africom: amisom bulletin issue 4 april 15, 2010

8/9/2019 AFRICOM: Amisom Bulletin Issue 4 April 15, 2010

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AMISOM marks its thirdanniversary in Somalia

Year Three

Added StrengthTen Kenyan Police Of cers are joining AMISOM Police Component in Somalia

Public ServiceThe TFG stresses the need for citizen servicesduring AMISOM workshop in Kampala

Ahmedou Ould-AbdallahThe UN special representative for Somalia saysstatus quo is not an option Humanitarian EffortAMISOMs life-saving aid easing Somalissuffering

Health and HopeThe AMISOM hospital is treating more than twodozen Somali women suffering from stula, acondition that leaves many females shunned

Model Behavior

Burundian troops in Somalia are offering stories of peace and reconciliation based on their owncountrys experience with war

First PersonA former child soldier remembers a younglife in arms


2/10AFRICAN UNION MISSION IN SOMALIAAMISOM BULLETIN - ISSUE 4, 2010 2

A bout 10 of cers from the Kenya Police Forcewill soon be deployed with the African UnionPeacekeeping Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), fur -hering efforts to build up the Somali Police Force.The AMISOM police taskforce is mandated

o train, mentor, monitor and advise the SomaliPolice Force to bring it up to international stan-dards. As part of that effort, a series of SelectionAssistant Test (SAT) exercises were conducted on29-31 March 2010 in Nairobi to identify possible

candidates for posts with AMISOM in Somalia.Out of 136 police of cers presented for the SATexercises by the Kenyan Police Commissioner,78 were selected for AU medical examinations.Ten from that group will be chosen and deployedto AMISOM Police Component in Mogadishu.The SAT exercises were conducted by AMISOMPolice Chief of Staff Isaac Samsom, AMISOMPolice Coordinator for Reform and Restructur -ing Emmanuel Mbonirema and two experts from

the AU Strategic Planning Unit, CommissChege and Chirenje.

Similar exercises have gone forward in SLeone, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda, putting600 of cers currently on the AU deployme-ter. Seven AMISOM police peacekeepers Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria and Ugandaalready been deployed to Mogadishu and ar-rently developing manuals and other trainin-terials with their Somali counterparts.g

Ten Kenyan Police Of cers are joining AMISOM Police Component in Somalia

Added Strength


3/10AFRICAN UNION MISSION IN SOMALIA AMISOM BULLETIN - ISSUE 4, 20103

T he Transitional Federal GovernmenSomalia urgently needs an ef cient -lic service sector that can deliver servicthe people of Somalia. This was the suof a three-day consultative needs assessworkshop held in Kampala, Uganda, on March 2010. Organized by the African UMission in Somalia (AMISOM), the work brought 26 senior TFG of cials togethesenior of cials from AMISOM and ex

from Uganda and Rwanda. The TFG de-tion was led by the Minister for LabourHuman Resources Development MohaAbdi Hayir.

Addressing participants, Deputy SpRepresentative of the Chairperson of the-can Union Commission (DSRCC) for SoHon. Wafula Wamunyinyi said: Normcan only return to Somalia if the governis able to provide basic services to the peand this can be made possible if there is a-lic service that is equipped with the nece

knowledge and is committed to service -

ery.Speaking for the host country, Chief of

Forces of the Uganda Peoples Defense F(UPDF) Lt. Gen. Katumba Wamala agnoting that the deteriorating humanitaria-uation in Somalia underscored the immeneed for basic public services for Somali

Participants at the workshop examinedshortcomings of public services in Somsizing up the staf ng, training, infrastruand equipment needs in order to launcoverall action plan. Experts stressed thefor an effective retention scheme that wensure long-term sustainability of the prIt was agreed that the AU/AMISOM will implementing the plan as early as May and will reach out to partners for the necefunding and support.

Participants also expressed appreciato AMISOM Troop Contributing Counnamely Burundi and Uganda, for their -mitment to peace in Somalia and appealother African countries to support the p-keeping efforts in Somalia by sending -

tional forces.The Kampala workshop stemmed fromAfrican Unions belief that the buildinTFG institutional capacity is an essential- ponent of the quest for peace, security an- bility in Somalia.g

The TFG stressesthe need for citizenservices during

AMISOM workshopin Kampala

Public Service



On 6 March 2007, some 350 Ugandan troops

landed in Mogadishu as the rst batch of peacekeepers for the African Union Mission inSomalia (AMISOM). Within a few days, Ugandacompleted a deployment of over 1,700 troops thatconstituted the rst AU contingent in Somaliasince the collapse of the Somali state in 1991. Bu-undi followed, and by January 2008 it had also

completed its deployment.The mission has since gradually grown over the

ast three years, and today AMISOM forces num-ber around 6,000. AMISOM is mandated to pro-vide support to the Transitional Federal InstitutionsTFIs) in their efforts to stabilise the country andurther dialogue and reconciliation. Additionally,

