World Must Act Fast On Somalia

The Mouthpiece — 18 October 2011

By Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda

On return to Somalia for my second tour of duty in April this year, I did notice one basic truth; much had changed.

I had been to Somalia in 2007 as part of the first Ugandan Battle Group of 1,600 soldiers. At that time, we had a vague idea on how we would go about supporting the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) largely based in Nairobi and Jowhar.

No wonder, Dr Opiyo Oloya, a Canada based New Vision columnist who visited Mogadishu in 2009 came to a rather hasty conclusion that ‘AMISOM was a mission dead on arrival.

This was understandable considering the situation then. Dr Opiyo visited again in last month and is now writing a book on how African troops have succeeded where the mighty powers failed.

August 6, was a turning point in the history of the conflict in Somalia. This was the day the Al Shabaab fled Mogadishu though they claim it was a tactical retreat. They lost strategic ground that they may never regain. In effect, Phase One of the AMISOM campaign which was capturing Mogadishu is coming to an end.

However, many challenges have come with the capture of Mogadishu. The area of control has become too large for AU forces to police. In fact, out of the 16 districts that constitute the city, AMISOM has control of 15. This is because of the 12,000 soldiers required to secure the entire city, AMISOM has only 9,000. A safe Mogadishu has also caused an influx of immigrants from other insecure and famine hit parts of the country.

This has posed several challenges especially the need for provision of humanitarian aid. However, these challenges have a silver lining.

Briefing journalists after a Peace and Security Council meeting in Addis Ababa early September, Ramtane Lamamra the Commissioner for Peace and Security, said he is encouraged by a surge in attention to Somalia.

Following the withdrawal of the Al Shabaab from the city and the famine that has ravaged children, Mogadishu has registered unprecedented attention by international media and aid agencies. As a result, the UN Security Council debated the situation in its sitting of mid September.

By all means, the Security Council should seize the moment created by last month’s retreat of al- Qaeda-linked fighters from Mogadishu to defeat the militants.

The UN Security Council should accelerate the deployment of additional troops pledged by Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti, Guinea and Sierra Leon. This will enable the mission to reach 12,000 troops covered by the UN support package. The AU members and partners should provide the requisite training, and equipment to facilitate early deployment of the 3,000 soldiers.

The UN Security Council should also approve deployment and support of formed up police units to bolster the maintenance of law and order in liberated areas. This will free the military to pursue the insurgents.

The creation of a guard force of at least battalion strength over and above the 12,000 will facilitate the deployment of civilian staff and protection for AU, the UN and Transitional Federal Institutions in Mogadishu.

The international community should also finance the deployment of force enablers that include air and maritime capabilities, combat engineers, self sustenance, medical equipment and enhanced information gathering capabilities. In particular, air assets will facilitate the conduct of battlefield air interdiction, reconnaissance, provision of close air support, in-mission troop insertion and extraction and casualty evacuation.

There is frustrations in the way the UN has been responding to the demand for a No-Fly Zone and maritime blockade in the territorial waters of Somalia.

The time has come to take steps to implement those measures, which are likely to change the dynamics of the situation in Somalia. Should this not happen, the world will have lost another opportunity.

Lt Col Paddy Ankunda is the Spokesman of the African Union Mission in Somalia.