religious leaders most, while 10% of the respondents opted for none of these three. In addition, ‘other’ responses given by 4% of respondents included the police and whoever could do something for them (Fig. 31).

Figure 31: Respondents' choice of most trusted justice provider

Traditional elders were most frequently cited as the most trusted justice provider by both males (29%) and females (38%), with a greater proportion of females indicating that they trusted elders most. The

court and religious leaders were ranked second and third by both genders (Fig. 33.).

Figure 32: Respondents' choice of most trusted justice provider by gender

For the court and religious leaders, the most cited reason for trust was fair judgement (72% court and 61% religious leaders) but for the traditional elders, the most cited reason was their fast decisions at 32%. None of the respondents who identified the court as their most trusted justice provider gave either independence from politics or ease of access as their reason (Table 6).

Table 6: Reasons for trust of justice providers

Reason for trust of justice provider

Most trusted justice provider in solving cases

The Court Traditional elders

Religious leaders

Fast decisions 7% 32% 2%

Fair judgement

72% 9% 61%

Independence from politics

- 15% 5%

Less costly 17% 15% 18%

Ease of access

- 5% 9%

More reliable 4% 23% 5%

Base 46 65 44

Levels of confidence in the formal justice providers were high, as almost one half (49%) of Gardo household survey respondents were very confident in them and 29% of the respondents were fairly confident. As the smallest portion among the entire sample, only 8% stated that they were not confident

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in the formal justice providers while 14% provided no opinion (Fig. 33).

Figure 33: Respondents’ level of confidence in the formal justice system

When disaggregated by gender, it was observed that the majority of both male and female respondents were either ‘very confident’ or ‘fairly confident’ in the formal justice providers (76% and 79% respectively). (Fig 34.)

Figure 34: Respondents’ level of confidence in the formal justice system by gender

Although the confidence in the informal justice providers was relatively higher than the formal among the different KII and FGD respondents, the confidence appeared to be increasing in the courts as stated by youth and women focus group discussion.

We always prefer to see traditional elders and religious

leaders for dispute resolutions, but the performance of the

18 Youth and Women Focus Group Discussions. Op. Cit.

court is as well improving and that has enabled us to refer

some cases to the court, especially criminal cases.18

Almost four in every ten respondents (39%) stated that there was an improvement in the performance of the courts and about three in every ten (29%) perceived no change. The smallest portion (9%), however, believed that there was a decline in the performance of the courts while 23% provided no opinion. (Fig. 35.)

Figure 35: Perception of the performance of the court: yearly trend

A greater proportion of females felt that the performance of the court had improved (42% females vs. 37% males) or stated that they did not know how the court’s performance had changed during the past year (27% females vs. 19% males). However, larger proportions of men believed that the performance of the court had declined (11% males vs. 6% females), or had not changed (33% males vs. 25% females) during this time (Fig. 36).

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Figure 36: Perception of the performance of the court: year trend by gender

Generally, despite the fact that the court is the

official and legitimate justice provider in Gardo,

religious leaders and traditional elders play a key role

in dispute resolution activities. Collectively,

traditional elders and religious elders were more

frequently identified as respondents’ most trusted

security provider than the courts. However,

confidence in the formal justice system has been

improving among the Gardo respondents. Another

important issue to mention is that the interaction of

different justice providers is being strengthened as

they continuously refer cases to one another (formal

to informal and vice versa).

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3.3. GOVERNANCE PROVIDERS

Being the capital of Karkaar region, Gardo has a local council consisting of twenty seven members. The members of the Gardo local council are selected from the different clans that live in the district by their respective clan leaders and approved by a committee from the government. Four members of the Gardo local council are females.

This section is aimed at assessing the awareness, performance, and perception of the local council as well as the challenges facing them.

3.3.1. Level of deployment

A little more than one half (55%) of the respondents were aware of the presence of the local council. Almost all the focus group participants as well as the target interviewees in Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) confirmed the existence of local council in Gardo. Traditional elders and religious leaders, for instance, told of the existence of 27 local council members who were selected from the different clans in Gardo District.19

However, 11% of household survey respondents reported that they were unaware of the council and 34% stated that they did not know whether or not there is a local council (Fig. 37).

