Somalis crave for peace after 14 years of anarchy

Wakhti Abshir, a widow with six children, works as a cleaner in Jowhar's trendiest compound that houses President Abdullahi Yusuf and Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi of the new Somali government.

She is not paid for working in the heavily-guarded brown villa in central Jowhar, a tiny and relatively rich settlement with a population of about 100,000. But Abshir does not mind, because she is hopeful for the future.

"I feed my children with the militia's leftovers," she said.

"But I'm optimistic that with the government finally here, my eldest son will soon be employed."

The arrival of Yusuf and Gedi in Somalia from neighbouring Kenya earlier this year marked the 14th attempt to reinstate government in the lawless Horn of Africa nation after warlords toppled military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

Weary of the killing and chaos, most of Somalia's 10 million people are craving for peace, their hopes raised once again by the latest attempt to establish order.

Unlike Abshir, some are already enjoying the concrete benefits from the government's relocation from Kenya, where it was formed at peace talks last year.

"Life has been good since the government set up base here...we have been constructing many buildings. Such opportunities were unheard of before," said Anshur Adan, 42, a labourer in Jowhar.

FREELANCE MILITIA

One of the main obstacles for the new Transitional Federal Government is a rift at its highest level, with various cabinet ministers and warlords opposing Yusuf and locating themselves in Mogadishu.

Yusuf says the capital is too insecure to use as a base, but his critics say he has broken the charter of the new government by establishing Mogadishu as the capital.

The split has been worsened by threats of violence.

In the battle-scarred coastal capital Mogadishu, Isse Omar Iman, a taxi driver with six children, says life has not been changed by the government's arrival.

"The government does not provide us with amenities like health care, electricity and water, which private companies provide for a fortune," he complained.

Iman would also like the government to improve security in the city. "I have been carjacked four times by freelance militia who roam my neighbourhood," he added.

Civil societies are campaigning to clean up Mogadishu but some feel that the formation of the new government has merely aggravated insecurity, increasing assassination attempts.

"It's a new problem as a result of the presence of the government. In the last few years, such killings never existed. Individuals are taking advantage of the misunderstandings in the government," peace activist Amina Hajji told Reuters.

Since 1991, clan militia have turned Somalia into a patchwork of fiefdoms, killing hundreds of thousands and displacing millions.

MPs LIVE IN A SCHOOL

In Johwar, the government is fast running out of funds and 140 MPs even live in a school, between the town's only airport and the president's residence.

The school is about to reopen for children and the MPs have not been paid wages in about four months.

Before moving to Somalia two months ago, the MPs were staying in five-star hotels in Nairobi in neighbouring Kenya, enjoying hot showers and three course meals with dessert.

Now they have to make do without clean running water and electricity.

"The MPs have not been paid. They work as volunteers who have sacrificed their lives in order to help our people. The international community should assist the government if we are to change the plight of our people," Somali government spokesman Abdirahman Dinari told Reuters in Jowhar.

Francois Fall, United Nations Special Representative to Somalia, is worried his recent shuttle diplomacy to end the rift could end in futility because the parties involved do not want to face each other and talk.

"We are facing one of the most difficult conflicts in Africa," Fall said on a recent trip to Somalia.

"But with time and patience I think we can do something,"