Somalia: Sovereign disguise for a Mogadishu Mafia

Abstract

Peace and reconstruction have to go together. Reconstruction will need to go ahead, if even there is some instability, if Angolans are to regain some confidence in the peace process and invest in their future. But reconstruction is not just rebuilding the infrastructure that has been destroyed by war or by lack of maintenance, the resettlement of displaced people and the provision of tools to promote agriculture (the items usually mentioned by the Angolan government and the international aid community). It means rebuilding government administrative and decision-making capacity that has been eroded by the many years of conflict and the priority given to the military and to the petroleum sector. It means restoring Angolans trust in political processes, which was dashed by the failure of the 1992 elections and the inability of the international community to guarantee the conclusion of a process that it has started. It means rebuilding some of the sense of community that has been lost through migration and destabilisation, but which will be essential for the community contribution to reconstruction.