Kenyan soldiers under Africa Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) patrol
Kismayo on November 22, 2015. Eleven years after the first boots landed
on Somali soil, a major disagreement between the main troop contributing
countries and the Somali National Army and the international community
on the other has arisen. PHOTO | NATION
Eleven years after the first boots landed on Somali soil to
pacify the troubled Horn of Africa country, a major disagreement between
the main troop contributing countries and the Somali National Army and
the international community on the other has arisen.
This
comes after the UN and Western countries that fund the African Union
Mission in Somalia (Amisom) are pushing for a systematic withdrawal,
arguing that the Somali National Army (SNA), which has undergone
training and rebuilding since 2012, has built reasonable strength of
12,000 active personnel capable of defending the country against the Al
Shabaab insurgency.
The SNA leadership has worked
closely with troop contributing countries and was initially sceptical of
the push to withdraw Amisom.
However, it has recently
changed its position on Amisom’s 22,000-strong force comprising soldiers
from Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti.
The police component is made up of officers from Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
The
change of heart by the Somali authorities on the withdrawal of Amisom
gained momentum last week after the Ugandan army shot dead three SNA
soldiers in a friendly fire incident, prompting a flurry of accusations
and counteraccusations between Ugandan and the SNA over who started the
shooting.
On March 1, Foreign Affairs and Defence ministers from Amisom
troop contributing countries attending a meeting in Kampala warned that
gains made in Somalia risked being eroded if issues such as inadequate
troop numbers and unpredictable funding were not addressed.
A
day earlier, chiefs of defence forces of the contributors, had also
taken a stand that the Amisom force strength should not be reduced, a
position the ministers echoed.
Uganda’s Foreign Affairs
Minister Sam Kutesa added the mission was also in need of force
enablers and multipliers, which are crucial in carrying out effective
operations.
“Going forward, it is essential therefore
that the international community look at the bigger picture in Somalia,
so that the gains made in recent years through enormous efforts and
great sacrifice of Amisom and the SNA are not in vain,” Mr Kutesa said.
Roadmap for Somalia
Mr
Kutesa, who served as president of the 69th Session of the UN General
Assembly, emphasised that the Amisom drawdown should be synchronised
with a corresponding strengthening of the Somali national security
forces to ensure no gap is left once AU troops exit.
Last
year, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution authorising the
reduction of Amisom troop numbers and transfer of security
responsibilities to the Somali national security forces.
But
before the Kampala meeting, the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security
Smail Chergui, appealed for increased and coordinated aid for activities
that support a transition plan to enable the Somali national security
forces take over security responsibilities of their country.
Mr
Chergui paid tribute to soldiers who have lost their lives in the line
of duty in Somalia and thanked the contributing countries’ heads of
state for championing the spirit of pan-Africanism that has thus far
pacified Somalia.
He noted that Somalia was on a
positive trajectory and that political gains made last year are
important for Amisom’s exit strategy and transfer of security
responsibilities to the Somali national security forces.
He
cited some of the positives being made in Somalia, among them, the
adoption of the National security architecture, which provides a
framework for rebuilding the Somali national security forces, the
roadmap for inclusive politics and the constitutional review process and
a new electoral model for one-person-one-vote in the 2020 elections.
The
political stability in Somalia, Mr Chergui noted, has allowed for the
commencement of the development of a Somalia Transition Plan, with a
core group established to develop a draft transition document before the
end of March this year.
The plan would serve as a
critical component of Amisom’s own transitional planning, including the
revision of its Concept of Operations and enhancement of Amisom
operational effectiveness.
Political front
“The
primary focus of the AU in the coming period should be to support
accelerated progress on this roadmap, continue constructive Federal
Government of Somalia-federal member states engagement, and full
implementation of the Somalia Transition Plan,” Mr Chergui said.
He
observed that the primacy of politics in achieving peace and security
in Somalia necessitates a new narrative by the AU, adding that events in
the past year have demonstrated that further success on the security
front cannot be achieved without sufficient progress on the political
front.
The Kampala meeting is a follow-up to an
earlier summit on September 21 last year on the sidelines of the UN
General Assembly in New York.
The heads of state and
government from the five contributing countries followed the ministers
meeting with a summit on Friday. The regional leaders back the proposals
made by their military chiefs and ministers, saying the timeframe for
the pullout was "not realistic and would lead to a reversal of the gains
made by Amisom."
Somali President Mohammed Abdullahi
Mohamed and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni attended the meeting, as
did African Union chief Moussa Faki Mahamat.
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