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15th October, 2010
MANAGING DISASTERS IN THE COUNTRY
Currently, it is not clear that either the African continent or the international community has yet come to grips with the urgency of the Somali war-torn situation.
In the first quarter of 2010, about 300 civilians were reportedly killed as a result of fighting between government troops and rebels in Central Somalia, with another 350 innocent civilians experiencing fatal and excruciating wounds.
This, therefore, makes the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), perhaps the most ambitious and challenging intervention ever under taken by the continental body.
Indeed, ever since President Siad Barre was deposed in 1991, Somalia has seen a vicious and apparently intractable conflict. But sadly, the international community seems not to care a hoot about what is tearing the country apart.
The fact of the matter, however, is that the African Union’s Peacekeepers in Mogadishu cannot do the job alone if the international community continues to be adamant.
Mogadishu, the Somali capital once a beautiful city with captivating coastline, caressed by Indian Ocean breezes and warned by a caring Jun, is in tartars.
Really, Mogadishu enjoyed the benefits and revenues from international tourism in the 1970s. Now, the only foreign visitors are those from international aid and humanitarian organizations, Al-Qaeda fighters and the 7,000 Ugandan and Burundian forces, making up the AU’s AMISOM.
For sure, AMISOM is not a peacekeeping mission in the conventional sense of the term. This is because there is no peace to keep in Somalia.
The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed and its opponents, Al-Shabaab, which is linked to Osama Bin Ladin’s Al-Qaeda terrorists, are at loggerheads and intractable fighting is ensuing. And the battle field is the city of Mogadishu.
Painfully and sadly, however, the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon insists that the UN will not send Peacekeepers to Somalia because of the practical recognition of the inauspicious conditions on the ground.
Currently, AMISOM is made up of joint Ugandan-Burundian force and the price of their engagement in Somalia has been very high. To date, about 100 AMISOM soldiers have lost their lives and many have been wounded.
Disturbingly, to date, only two African countries have provided troops to what should be a Pan-African force. And countries and institutions which have pledged troops and equipment to support AMISOM are yet to redeem such pledges.
Recently, for instance, a former Nigerian foreign Minister, Ojo Maduekwe rejected suggestions that Nigeria should honour her commitments to AMISOM, contending that everywhere in Somalia is boiling.
Reportedly, the AMISOM mission has also not been made more financially attractive to troop contributing nations and AMISOM troops in Somalia are said to be owed so many months in salary arrears.
From the foregoing, the Times urges the UN Secretary-General to rescind his decision not to send peacekeepers to Somalia. This is because with UN support, AMISOM could be upgraded to UN levels like the joint UN-African Mission in Darfur and many countries will likely supply more troops to address the contentions situation in Somalia.
It is the view of the Times that with the UN support even in the short term, it will help decide whether Somalia can get up from her knees or become a failed State from which international terrorists can plan their attacks around the world with impunity.
The Times reminds all African countries and the rest of the world, that the Somali situation is a noble cause for all African and a noble cause for the international community.
All shoulders must, therefore, be put to the wheel to address the Somali conflict because experts argue that a solution to the conflict might not be as complicated as outsiders may believe.
In the first quarter of 2010, about 300 civilians were reportedly killed as a result of fighting between government troops and rebels in Central Somalia, with another 350 innocent civilians experiencing fatal and excruciating wounds.
This, therefore, makes the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), perhaps the most ambitious and challenging intervention ever under taken by the continental body.
Indeed, ever since President Siad Barre was deposed in 1991, Somalia has seen a vicious and apparently intractable conflict. But sadly, the international community seems not to care a hoot about what is tearing the country apart.
The fact of the matter, however, is that the African Union’s Peacekeepers in Mogadishu cannot do the job alone if the international community continues to be adamant.
Mogadishu, the Somali capital once a beautiful city with captivating coastline, caressed by Indian Ocean breezes and warned by a caring Jun, is in tartars.
Really, Mogadishu enjoyed the benefits and revenues from international tourism in the 1970s. Now, the only foreign visitors are those from international aid and humanitarian organizations, Al-Qaeda fighters and the 7,000 Ugandan and Burundian forces, making up the AU’s AMISOM.
For sure, AMISOM is not a peacekeeping mission in the conventional sense of the term. This is because there is no peace to keep in Somalia.
The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed and its opponents, Al-Shabaab, which is linked to Osama Bin Ladin’s Al-Qaeda terrorists, are at loggerheads and intractable fighting is ensuing. And the battle field is the city of Mogadishu.
Painfully and sadly, however, the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon insists that the UN will not send Peacekeepers to Somalia because of the practical recognition of the inauspicious conditions on the ground.
Currently, AMISOM is made up of joint Ugandan-Burundian force and the price of their engagement in Somalia has been very high. To date, about 100 AMISOM soldiers have lost their lives and many have been wounded.
Disturbingly, to date, only two African countries have provided troops to what should be a Pan-African force. And countries and institutions which have pledged troops and equipment to support AMISOM are yet to redeem such pledges.
Recently, for instance, a former Nigerian foreign Minister, Ojo Maduekwe rejected suggestions that Nigeria should honour her commitments to AMISOM, contending that everywhere in Somalia is boiling.
Reportedly, the AMISOM mission has also not been made more financially attractive to troop contributing nations and AMISOM troops in Somalia are said to be owed so many months in salary arrears.
From the foregoing, the Times urges the UN Secretary-General to rescind his decision not to send peacekeepers to Somalia. This is because with UN support, AMISOM could be upgraded to UN levels like the joint UN-African Mission in Darfur and many countries will likely supply more troops to address the contentions situation in Somalia.
It is the view of the Times that with the UN support even in the short term, it will help decide whether Somalia can get up from her knees or become a failed State from which international terrorists can plan their attacks around the world with impunity.
The Times reminds all African countries and the rest of the world, that the Somali situation is a noble cause for all African and a noble cause for the international community.
All shoulders must, therefore, be put to the wheel to address the Somali conflict because experts argue that a solution to the conflict might not be as complicated as outsiders may believe.
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