AMISOM is required to facilitate humanitarianassistance and contribute to creating conditionsconducive for reconstruction and development.Under the circumstances, the undermanned andunder-funded mission has done well in serving thepeople, protecting the interim Somali government,securing the Mogadishu international airport, sea-port and the presidential palace complex. Both theairport and seaport are major economic lifelines for he interim government and continue to offer ser -

vices to the population.

AMISOM at the same time provides about60,000 litres of safe drinking water per day tohundreds of neighbouring families and offers freemedical services, including surgery, to thousandsof Somalis. AMISOM now runs two hospitals one in the main base near the airport and the sec-

ond at the former Somali National University in

northwest Mogadishu. Both facilities receive andtreat more than 2,000 patients per week. Thoughthe facilities are too ill-equipped to give optimalservice to the civilian population, they nonethe-less offer the most sought medical services in So-malia. Patients come from as far as Bosasso in thesemiautonomous region of Puntland. AMISOMmedical staff do not discriminate among patients.Everyone, including wounded ghters from oppo-sition groups, is welcome and treated. Accordingto Chief Medical Of cer Col. Dr. James Kiyengothe most common ailments treated at AMISOMfacilities include malaria, malnutrition, hepatitis,tumors and gun shot wounds.

Somalis are grateful for the health servicesthey receive from AMISOM. Nur Haji Muridi, a40-year-old father of ve, traveled from Bosasso,about 1,000 km north of Mogadishu, to save hisfoot after it was pierced by a nail in a garage. Iwill always be grateful to AMISOM for savingmy foot from amputation, he said. I went tothree hospitals in Mogadishu and was told that myfoot was rotten. The AMISOM doctors operatedon it and saved me. Its a miracle, and I will always be thankful to them.

Suldana Mohamed, 60, is a mother of six anda grandmother to about a dozen children. Shetoo expressed gratitude to Dr. Juvenal Nibogora,a Burundian physician who removed a tumor of hers. May God bless you doctor, she said. I amfeeling much better. I didnt even feel pain during

the operation. Your hands are blessed by the

poor people you assist.At the main AMISOM base adjacent toMogadishu airport, the Ugandan contincommander, Col. Tumusiime Katsigazi, asthe people of Somalia that AMISOM will abandon them. We have to bring in more -cal facilities to improve our capacity to ass people, he said. We will continue offerinservices to the people until the security situis normalized and the population can get -ment elsewhere.

As expected, the rst three years of AMIin Somalia have not been easy. The missio paid a heavy price in its endeavour to r peace in a country that has not had a centra-ernment since the 1991 ouster of former PreMohamed Siad Barre. More than 70 AMI peacekeepers have lost their lives, and dmore have been injured in attacks by Islmilitants determined to topple the TransiFederal Government that AMISOM is manto support. AMISOM Force Commander Gen. Nathan Mugisha deeply regrets the lolife and suffering both in AMISOM and athe civilian population and hopes that the c

in Somalia will soon come to an end. In a smarking the occasion, Mugisha said: As w-memorate the third anniversary of the deploof AMISOM, let us all work together to enab people of Somalia to bring this hemorrhageend, before it becomes a tragedy for the worg

Year Three

AMISOM marks its thirdanniversary in Somalia



U N Special Representative for Somalia Ahm-edou Ould-Abdallah hailed recent progressn the Somali peace process during an appearancen Nairobi - but stressed the need for more worko be done.We are a quarter of the way into the second

year of the TFGs term and managing the statusquo is not an option, the envoy said in remarksdelivered 26 March 2010. A number of rm andsigni cant steps have been made that show thewillingness and ability of the government to usehis transitional period wisely and for the bene t

of the Somali people.Ould-Abdallah said the signing of an agreement

between the Somali government and Ahlu SunnahWal Jamaa that took place 15 March was an addi-ional indication of the governments commitmento work with all willing parties towards restoringpeace and reconciliation.

On the 23 March, Ould-Abdallah, together

with the Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid AliSharmarke and Ambassador Boubacar G. Diarra,head of the African Union Mission to SomaliaAMISOM), opened a meeting of the Joint Se-

curity Committee (JSC) in Nairobi. The meetingooked focused on progress made to date on the

issue of security in Somalia, with the participantsalso discussing further steps the Somali govern-ment can take. Training initiatives supported bythe European Union and the other members of theinternational community were also assessed.