Figure 37: Respondents' awareness of Local Council

19 Traditional Elders and Religious Leaders, Focus Group Discussion, 8th March 2015. Gardo

Levels of awareness of the Council’s presence were high across all sub divisions except Gacan libaax and within the IDP settlements where almost only three in every ten respondents (29%) in Gacan Libaax and four in every ten respondents (40%) among the IDPs stated that they were aware of the local council. Conversely, in all the remaining sub divisions the majority stated that they knew of the council. Respondents in Xingood were most aware of the council’s presence (75%), followed by those in Kaambo (71%) and in Qoryocad (62%), see figure 38.

Although household survey respondents from the IDPs indicated a low level of awareness regarding the local council, IDP participants in their focus group discussion further elaborated on the structure of the council, speaking to the existence of committees and sub-committees formed by the Local Government to support and supervise provision of services and activities of Local Government. Their level of awareness in contrast to that of the household survey respondents could be ascribed to the fact that those who participated in the focus group discussants played more active roles within their community.

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We are all aware of local government formed committees and sub-committees in each IDP camp in Gardo for the support and supervision of services provided by the local government such as health, sanitation, security, food and water distribution management.20

Figure 38: Respondents' awareness of Local Council, by sub-division

3.3.2. Performance of the Local Government

Service Delivery

Local government plays a significant role in each community in terms of services pertaining to peace, order and the provision of good governance. In practice, individual councils or local councils as entitled in Puntland can determine what they need to do to ensure the peace, order and good governance of their municipalities. Essentially each council makes its own decisions based on its collective beliefs, the advice it receives, various financial considerations, legislative powers and so on.

In Gardo, the local council is functional but there is a need for improvement in certain aspects of its respective duties and mandates. Traditional elders and religious leaders in Gardo discussed that, although the local Government provides many services, an improvement is crucial to be made in some aspects such as environmental protection and

21 Traditional Elders & Religious Leaders, OP. Cit.

proper tax collection which enables smooth provision of services.21 There was generally a low level of awareness among respondents regarding the services provided by the local council. More than one-half of respondents (56%) were unaware of the services that the local council provides or altogether unaware of the council. Respondents were most aware of the sanitation services provided by the council (28%). One fifth (21%) knew about the existence of infrastructure while 16% were aware of the provision of security services and 10% knew of health services. Figure 39 illustrates the services which respondents identified as being provided by the council.

Figure 39: Respondents' opinion regarding services provided by the local council

Sanitation

Sanitation is one of most important services provided by local government as discussed by the youth in their focus group discussion;

Local Government collects garbage from sub divisions,

public roads, IDP camps and the surrounding areas of

Gardo to keep healthy environment because this is one of

the most important duties that local government is

assigned for. In addition to that, the local government

promotes cleanliness of the environment via different

media channels.22

22 Youth Group, Focus Group Discussion, 8th, March 2015

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Infrastructure

The local council works with the United Nations Joint Programme on Local Governance and Decentralised Service Delivery (JPLG) in regard to infrastructure development. Roads are built by them and other infrastructure features are developed as mentioned by the Mayor.23

Security

The local government of Gardo provides continuous support to the security institutions such as the police and has its own municipality troops, which it deploys for purposes of tax collection as well as coordinating with other security providers to contribute to the stability of security in the city. During a Key Informant Interview (KII) the Mayor of Gardo narrated the following;

We provide the Police and other security providing

entities with financial and logistical support. Another

thing is we pay the living materials of prisoners most of

the time. An example of our support to security services is

that there is currently a conflict over lands in Libaxo

where the police commissioner had to go and settle things

up, and it is only us who paid all logistical and financial

supports. Local government used to pay the expenses of

transferring prisoners from Gardo to Garowe before the

current jail of Gardo was built.24

Youth also stated that the local government of Gardo organizes special individuals, whether from the police or community, who at nights watch certain places such as IDP settlements.25

