Beware the Deluge of “Modern” City Transport — The Fekon & Bajaj Time Bomb (and the Case for an Import Ban)
They sold it to us as modernization. What we got instead is urban mayhem—and nowhere is the danger clearer than in Garowe.
Garowe is being quietly overrun by two machines that thrive in regulatory darkness: Fekon (two-wheeler motorcycles) and Bajaj (motorized rickshaws). Left unchecked, they will drown the city—physically, socially, and institutionally.
The Fekon–Bajaj Flood
They multiply faster than the city can breathe. They swarm intersections, mount sidewalks, choke drainage lines, and turn residential lanes into racetracks. Built for limited utility, they now operate everywhere—markets, schools, hospitals—without routes, inspections, or accountability.
This is not mobility. It is a mechanized anarchy.
When Informality Becomes a Weapon
Untrained drivers under daily cash pressure speed through crowds and ignore crossings. Accidents rise. Tempers flare. The victims are predictable: children, elders, women, and street vendors. The beneficiaries are fewer: importers, platform owners, and a shadow economy feeding on state absence.
A City on the Brink
Garowe’s roads were never designed for this volume or mix. Add ride-hailing cars, delivery bikes, minibuses, and scooters to the Fekon–Bajaj surge and you get gridlock with teeth—noise, fumes, near-misses, delayed emergencies, and eroding trust.
Every horn blast is a warning siren.
The Hard Decision We Must Face: Ban the Imports—Now
Regulation alone will not catch up with the flood. Puntland State must consider an immediate ban on the import of Fekon and Bajaj into urban centres—starting with Garowe—until a credible framework exists.
This is not anti-livelihood; it is pro-city survival.
What that means in practice:
Immediate moratorium on new Fekon and Bajaj imports into urban centres of Puntland State of Somalia.
Cap and freeze existing numbers; no new registrations.
Mandatory registration, licensing, and visible IDs for all existing units.
Designated routes and exclusion zones (schools, hospitals, pedestrian cores).
Safety standards (speed governors, lights, brakes, passenger limits).
Driver training and strict enforcement—no license, no road.
Public transport investment to absorb demand humanely and at scale.
Progress Is Discipline
Modernity is not how many engines you unleash; it is how well you govern movement. If Fekon and Bajaj are not halted and regulated today, they will rule Garowe tomorrow—by default, by force, by chaos.
This is a final notice. Pause the imports. Regulate what exists. Reclaim the streets. Or prepare to watch a promising capital choke on its own traffic.
WAPMEN warns today so we don’t mourn tomorrow.
Warsame Policy & Media Network (WAPMEN) 