Mogadishu (WDN) — Somalia’s civil aviation sector is being presented as an area in need of greater international support, but a more fundamental question must be addressed first: can Somalia’s aviation infrastructure be trusted to serve the public impartially, or can it be used by the Federal Government as a political instrument against regions and... The post Somalia’s Civil Aviation at a crossroads: Can aviation infrastructure not be used as political weapons? appeared first on WardheerNews .
Mogadishu (WDN) — Somalia’s civil aviation sector is being presented as an area in need of greater international support, but a more fundamental question must be addressed first: can Somalia’s aviation infrastructure be trusted to serve the public impartially, or can it be used by the Federal Government as a political instrument against regions and communities that disagree with Mogadishu?
That question deserves serious attention as the United Nations considers expanding its technical cooperation with Somalia’s Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation.
Director General Omar Afrah recently met with Sadozai, Acting Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Head of the United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS). Their discussions focused on strengthening cooperation in civil aviation, including technical assistance, institutional capacity-building, training, airport safety and security, and the development of systems consistent with international aviation standards.
Those objectives are important. Somalia desperately needs a modern, safe and professionally managed civil aviation system. But infrastructure and technical capacity alone will not create a credible aviation sector. Institutional independence, political neutrality and equal access must be at the heart of any international investment. The recent experience of Doolow Airport in Gedo Region provides a troubling example.
The airport remained closed for approximately two years amid the political confrontation between Mogadishu and the Jubaland administration. Its prolonged closure severely restricted civilian mobility in a region where residents depend heavily on air transport, particularly for access to specialized medical treatment in Mogadishu.
The consequences of such a policy are not borne by politicians sitting in government offices. They are borne by ordinary citizens—patients seeking medical care, mothers traveling with children, students, traders, elderly people and families separated by distance.
When an airport serving an entire population can remain closed for two years because of a political dispute between governments, civil aviation ceases to be merely a transportation issue. It becomes a question of human rights and governance.
The reopening of Doolow Airport only recently should therefore prompt the United Nations and other international partners to ask difficult questions about how aviation authorities are exercising their powers.
If the international community is genuinely committed to rebuilding Somalia’s civil aviation system, it should insist on safeguards ensuring that airports cannot be selectively opened, closed or restricted as a means of political pressure.
Civil aviation should not depend on whether a regional administration agrees with the policies of the Federal Government. Nor should access to medical care, commerce and family travel become collateral damage in political disputes between Mogadishu and the federal member states.
Aviation Assistance Must Come with Accountability
The UN-supported effort to strengthen Somalia’s aviation institutions includes legitimate priorities: improving airport safety, upgrading aviation systems, training personnel, strengthening operational capacity and preparing Somali institutions to assume greater responsibility for aviation management.
But there is a missing component that deserves equal attention: accountability. Before international resources are invested in expanding the authority and capacity of Somalia’s aviation institutions, international partners should ensure that those institutions operate according to clear, transparent and politically neutral rules.
There should be publicly understood criteria governing the closure of airports, suspension of flights and restrictions on air transport. Such decisions should be based on genuine safety, security or technical considerations—not political disagreements.
Otherwise, strengthening the aviation bureaucracy without strengthening institutional safeguards could simply provide the government with a more powerful mechanism for controlling civilian movement. The lesson from Doolow is difficult to ignore. An airport is not merely a runway. It is a lifeline.
For communities separated from Somalia’s major hospitals, markets and administrative centers by hundreds of kilometers of difficult terrain, air transport can mean the difference between receiving emergency treatment and dying before reaching a hospital.
For traders, it can mean the difference between maintaining a livelihood and losing access to markets. And for families, it can determine whether they can travel safely and affordably across a country already divided by insecurity and political fragmentation.
The UN Has an Opportunity—and a Responsibility
The United Nations has spent years supporting Somalia’s institutional development. Its aviation assistance can make an important contribution to the country’s recovery, but that assistance should not be measured simply by the number of trained officials, upgraded systems or improved airports.
The ultimate test is whether ordinary Somalis can use those airports freely, safely and without political discrimination.
The UN should therefore make political neutrality and civilian access central components of its aviation support. International partners should monitor how aviation powers are exercised and encourage transparent mechanisms through which communities and regional administrations can challenge politically motivated restrictions.
Somalia does not need an aviation system that merely meets international technical standards. It needs an aviation system that respects its people. The reopening of Doolow Airport after two years should not simply be celebrated as a restoration of air services. It should also serve as a warning about what happens when essential civilian infrastructure becomes entangled in political warfare.
If the UN truly wants to help rebuild Somalia’s civil aviation sector, it should ensure that no government—regardless of who occupies the presidential palace—can turn the country’s airports and airspace into political muscle. Aviation must connect Somalia, not divide it. And the right to travel should never depend on political loyalty.
WardheerNews
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