Amisom progresses despite PM changes

Amisom troops in Somalia. PHOTO | FILE 

By FRED OLUOCH

In Summary

• In October, it recaptured Barawe, the last remaining port under Al Shabaab, thereby starving the militants of the only remaining source of revenue.
• One of the key developments this year was the killing of Al Shabab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane by US drone strike in September, Godane has been replaced by Ahmad Omar.

Despite African peacekeepers’ successes in Somalia in 2014 — routing Al Shabaab from their stronghold and starving them of their sources of revenue — the unending changing of prime minsters is a major worry.

Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke replaced Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed as the prime minister on December 17, leaving analysts wondering whether he will keep to the programme of national political dialogue, a new constitution and elections in 2016.

Mr Sharmake has received overwhelming support across the board, with the semi-autonomous region of Puntland describing him as the most qualified in the current circumstances.

The new prime minster has a huge task ahead of him, including bringing cohesion to the government, addressing security, completing the constitution and creating federal state administrations ahead of the 2016 elections.

Parliament had earlier voted out Mr Ahmed because of differences with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud over the composition of the government.

READ: Somali MPs call for withdrawal of Amisom

However, 2014 has been a good year for Amisom. In October, it recaptured Barawe, the last remaining port under Al Shabaab, thereby starving the militants of the only remaining source of revenue.

One of the key developments this year was the killing of Al Shabab leader Ahmed Abdi Godane by US drone strike in September, Godane has been replaced by Ahmad Omar.

The militants carried out two of their most daring attacks this year. They stormed the presidential palace in February and attacked parliament in July, killing at least 10 people including an MP and wounding several people. 

In January, the semi-autonomous Somalia region of Puntland confirmed Abdiweli Mohammed Ali Gaas, a former Somali prime minister, as the region’s new leader, a major step in the strengthening of the federal system.

In March, the UN Security Council extending the partial lifting of the arms embargo on Somalia, allowing the delivery of small arms and ammunition and the provision of assistance and training to the security forces of the Federal Government of Somalia. 

Amisom, operating with government forces, recaptured several strategic towns in the southwest from Al Shabaab. The operation was also to enable Amisom and Somali National Army to stabilise captured territories. The same month, Amisom launched “Operation Indian Ocean” to take the battle to Al Shabaab strongholds in the rural areas.

In May, Al Shabaab attacked a restaurant in Djibouti — the first time this has happened in that country.

All in all, in June, China said it will re-open its embassy in Mogadishu 23 years after evacuating its diplomats as Somalia plunged into civil war.

Signs that Somalia was slowly edging towards normalcy came in November when the government launched the country’s first postal service in more than two decades. Mogadishu’s first ever cash withdrawal machine was installed in a hotel.