Somali Piracy & Mombasa’s Coming Property Boom
I was having a discussion last night about these Somali Pirates and how succesful they’ve been in terms of getting millions of dollars from the ships they’ve hijacked. I think so far, the Somali’s have gotten about $150 million dollars in cash! wow!
Anyway, someone mentioned that Mombasa is about to experience a real estate property boom because a lot of this money is going to end up there and probably in other parts of Kenya. In other words, this piracy is going to benefit the Kenyan economy.
I was reading an article on how the money actually gets into the hands of these pirates and here is a first hand account from one of the owners of a hijacked German ship:
“The state bank in Bremen did not have enough dollars on hand. Bank notes had to be brought in from Hamburg, and because the state bank there could only pay out a portion of the large sum in $20 bills instead of $100 bills, the shipping company needed two large pilot suitcases to accommodate all of the money. It was then flown to the Kenyan capital Nairobi, where it was loaded onto a helicopter and taken to a small tugboat in the port city of Mombasa. From there, the English security firm took the ransom money to Somalia. After seven days, the tugboat had reached the “BBC Trinidad.” {this is the name of the hijacked ship}
On Thursday morning of last week, two boats were moored to the Beluga freighter, the hijackers’ speedboat on one side and the tugboat from Mombasa on the other. A doctor examined the crew and the pirates counted the money. Martin, the head of the security firm, recognized the pirates. He had handed over a similar sum of money a few weeks earlier to secure the release of the German ship “Lehmann Timber.” The pirates divided up the money and placed it into 18 bags, presumably to pay 18 different clans. Then they left the ship, and the “BBC Trinidad” was allowed to continue its voyage to Muscat”. You can read the full article here: Why work when you can hijack?
At one point, one of the crew members tells his bosses in Germany that the Somali’s are very dangerous because they haven’t eaten or drunk anything in three days. All they seem to be doing is chewing bunches of “green grass”, (aka “miraa”), which seems to be making them high and which he suspects might be a hallucinogenic plant like coca.
fuck kenya u shithole
THE RICH COUNTRIES HIJACKING THE OIL RIH NATIONS TOO LIKE THE PIRATES ARE DOING- WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?
i think everyone is thinking too hard. It seems that most people want to be frightened for any possible reason (and the Americans are the main people who place terror into peoples hearts, i.e. media). For many years the ships that travel passed the coast of Somalia, have been stealing fish from the coast and furthermore have been dumping toxic waste into their seas. Why is it okay for some and not for others? May I outline that I do not agree with stealing but neither do I agree with unfairness and as Africans we have been putting up with unfairness for hundreds of years. Who is going to put a stop to them dumping toxic waste into African seas and why isn’t that the topic on the media or the hot debate. My comments may not answer whether Mombasa will benefit or not
Now if we look at it… The somalias put there “pirated” money into Kenya….Well that is the worst thing happening… As we can see most of the properties being bought at this time are the somalis pumping money, bribing the goverment and so on…. One day all these freeking warrias are taking over Kenya and where are all the Kenyans going to go??
Djibouti has an American base… why would they bomb Djibouti?
@KE
You are right, somalis do invest in property Kenya, including other nationals. See this video in youtube about property boom in Nairobi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn9wllmVPP0
Coldtusker:
The main point of the article was that the money from this piracy would end up in Kenya for the reasons I outlined above. The clan system is the bedrock of Somali society and since they have related clans in Kenya, it’ would be a natural place for them to link up with clansmen who already have substantial business interests in places like Nairobi and Mombasa.
The other stuff you mentioned about djibouti and American shipping is not relevant to this discussion. There is a small marine contingent in djibout that mainly does humanitarian work, but djibouti is not a country that has produced radical islamists. America is not looking to bomb it.
Somali’s are not religious ideologues and what is happening in somalia to the al-shahab can be directly related to the madrassa schools in the country that are being funded by saudi arabia and that are fueling this brand of radical islam, which is quite alien to traditional somali culture.
But what has that (clans) got to do with American shipping?
coldtusker:
I think you should stick to analyzing finance because this is where you excel.
Somali’s have strong links to Kenya, both in terms of their tribal lineages and also because of the proximity to the country. You can drive from Somalia into Kenya. A plane flight is barely an hour away from wilson airport and the flights from kenya to somalia are frequent because of the miraa trade.
The refugee camps set up by the UN are all across the border in Kenya or close to it on the Somali side. Much of this piracy money will end up in eastleigh, riverroad, Mombasa and Lamu. The Somali clan network in Kenya is very strong and to the somali, everything begins and ends with the clan.
Safari park will not be affected in the ongoing demolition plans
Djibouti is an American base. The Somalis will not attack them directly coz they will be bombed out of existence. Remember, the whole world including the Chinese, Western nations, Mid-East, Russians & E. Africa are not happy with the somalis. If Obama orders the somalis bombed… who will criticize him?
Dar is further south & I am talking of cargo that will come in around from the Cape of Good Hope.
Dubai: It is a major port which they will defend against any somali. Furthermore, the goods can be shipped to Dubai then air-freighted.
