THE KHAT EFFECT: THE LAST BATTLE OF SOMALIA'S ISLAMISTS

THE Mogadishu Islamists' decision to ban Khat, the narcotic stimulant
that millions of Sumalis use, seemed to run on the lines of the old
maxim, "A word of truth used with an ill intention". For long,
Somalis have been using Khat as a pastime and for generating income
to feed millions of children in a country where more than 43 per cent
of the population lives on less than a dollar a day. Yes, Khat is a
curse on the economy, health and family fabric of the Somali
people. It props the economies of Somalia's neighbouring countries;
with Kenya exporting $250 millions worth of Khat to Somalia annually
and Ethiopia earning $60 million a year from Somaliland alone. Most
of this money is the remittances sent by overseas Somalis to feed
their loved ones back home.

In addition to its financial burden, the Khat causes numerous health
problems; causes family break ups, wastes people's time and energy
and increases the ranks of the country's unemployed as addiction
forces millions of productive countryside people to quit their farms
and livestock to Khat markets, towns and villages.

On the surface of it therefore, it seems any sound thinking Somali
should applaud such move and thank the clerics for ridding the
community of such an age-old curse. But the timing of it may make
one question the real motive of the clerics. The ban comes at a time
when Islamists view Ethiopia and Kenya, exporters of Khat to Somalia,
as hostile countries and accuse them of siding with the Transitional
Federal Government ( TFG ) that they want to topple. They have
declared a jihad on Ethiopia and they showed their mistrust to
Kenya. By banning the Khat, the Islamists have waged an economic war
on both countries. It is also a quick answer to Kenya's ban of all
flights to and from Mogadishu.

Banning the that, however, is different from all the other bans the
Islamist have imposed on the Somali people such as prohibiting music,
singing, cinemas, going to the beach for women and even denying women
to go out of their house without a chaperon. The Khat is not only a
narcotic that almost all Somali men and many of the women use on
daily basis, but unfortunately it is the only lucrative business in
Somalia that feeds tens of thousands of families. It is the main
business for thousands of women who sell the Khat in order to secure
food, medicine and schooling for their children. What alternative do
the Islamists have for all these families one may ask?

Did they think about the reaction of Ethiopia and Kenya? What about
if Ethiopia and Kenya decide to slap a trade ban on Somalia? With
Khat replacing tea and coffee as a hard currency earner for both
countries, it is obvious that both countries will feel the
pinch. According to some estimates, Kenya alone would lose up to
Sh19 billion and an estimated 500,000 jobs. It is my hope that the
Islamists have seriously thought about how they would feed the Somali
people if both Kenya and Ethiopia decide to close their borders and
airports to Somali trade.

One may also remind the Islamists that when the British colonial
authorities attempted to ban Khat in Somaliland it only strengthened
the people's resolve for freedom. It was also the ban of Khat that
fuelled the Somali people's resentment of Siyad Barre and eventually
contributed to his downfall.

Will history repeat itself? Will the Islamists revoke their decision
when they feel the heat or will they stay the course until either the
Khat or the Caliphate wins the battle? Only time will tell. But one
thing is sure that the world may soon see an exodus of tens of
thousands of Somali Khat refugees pouring to neighbouring countries
and even to Somaliland, Puntland and the TFG ruled zone of Baidoa in
search of their freedom to chew what many Somalis believe to be the
nutrition of God-fearing people ( quutul awliyaa ).

Khat may also force hundreds of the young Islamist militia's, the
majority of whom were the former mooryan's ( drug addicts ) of the
warlords, to desert the Islamists side and join the TFG, thus
reversing the Islamists hitherto unstoppable advance. One may not
rule out, nevertheless, that those that slapped the ban may have an
agenda to extricate themselves of this brinkmanship by turning the
Khat into a blessed black market that could fill their war chest.

Bashir Goth is an African journalist based in Abu Dhabi.