Increasingly, and at a realistic pace, the gov-ernment is working together with Somalis andits international partners to achieve the bench-marks within the framework of the Djibouti PeaceAgreement, Ould-Abdallah said.

A three-week workshop in Djibouti conveningmembers of the Independent Federal Constitu-tional Commission (IFCC) ended on 23 Marchwith new parameters laid out for the constitutional process. The commission -- previously made upof 15 members of the TFG -- extended its participants to 30 and appointed a new chairperson. Thegroup agreed on an organizational chart, delegat-ing responsibilities to various standing commit-tees and thematic subgroups in areas such as civic

education, legal affairs and public awareness. TheIFCC is expected to have a nal draft constitution prepared by the beginning of July.

A conference addressing Somalias reconstruc-tion and development is expected to take place on22 May in Istanbul, hosted by the government of

Turkey. High-level participation from Soand its partners will convene to discuss co projects. Also, the League of Arab States wa conference on Somalia 21 and 22 April in where delegates of the TFG will meet membthe International Contact Group to follow u previous meeting held in Jeddah last year.

Ould-Abdallah said he held talks with S-ish Minister of Foreign Affairs and CoopeMiguel ngel Moratinos Cuyaub, Spanish-retary of State Angel Lossada Torres-Queand their close associates in Madrid to o plans for the upcoming meetings and confein Cairo and Istanbul. He said that the Spof cials expressed their continuing intereraising the international pro le of Somalia t promote stability and security and address off the Somali coast.

Even though it is still faced with a nuof critical challenges, the Somali governm

increasingly a credible partner, Ould-Absaid. If it and the international communitthe course and remain focused, by AugustSomalia will have a solid foundation on wh build.g

AhmedouOuld-Abdallah

The UN specialrepresentativefor Somalia says

status quo isnot an option.


6/10AFRICAN UNION MISSION IN SOMALIAAMISOM BULLETIN - ISSUE 4, 2010

With virtually no public services available in Mogadishu, one of AMISOMs most important tasks has been to ease the suffering of the population through humanitarian assistance. Every day around 800ailing Somalis seek medical assistance from the two outpatient eld clinicsrun by AMISOM doctors. A similar number of residents also get their dailysupply of safe water for domestic use from the African Union peacekeep-ers. And since most international humanitarian agencies have withdrawnfrom southern Somalia owing to security concerns, Somalis in need areincreasingly looking towards AMISOM for help.

Every other time I visit the eld clinics I am really saddened, AMISOMSpokesman Maj. Ba-Hoku Barigye said during one of his many visits to themain outpatient clinic near the airport run by Ugandan doctors. The suf -fering of the population is just too much. We have gone beyond our abil-ity to help the population. We rmly believe that with the right supportAMISOM and the government can really save more lives in Somalia.

AMISOM Senior Humanitarian Of cer Abdul Diabagate the sufferingof the population calls for a more robust approach. Diabagate appealed for a more vigorous and timely intervention by the world to ease suffering inSomalia, which is in the grips of one of the worst humanitarian crises thecountry has seen in two decades of internal con ict.

AMISOM continues to provide critically needed humanitarian assis-tance under increasingly life threatening conditions, said Diabagate, who

oversees donations of drugs and medical equipment sent by the Somali di-

aspora, the British government and the United Nations SupportAMISOM. It is important to note that our little humanitarian is easing civilians suffering, but as you can see our interventioenough. We need more support and hope that the international cincluding world leaders, will take advantage of AMISOMS prthe ground to advance humanitarian issues.

Mahado Ali is among the scores of Somalis receiving vital Ahumanitarian assistance. With no income and a family to sup65-year-old widow and mother of ve is grateful for the support

We live just opposite the base, Ali said while clutching her son Ahmed Hassan in a queue with other patients waiting to be AMISOM doctor at the clinic. My son has diarrhea. I came tofree of charge at the clinic. The peacekeepers also provide us drinking water. Our safety is also guaranteed here. Life would terrible without the support we receive from AMISOM.

Several tents inside the base serve as the main in-patient hospidozens of ailing Somalis can be seen lying in the open. The facneeds refurbishing. An AMISOM nurse who declined to be na-marized Somalias critical humanitarian situation this way.