Water

As in most Puntland cities, water is mostly provided by private companies but the local government of Gardo jointly works with international NGOs such as the Danish Refugee Council and Save the Children to distribute water to the IDP camps as told by IDP residents in a focus group discussion.26

Consultative governance

Regarding the communication channels used by the Local Government to facilitate interaction with individuals within the community, there were

23 Mayor, Op. Cit. 24 Mayor of Gardo District, Key Informant Interview, 10th, March 2015

different levels of awareness and modes of interaction. As stated by the Mayor of Gardo, among those mechanisms is a composition of committees in villages and sub divisions as well as use of the media to sensitise community members. Direct meetings were also arranged by the local council members on certain occasions. He added that community individuals do not like to read and based on that the local government approaches the television stations and radio channels to broadcast the messages.27

Regarding the awareness of the channels of communication, approximately two thirds of Gardo household survey respondents (67%) who knew of the presence of the Local Council (n = 108) stated that they were aware of channels of communication with the Council. Less than one fifth (17%) of the respondents reported that they were unaware while a similar portion said they did not know (Fig. 40).

Figure 40: Respondents' awareness of channels of communication

Level of awareness of communication channels among Gardo respondents was highest among respondents in Xingood (78%) and Kaambo (76%) followed by Gacan Libaax (64%). More than one half of respondents in both Qoryocad (54%) and IDPs (53%) reported they were also aware. (Fig. 41).

25 Youth Group, Op. Cit 26 IDP Group, Op. Cit 27 Mayor. Op. Cit

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Figure 41: Respondents' awareness of channels of communication by sub-division

Among the respondents of Gardo, there was limited participation (11%) in local governance consultations over the last 12-months (Fig. 42).

Figure 42: Respondents' participation in Local Council meetings

Gacan Libaax (18%) had the highest level of

participation in local governance consultations

among Gardo respondents, while the IDPs showed

the lowest level of participation (2%). (Fig. 43.)

28 Mayor. Op. Cit

Figure 43: Respondents’ participation in Local Council meetings, by sub-division

Most of the persons who had participated in government consultations did so more than once within the past year (86%), while 14% stated that they participated in consultations once (Fig. 44).

The Mayor of Gardo pointed out that the interaction of community members with the local council is not as smooth as expected due to community level gaps of awareness regarding the avenues of interaction.28

Figure 44: Frequency of participation in consultations

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3.3.3. Perception toward the Local

Council

Although traditional elders put the council in Gardo in power through a process of nomination, almost nine out every ten respondents (87%) stated that it is important to have elected representatives in local governance (Fig. 45).

Figure 45: Respondents’ perception towards elected representatives

Pertaining to the most pressing local issues, unemployment (58%), poor economy (37%), de-forestation (29%), lack of infrastructure (24%), drought (23%), and lack of water (21%) were the most mentioned issues among Gardo household survey respondents. Figure 46 illustrates respondents’ perception of the most pressing community issues.

Figure 46: Respondents' perception towards most pressing issues

Though respondents previously indicated that there are needs yet to be covered by the local government of Gardo, 42% of them still believed that the performance of the local government had improved over the past year. Only 8% of respondents felt that

the performance of the council had declined during this period, while a little more than one third (35%) of the respondents felt there had been no change in the local government’s performance over the past year (Fig. 47).

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Figure 47: Respondents' perception towards the local council (year after year)

Respondents’ perception regarding the performance of the Gardo local council varied. Xingood was the only Sub division where the majority of respondents expressed that there was an improvement, with a little less than two-thirds of respondents (63%) stating that the performance of the local council had improved over the last year. Similar portions of Gacan Libaax and Kaambo respondents (45% each) also reported that there was an improvement (Fig. 48).

Youth group, traditional elders and IDP residents pointed out that the local government is doing its best to cover all possible areas of community needs but it is left with limited options as the necessary funds and high quality facilities are not in place to strengthen the activities of the local government.29

29 Youth, Traditional Elders and IDPs. Op. Cit

Figure 48: Respondents' perception towards the local council by sub-division

In summary, the council of Gardo had made improvements towards achieving its mandate of service provision but certain areas were yet to be improved due to the actual needs of the community vis-a-vis the limited resources at the disposal of the local government. There was also room for improvement in terms of awareness of local government among respondents.

