Somalia Ministry of Agriculture Plans Renovation of Ten Canals

On 23 November 2019, Goobjoog News reported that the Minister of Agriculture of the Federal Government of Somalia had indicated the rehabilitation of 10 canals in the Lower and Middle Shebelle regions to reduce flooding along the Shebelle River. The report attributes every element of the plan to the minister, Saiid Hussein Eid, speaking to the media. It does not establish what has happened to the plan since, and no independent or documentary evidence is cited for any of the claims below.

What the minister said

According to the Goobjoog News report, the minister said the ministry was currently planning to rehabilitate five channels in the Middle Shebelle region and five in the Lower Shebelle region, which he described as the ten major channels. The stated aims of the canals, he said, were to reduce flooding of the Shebelle river banks and to prevent another loss of lives and livelihoods. For the ten-canals plan, the report names no funding source, budget, contractor, consultant or implementing agency, and states no timeline, start date or completion target.

The minister also said that the construction of the main Birimo canal in the Lower Shebelle region had been completed. That is his claim as reported by Goobjoog News. The report gives no completion date, cost, length or capacity for the Birimo canal, and SCR has found no independent verification of the completion.

The flooding explanation

The minister told the media that the main reason for flooding of the Shebelle River was that the river is buried and filled with soil, causing it to break out. He also said the river had been opened from wrong places often used by Al-Shabaab. The published sentence on that point is garbled, ending "poses protectionists", and its meaning is unclear. No hydrological or engineering documentation is cited for either explanation.

Asked about wider water management, the minister said the government had a unified approach to water issues when it comes to the river and other common areas. The report does not describe what that approach consists of, nor any step taken to implement it.

What happens next

Nothing in the report indicates progress beyond the planning stage for the ten canals. There is no evidence of funding, procurement, design, contracting or construction, and no follow-up reporting is cited. Anyone tracking the plan should look for a budget line, a tender notice, a signed contract or a named implementing agency, none of which the report provides.