We virtually use the same supplies meant for the peacekeeperthese poor people, she said. We have the capacity to assist m but we just cant. If only the world could provide much more su

suffering here would have been history.g

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HumanitarianEffort

AMISOMs life-saving aideasing Somalis suffering

By Guled Mohamed



In general, women who develop stulas are often abandoned by their husbands, rejected by their communities and forced to live in isolationbecause of the conditions telltale symptom, a persistent odor of urine andexcrement. Mothers who have endured long labors are particularly prone to

stula, which causes incontinence owing to torn tissue around the birth ca-nal. But the AMISOM hospital is currently offering treatment to more than30 women who can now hope to have a normal life again.

Thirty-seven Somali women have recently undergone surgery for stula atAMISOM facilities. Donations from the Somali diaspora plus support fromhe Coalition of Grassroots Women Organizations (COGWO) have helped

make the operations possible. Health of cials suspect that hundreds of So-mali women may be suffering in silence with stula, despite the treatmentavailable at the AMISOM hospital. While dif cult childbirth is normally themain cause of stula, the condition can also stem from sexual assault andemale genital mutilation, a common practice in Somalia. Maka Adan Maa-

im, 29, endured stula for 15 years in her hometown of Baidoa after labor complications left her rstborn child dead.During my rst birth I developed stula and unfortunately lost my baby,

Maalim said. My husband divorced me because I smelt from urine and feces. Isilently suffered this problem for 15 years until I heard about this facility in No-vember last year. I am now very happy and ready to go home to my mother af -

ter successful operations. I can never thank AMISOM and COGWMaalim also offered advice to other Somali women with similar

saying they should seek help at the AMISOM facilities like she dThis is a very depressing and disturbing condition, she said

from her bed at the AMISOM hospital. Please be strong evendivorced and come to AMISOM and COGWO for assistance. Thiis manageable. Please dont suffer in silence like I did.

Col. Dr. James Kyengo, the head of AMISOM medical facilitiestula could be a manageable ailment for women in Somalia like i

countries with a little more support from donors and well wishersAlthough donors and NGOs support the stula programme, we sti

assistance as the number of women needing treatment keeps rising, The stigma surrounding stula leaves many women trying to

condition. COGWO has hired elderly women as eld data collsearch cities and villages for women eligible for treatment, whic

AMISOM facilities.Most of these women are poor and divorced, leaving them depdeeply disturbed by the condition, said Zahra Mohamed, the chieof cer of COGWO. It takes them several months to heal and r beauty and con dence. Now that they are healthy some of them hstarted receiving phone calls from the same men who neglected tg

Health and HopeBy Guled Mohamed

The AMISOM hospital istreating more than two dozenSomali women suffering from

stula, a condition that leavesmany females shunned



Burundian troops in Somalia are offering stories of peace and reconciliation based on their owncountrys experience with war

Six years ago many of the Burundian soldiers nowserving together in Somalia were enemies in thebattle for control of their country. But a lasting peaceagreement signed in 2004 has allowed the onetime foesto form a unity force of some 2,600 AMISOM peace-keepers standing shoulder to shoulder in Somalia now.This is what genuine reconciliation can bring in a war-torn country. Welcome to the story of hope and reconcili-ation -- the Burundi style -- as a living example to theSomali people.

Brig. Gen. Niyongabo Prime is the commander of theBurundian AMISOM peacekeeping contingent in Soma-lia. But in a previous life Prime was a Burundian rebel,a member of an oppositionist party called the Councilfor the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defenseof Democracy, or simply CNDD-FDD, led by Burun-dian President Pierre Nkurunziza. Primes deputy, Col.Ndayishimiye Joseph, was a member of the BurundiNational Armed Force, the same government Prime andhis CNDD-FDD rebel group battled around the countryduring the ten-year civil war. Both men are today lead-ing two battalions of Burundian peacekeepers, many of

whom were also former enemies themselves.My deputy and I were enemies during the Burundicivil war. Now we are working together, there is no prob-lem between us, the soft-spoken Prime said in the SiyadBarre Military academy in western Mogadishu, the mainbase for the Burundi peacekeepers. When we wereghting each other in Burundi we did not have foreignghters within our ranks. That made it easy for us to rec-

oncile. Am not sure the al-Shabab can now talk to thegovernment mainly because of the in uence of foreignmilitants who are fugitives and dont want any peace atall. This is the problem in Somalia at the moment.

Sitting alongside Prime, Joseph pointed to membersof the current Somali government as an example of howreconciliation can work in Somalia despite dif culties.

Indaade, the former defence chief of the IslamicCourts forces and Gobale, who was also a senior com-mander, are a good example for the rest, Joseph said.They reconciled with their enemies and are now in gov-ernment.