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4. CONFLICT AND VIOLENCE

The following section presents an account of respondents’ experience with crime and violence in their community, feedback on key measures in place for conflict resolution, and the perception of safety in the district.

4.1. Experience of conflict

The vast majority (93%) of Gardo household survey respondents claimed that they did not see conflicts between clans or groups in the last twelve months, while only 7% of them reported otherwise (Fig.49).

The Governance Providers of Gardo pointed out in their Focus Group Discussion that though conflicts and violence occur in Gardo as in any other district, they are very rare.30

When asked about the occurrence of conflicts, traditional elders and religious leaders of Gardo stated that conflicts occur in the communities as a result of factors such as clan based differences or resources and the communities resolve it in a smooth manner.31

Figure 49: Account of witnessing conflict between clans or subgroups

In Gacan-Libaax 17% of its respondents claimed they had witnessed conflict among clans, while in all other sub divisions of Gardo, less than one in every ten

30 Governance Providers, Focus Group Discussion, 8th March 2015

respondents (5% Kaambo, 8% Xingood, 3% each in Qoryocad and IDPs) had witnessed conflict between clans (Fig. 50).

Conflicts and disputes over lands are frequently observed by Gardo inhabitants as in most of Puntland districts. People have nonsense fights over pieces of land and sometimes groups come to clash over a small plot of land, resulting in critical security issues.32

Figure 50: Account of witnessing conflict between clans or groups by sub-division

When disaggregated by gender, it was observed that a greater proportion of men (11%) reported that they had witnessed conflict between clans than women (3%) reporting the same (Fig. 51).

31 Traditional Elders/Religious Leaders. Op. Cit 32 Women FGD. Op. Cit

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Figure 51: Account of witnessing conflict between clans or groups by gender

The number of Gardo respondents who had witnessed conflict was thirteen (13). Among them 38% had either witnessed conflict once, while a similar proportion had witnessed conflict two times within the last twelve months. Approximately 15% had witnessed conflict three times. However, 8% (one respondent) claimed to have witnessed conflicts ten times in the course of last year. (Fig. 52.)

Figure 52: Number of conflicts witnessed in the last 12 months

Family disputes were the most frequently witnessed cause of conflict(s) as reported by 38% of the respondents. Equal portions of those who had witnessed conflict stated either crime or revenge as the cause (31% each), while resources and business

33 IDPs. Op. Cit

had been observed as the cause of conflicts by similar portions (23%) of the respondents. Rape was also reported as a cause of conflict by 15% of the respondents who claimed to have witnessed conflict (Fig.53).

Figure 53: Causes of observed conflicts between clans or groups

4.2. Experience of crime and violence

The vast majority (97%) of respondents indicated that they had not witnessed any crime or violence against someone outside their household in the last twelve months. Only 3% of the respondents stated that they had such an experience (Fig. 54).

Very few respondents stated that they had witnessed these types of incidences. Therefore, it is useful to highlight that despite low levels of exposure among survey respondents, discussants spoke to the main types of incidences of crime and violence which took place within the community.

According to IDP Focus Group Discussants, rape cases, family disputes and youth related violence are the types of crime and violence which are most frequently witnessed among the IDP community.33

The Gardo Police Commissioner admitted that rape

cases and mobile robbery cases occur in Gardo

district. However, he mentioned out that the police

forces always try their best to respond and capture

offenders.34 Governance providers and women

focus group participants also purported that mobile

34 Gardo Police Commissioner. Op. Cit

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robbery events are occasionally seen in Gardo

because youngsters sometimes grab mobiles from

persons who are walking in the roads especially in

the dark alleys.35

Figure 54: Account of witnessing crime and violence against someone outside of the household

None of the respondents in Xingood or those in IDPs

reported witnessing any incidences of crime and

violence against individuals during the past twelve

months. In Gacan-Libaax, 8% of respondents

reported that they had witnessed crime and

violence, while 3% of respondents in Qoryocad and

2% in Kaambo claimed that they had witnessed

crime or violence in the 12-month period before the

assessment (Fig. 55).

