Amisom issues on the agenda of Addis Ababa meeting

Amisom troops in Somalia. PHOTO | FILE 

By Fred Oluoch and Moses Havyarimana

In Summary

• The African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), billed as Africa’s most successful intervention to date, is now in turmoil as Al Shabaab continues to overrun peacekeepers’ military bases. 
• Insufficient funding, inadequate troop levels, lack of equipment, disjointed command and low morale are some of the issues affecting Amisom that the African leaders need to address at the summit.
• Amisom, which entered Somalia in 2007, needs an additional 28,000 troops to capture regions still under Al Shabaab. These are Jubba Valley, Hiraan and the northeastern coastline of Somalia. Discussions on where the troops will come from and how they will be funded are yet to be completed.  

The African leaders summit in Addis Ababa, on January 30 and 31, is expected to assess the performance and funding of troops in Somalia and come up with programmes leading to a final withdrawal in 2020.

The African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), billed as Africa’s most successful intervention to date, is now in turmoil as Al Shabaab continues to overrun peacekeepers’ military bases. 

On Thursday, Al Shabaab killed an unconfirmed number of Kenyan troops at a base in the southern town of Kulbiyow, a replica of a similar attack a year ago when the militants killed Kenyan soldiers in El Adde.

Insufficient funding, inadequate troop levels, lack of equipment, disjointed command and low morale are some of the issues affecting Amisom that the African leaders need to address at the summit.

Over last year, key troop-contributing countries such as Burundi, Kenya and Uganda issued threats of withdrawal from Somalia due to lack of support from the international community.

Alternative funding

In January 2016, the EU, which pays the salaries of all the 21,129 Amisom troops, reduced its annual $200 million funding by 20 per cent due to emerging humanitarian situations around the world, forcing the UN and the AU to find other ways to fill the gap.

The AU Peace and Security Council is now reaching out to the Gulf countries for alternative funding. The current  contract with the EU ends in March.

Amisom, which entered Somalia in 2007, needs an additional 28,000 troops to capture regions still under Al Shabaab. These are Jubba Valley, Hiraan and the northeastern coastline of Somalia. Discussions on where the troops will come from and how they will be funded are yet to be completed.  

The meltdown started last November, when Ethiopia withdrew 4,000 non-Amisom soldiers from the central region, enabling Al Shabaab to recapture towns in Gedo, Bakool, Bayi and Hiraan.

Amisom plans to start withdrawing peacekeepers from Somalia in October 2018.

For Amisom to leave, the AU, with the support of the UN and international donors, must train and equip at least 20,000 troops from the Somalia National Army (SNA).

In a recent interview with The EastAfrican, Francisco Madeira, the head of Amisom, said that that despite limited resources, the mission is committed to ensuring that Somalia’s security institutions are capable of securing the country when the peacekeepers leave.

“Amisom’s key priorities in 2017 include the recovery of territory under Al Shabaab control, which is central to our exit strategy. October 2018 is the beginning of a drawdown, and we should be able to start reducing our troops, but that does not mean we are abandoning Somalia. It means a gradual drawdown until the Somalis take over,” said Mr Madeira.

Burundi troops

There are 10,900 specially trained SNA troops who are supposed to work with Amisom to liberate the remaining areas.

In December, Burundi announced that it would start pulling its troops out because of a pay dispute with the EU.

The EU had suspended paying the 5,432 Burundi troops through the government because of the sanctions it had imposed on the country due to the political crisis brought on by President Pierre Nkurunziza’s controversial third term.

The EU had insisted that the AU must come up with a new payment mechanism where the soldiers are paid directly. Amisom pays its soldiers $1,028 each per month; the respective governments then deduct $200 for administrative costs before remitting the remaining amount to the soldiers.

In December, President Nkurunziza threatened to sue the AU over the failure to pay its peacekeeping troops in Somalia. Bujumbura rescinded the decision after the intervention of the AU Peace and Security Commissioner Smail Chergui.

Burundi is also encouraged by the AU proposal to start funding its peacekeepers without depending on donors.

READ: Burundi troops to remain in Somalia, payments resume

“The decision was made in Kigali to make the AU self-sufficient. Funding the peacekeepers has been one of the major challenges,” Burundi ambassador to the AU Ndabarushimana Dieudonne, told The EastAfrican. He argued that Burundi’s bilateral problems with the EU should not affect multilateral issues.

“We don’t want our contingent to be part of the problem we have with the EU. Our contingent is an AU force not a Burundian force,” said Jean Claude Karerwa, President Nkurunziza’s spokesman.