President right to demand review of Amisom mandate

It‘s been more than five years since Kenya made an incursion into Somalia in 2011. A year later, KDF troops joined Amison with the aim of helping the Federal Government of Somalia to regain control of the entire country by 2015, in time for the 2016 General Election.

This objective is however, far from being realised as there is notably a big section of Somalia still under control of the militia. Nevertheless, this should not be seen as an attempt to water down the gains made by the Amison soldiers. Indeed, they have succeeded in conquering many parts previously governed by the Al-shabaab and bringing them under the Federal Government of Somalia.

Before integration into the Amison, the Kenyan troops in Somalia were fully under command and control of Kenya. She bore all the responsibilities from managing supplies, troop support and taking care of both land, air and sea capabilities.

Reports have indicated that Amison‘s institutional weakness, poor command structure, under funding and greed by its senior leadership contributed to the colossal losses Amisom troops have suffered after Al Shabaab attacks. Amisom suffered the highest number of casulities after Al Shabaab over ran a KDF camp in El Adde and killed more than hundred soldiers in January. Very few countries have so far agreed to commit their forces to become part of Amison. It is ironic that despite Amison being under African Union only Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti, Burundi and Ethiopia have their forces in Somalia.

Other African countries have remained onlookers as terrorists reign in the war-torn Somalia. And while world leaders have restated a million times that terrorism is a threat to humanity, it seems hard for them to unite against this common enemy.

All the other African countries should emulate Kenya and others to help Somalia.

I support President Uhuru Kenyatta‘s call for a review of Amisom mandate to match Al Shabaab’s mode of warfare. He wants the Peace and Security Committee to ensure Amisom fully deploys troops in their respective areas of jurisdiction especially Gedo region in Sector 3 and review the sector allocations. Third, he said the AU should ask that the UN and international partners provide the necessary force multipliers to Amisom for better operational capabilities. Fourth, the President sought a predictable, adequate and sustainable funding for Amisom, through the UN assessed contributions. And Fifth, President Kenyatta said it was imperative to provide resources to housing, jumpstart livelihoods and offer support for initiatives that increase productivity in liberated areas in order to create pull factors and accelerate the return of refugees in to Somalia.

The government should also heighten war on extremism and radicalisation to stem recruitment of youth into terror groups. It is the responsibility of every citizen to support their leadership in fight against terror. And when this is done peace and tranquility will reign.