35 Women and Governance Focus Group Discussions. Op. Cit

Figure 55: Account of witnessing crime and violence against someone outside the homestead

Regarding gender lines, approximately 4% of male

respondents compared with 1% of female

respondents reported witnessing crime or violence

against someone outside the homestead (Fig. 56).

Figure 56: Account of witnessing crime and violence

4.3. Perception of Safety

Overall, the perception of Gardo respondents towards safety was remarkably positive, as the majority of respondents (60%) felt very safe and slightly over one quarter (27%) felt rather safe. The portions of those who reported feeling very unsafe and rather unsafe were 2% and 10% respectively. (Fig. 57).

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Figure 57: Perception of safety in the area

In regard to the perception of Gardo respondents within the different sub divisions, IDPs and Xingood had the largest portions of respondents who felt very safe (76% and 75% respectively) followed by Kaambo at (68%). On the other hand, less than one-half of the respondents in Qoryocad and Gacan Libaax reported that they felt very safe, with 23% and 16% of respondents in these sub divisions stating that they felt very unsafe (Fig. 58).

Figure 58: Perception of safety by sub-division

Among Gardo respondents there were no major differences evident with regard to the perception of safety on the basis of gender. Similar proportions of both male and female respondents stated that they felt very safe (59% and 61% respectively), or rather safe (28% males and 25% females) (Fig. 59).

Figure 59: Perception of safety by gender

In terms of year trend comparisons, 64% of the respondents felt that Gardo felt safer in the last twelve months than in the previous year, 24% reported that there was no change while only 11% felt that the safety decreased (Fig. 60).

Figure 60: Change in perception of safety

More than three-quarters of the respondents in Xingood (78%), Kaambo (76%) and the IDPs (76%) stated that there had been an improvement in the level of safety in Gardo. However, less than one-half of the respondents in the sub divisions of Qoryocad and Gacan Libaax (46% and 42% respectively) shared this perception (Fig. 61).

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| 4 0 |


Figure 61: Change in perception of safety by sub-division

Both males and females had similar perceptions

regarding the change in the level of safety in Gardo

as 64% each stated that the safety had increased in

the last twelve months (Fig. 62).

Figure 62: Change in perception of safety by gender

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| 4 1 |

5. CONCLUSION

According to the analysis and interpretations of the data for the investigated areas of security, justice, governance and conflict & violence in Gardo district, there had been improvements in almost every target area of the assessment. Nevertheless, there were observed shortcomings, gaps and loopholes in each target thematic area.

The observation of conflict and violence between clans and groups was low in Gardo, with few respondents stating that they had witnessed any incidences of conflict or violence over the past year. Focus group discussants pointed out that while there were such incidences, these were very rare. However, land disputes showed an alarming threat to the safety of the town as private individuals overwhelmingly argue on lands because of the lack of proper land management within the local government and the illegal privatisation of fields by private individuals.

Pertaining to the provision of security in Gardo district, the police is the foremost security provider in line with the Ministry of Security and Security Committee of Karkaar Region as well as informal traditional and religious actors. In this regard the vast majority of the household respondents stated that they know about the presence of police forces who tackle events of violence and clashes among community members and ensure security, safety and the protection of citizens and their properties. Moreover, the performance of security providers relatively improved as perceived by the interviewees.

The interaction of the police with the legitimate justice provider, the courts, was high since the police play a key role in serving justice in the sense that they bring criminals to the court and act as a law enforcing entity. Furthermore, the interaction between formal and informal justice providers was also getting stronger as community members’ trust in both improved. The informal justice providers (traditional elders and religious leaders) declared that they refer cases to the courts due to the suitabili

Documents

GARDO DISTRICT CONFLICT AND SECURITY ASSESSMENTocvp.org/docs/2015/3Wave/Gardo DCSA 2015.pdf · the main tarmac-road which connects Puntlands Bosaso and Galkayo towns, while it is