Indaade also known, as Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Si-yad, is Somalias current minister of state for defense.The bearded Indaade, who has survived several assassi-nation attempts by al-Shabab, echoed Josephs comment.

I was an al-Shabab commander, I know their men-tality, Indaade said. They want to control the wholeworld. This is not a problem for Somalia only. Insteadof the rest of the world waiting for al-Shabab bullets andbombs to ignite in their respective countries we shouldextinguish it here in Somalia where its possible to tamethem. The government needs support in order to elimi-nate their threat.

Prime agrees. He often advises the Somali governmentto shore up public support and believes that al-Shababand other insurgents waging attacks against the TFG andAMISOM forces are weak enough to be defeated if inter -national help is forthcoming.

Its up to the world to decide whether they want thefugitives they have chased in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistanand Yemen to continue getting a safe haven in Somalia,Prime said. This country needs just a little remedy. I urgeour African brothers to seriously consider helping Soma-lia before these terrorists come to their doorsteps.g

Model Behaviour By Guled Mohamed



Nearly two years ago al-Shabab ghters colluded with a Quranic teacher o kidnap 20 children from the Fagah area of north Mogadishu and con-cripted the youths. One of the children captured and forced to ght by the

militant group was a 12-year-old who goes by the name Sharif. He spoke toeporters in April at Mogadishus Villa Somalia Presidential Palace, wheree now lives under the watchful eye of the AMISOM commander. Sharif aid al-Shabab often intoxicates its ghters, who are mostly under age. Hehowed journalists a swelling on his right bicep, where he said his al-Shababandlers injected him with an unknown drug that supposedly gave him su-

perhuman ghting powers. Sharif s military training began shortly after apture, he said, offering a full account of what happened in lengthy remarksranscribed below.

Iused to live in Fagah area of Mogadishu with my parents and siblings.One day our Quranic teacher took us to his house to go and pray for a sickwoman. As soon as we reached his house we were surrounded by maskedal-Shabab armed men. They red at us and a bullet hit close to the teachersegs. He ed and left us.I dont know exactly when they kidnapped us, but it was when Abdullahi

Yusuf was still in power, some time six months before he left. The next daybefore we left I saw our Quranic teacher receiving money from al-Shababof cials presumably for delivering us to them. I think he was a swindler who

ook money in order to enlist us with al-Shabab. They took us to Modmodey,where we joined a larger group and were all taught ri e handling and shoot-ng skills before deployment.The training camp was big. They divided us into smaller groups. We start-

ed receiving military training. They taught us how to re and service a ri e.We were taught everything from pistols to AK-47 ri es. I can dismantle andassemble any ri e. We are also taught ambush skills. After a few months wewere deployed around the country. I was among those sent to Beletweyne.

In Beletweyne I took part in many battles, including the ghting againsthe Ahlul Sunnah group in the central regions. They kept rotating us after aew months. I was then deployed to Mogadishu. When I came to Mogadishuonly saw two out of my former 20 classmates who were kidnapped together.

dont know where the others went. I believe they must have died.The al-Shabab commanders always injected us with a drug before goingout to ght. The drug gave us dreamlike bravery. I was so high and so strong

I thought I could simply grab our enemies and throw them away It was not true and I lost many colleagues during these battles.I have not spoken to or seen my parents since I was kidnapped

if I go and look for them the al-Shabab will nd out and trace th-ish them off. A month ago, an older boy in my group secretly toldspoken to a government commander in the nearby district and wto escape. He had arranged everything with the commander.

When the day to escape nally came, we silently walked out prewere going for a routine patrol. We had to move out in groups of two- picion. We nally reached the destination where we were supposed up. Thats how I got where I am now. I have been here for almost a m

In Villa Somalia, I dont do anything. I eat and sleep with the

forces. The commander is a good person. He has been very kinthere is anything I miss most and wish I could do it is to go to scwant to get an education.g

First Person

A former child soldier remembers a younglife in arms

By Guled Mohamed

Sharif shows the spot on his armwhere he says he was injected

Sharif meets Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke


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Editorial Assistance: AU/UN Information Support TeamDesign/Layout: Zvezdan Djukanovic

Photos: Stuart PriceField Reports: Lt Col Adolphe Manirakiza / Capt Chris Magezi

Editor-in-Chief: Gaffel G. NkolokosaSpokesperson, Force Headquarters: Major Barigye Ba-Hoku

AMISOM News Bulletin is a Bimonthly publication of the African Union Mission in Somalia

P.O Box 20182 00200,Nairobi, Kenya

Phone: +254 202 713 755 /56 /58Fax: +254 202 713 766

africom: amisom bulletin issue 4 april 15, 2010

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