The somalis created their own mess. The UN should make the coast of somalia a no-go zone for anyone who looks like a somali…
DEE
The Kenyatta Family sold he land to the Koreans..Probably you did NOT want to hear that
KE,
I wanna ask you a question about a different kind of piracy. The Kenyan style POLITICAL PIRACY. I heard Safari park hotel & Casino is getting demolished to pave way of that Thika highway. Its built on road reserve. So somone screwed the KOREAN investors that own it.This is where it might get tricky. You know all this time we haven’t heard of any victim (Including EQUITY bank) complain about who sold them these illegal lands in the first place.ONLY IN KENYA. But the Koreans might spill the beans. We need to know who were these “faceless” people behind the scam.
ONLY IN KENYA that a prime minister or senior cabinet member would say “some people are buying maize corruptly and causing high unga prices”…….Shut the f. up!!! NAME THEM….CHECK NCPB depots for their records. You are a PM for christ’s sake….or ru scared or have NO balls…
This game of “some nameless people” is killing our country.
KE,
You are right. Somalians don’t trust Somali. Look at Eastleigh today. Apart from the bad roads (blame NCC) our local entrepreneurs are no match to these Somalis. Somali banking institutions have collapsed so all that money will end up in Kenya and Dubai.
CT,
What do you mean ship merchants will prefer Dar and Djibouti ports? Remember the issue is NOT port of destiny BUT the route taken. Last time I checked the map, the shipping routes of Dar and Djibouti go through Red sea and Indian ocean too hence within pirates’ reach.
These pirates are really raking it in. Millions have just been paid for the MV Faina – the one carrying the weapons.
The pirates are just about to ride off laughing all the way into the desert……
To enjoy their ill-goten loot!
KE
“In some ways, I’ve come to admire the entrepreneurial fortitude of these somali pirates.”
Who believes an entreprepreneur whose basic tenets is theft…
Josh:
What exactly are the Americans bombing in Somalia? grass huts and camels? aint nothing else in that crib.
In some ways, I’ve come to admire the entrepreneurial fortitude of these somali pirates.
CT
There is nothing much that the Americans can do even if their ship were to be hijacked. This is because the safety of the crew is the paramount consideration.
In anycase, the Americans ARE already bombing Somalia.
As I was thinking about this Somali Piracy problem, I just thought about our very corrupt immigration minister: The right, “honorable” Otieno Kajwang. hmmm…
We all know Kajwang loves his money. Heck, he got disbarred for stealing from his own clients, but now, if he plays his cards right, he won’t have to do that anymore.
If I were Kajwang, I would find out, which clans were getting all this money and you would see a raise in immigration raids in eastleigh. I’d just tell those Somalis’ that they were in the country illegally, but {wink, wink
) — if they want to stop being harrassed and if they want to continue doing business in Kenya, all they’d have to do is talk to me “nicely” (you know what I’m saying?).
Then, er…I’d just name my price and tell them where to deposit the money.
Yes — that is my prediction. Our friend Kajwang is going to start making frequent trips to eastleigh in the coming months.
Workingstiff:
Nobody can save Somalia, but Somali’s.
Coldtusker:
Why do you think Somali’s will chose places like Dar, Djibouti and Dubai over Nairobi or Mombasa? They’re already about one million somali refugee’s living in Kenya and remember, these people are related to the ethnic Kenyan Somali’s.
A lot of that money will end up in eastleigh. The property boom you mentioned, which is being fueled by Italians and Germans, is separate from the coming property boom, which will be fueled by these Somali warlords.
btw — I think they’ve just hijacked another ship. This time it’s a Yemeni tanker (http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/.....rates.html)
It’s amazing how far these somali’s are traveling with their speedboats — they’re moving far off into the gulf of Aden, almost 800 kilometers away from the coast of Somalia.
Coldtusker has it right, it is going to affect Mombasa, and in turn everyone in Kenya, and E. African region. We need leadership on this issue. It is in our interest to have neighbors with stable regimes. We should be:
1. Looking to support a stable govt in Somalia. Get the US, Ethiopia and the warring clans together, and hash out a govt.
2. Have our politicians get beyond their(our) parochial interests, and actually use some diplomacy to get a joint task force to enforce law, and patrol the area.
If this is not contained, not only are we going to have high shipping costs rise in Mombasa, but we are going to reap the fruits of having an emboldened lawless mafia-type of thuggery. Kidnappings are next, and if the politicians ignore it, they should realize that they and their offspring are ripe targets.
The progression is very similar to what happens in other developing countries, but with an E. African twist. We need only to look at South-East Asia, which had to deal with piracy and kidnappings, or even better look in South America, e.g. Brazil, Mexico or Peru.
psyd off: We are affected more than the Western/Industrialized nations. They can & will provide protection for their ships.
The warias dare not grab an American flag-flying ship. The Americans are itching to bomb the shit out of them.
Mombasa will lose out as it will be avoided in favour of Dar, Djibouti & Durban.
I just love how industrialized nations got rich off of illegal practices, and now that the somalis are organized (or is that disorganized) enough to pull those 19th century tactics (with modern technology of course) they’re now crying about instability, etc, etc. Wacha we finally see the dawn of ruthlessness, which benefits the 18 clans, in africa.
I think the pirates will impact negatively on the economy is the problem is not solved soon enough. This is because shipping around Mombasa port will be hit hard and prices of commodity go up as ships take longer route around cape of good hope
The boom in Mombasa property is already here but coming from rich Europeans mostly from the UK and Italy.
See this link
http://property.timesonline.co.....155208.ece