The Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Shabaab has threatened dozens of Mogadishu business owners for not paying taxes on time. Corresponding local reports indicate that more than 70 Mogadishu business owners were in the beginning of this week summoned by the militant group.
Sources indicate that businesses owners from various industry in the capital including textile, restaurants, hotels, pharmacies, supermarkets, food stores and automobile spare parts vendors at Basra village in the Lower Shabelle region, about 30 kilometers north of Mogadishu were ordered to register with four Al-Shabaab’s Zakat collecting officers or face consequences.
During Ramadan month, Al-Shabaab’s Zakat system is followed in all Al-Shabaab-held areas in exchange of protection of their business.
Al-Shabaab forcibly ask for taxes and other levies from businesses being run in areas under their control, including Middle Juba in the south, Gedo in the southwest, and Hiran in central Somalia.
The Zakat is also levied on the business community in Mogadishu despite the capital is controlled by Somali Federal Government backed by the African Union forces and the Western allies.
Even small-scale business traders are forced to cooperate to protect their business from being rundown. Tens of thousands of dollars are used to finance terror across Somalia regions.
