AMISOM Bulletin, Issue 20

8/8/2019 AMISOM Bulletin, Issue 20

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Law and Order

AMISOM launchespolice training initiative

Losing StreakPublic support fades

for al-Shabab

Fun and GamesSomali cultural event

in Kenya draws hundreds

In Prole

Private EmmanualMucunguzi stays focused

Humanitarian CrisisThousands face starvation

in al-Shabab territory

Simple Life

Jazeera residentsenjoy relative calm

Somali police trainees


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The African Union Mission for Somalia inaugurated a police training ini-

tiative in Kenya in January in support of the Transitional Federal Gov-

rnment of Somalia. Nearly 200 junior and mid-level management ofcers

of the Somali police force will undergo refresher training by AMISOM po-

ice mentors at the Kenya Wildlife Training School in Manyani, a facility

made available by the Kenyan Government.AMISOM is mandated to train, mentor, monitor and advise the Somali

police force to build it into a credible organization adhering to international

tandards. AMISOM instructors will offer lessons in community policing,

human rights, logistics and management. The AMISOM course is designed

o enhance their professionalism and skills.

“I have no doubts in my mind that the AMISOM police trainers have the

professional competence to deliver on our mandate in Somalia,” said Am-

assador Diarra, the special representative of the chairperson of the African

Union Commission for Somalia.

At the opening ceremony, Diarra voiced thanks to the Kenyan govern-

ment on behalf of the African Union for making the Wildlife Training School

available. He also thanks the Italian government for providing crucial fund-ng for the program and spoke directly to the Somali trainees.

“We cannot overstate the importance of the role you will play in Somalia,”

Diarra said. “Soon the country will be literally in your hands. Law and order

s not kept in the halls of government or the command centers of interna-

ional peacekeepers. It is kept by the police who walk the streets and know

their country’s people better than anyone.

All of us here are inspired by your bravery and dedication, and we stand

behind you as you rise to the challenge.”

The guest of honor at the opening was Somali Minister for Internal Affairs

Ahmed Ali. Others who graced the event included Deputy Special Repre-

sentative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for SomaliaWafula Wamunyinyi, Somali Police Commissioner Brigadier General Ali

Hassan and AMISOM Force Commander Major General Nathan Mugisha.

Also attending were KWS Director Julius Kipng’etich, IGAD Facilitator

Kipruto Kirwa, the Italian Ambassador to Kenya Stephano Dejak, Somali

Ambassador to Kenya Mohammed Nur, Ghanaian High Commissioner to

Kenya Kingsley Karimu, Kenyan Deputy Commissioner of Police Francis

Okonya and the Head of the AU’s Peace and Support Operations Division

Sivuyile Bam.

Eighteen women are among the 192 Somali ofcers undergoing the

AMISOM training in Kenya. The ofcers, some of whom have served for

over 20 years, are drawn from Somalia’s Criminal Investigation Depart-

ment, Airport Police, Trafc Department and the Somali Police Academy.The Somali Police Force currently has 7,500 ofcers, the majority of whom

are stationed in the capital, Mogadishu. The training is being conducted by

13 AMISOM trainers from Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria as well as 15 Somali

counterparts. g

Dignitaries gathered for the police training inauguration in Manyani

Law and Order AMISOM launches police training initiative


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Our peacekeeper of the week is Private Emman-

ual Mucunguzi, a photographer for AMISOM.

Born 29 years ago in Namasenene village in cen-

ral Uganda, Mucunguzi joined the army in 2008

desiring to serve his country. Below is an excerpt

from his interview.

When I was told I would be deployed to

Mogadishu around June last year, it did not

ome as a surpr ise. I had worked in other war-

orn countries before, but I had the urge to ven-ure into a new environment totally different from

what we have back home.

I came ofcially as a cameraman to replace my

olleagues, who nished their terms of service.

The moment we landed in Mogadishu, I was in-

troduced to my mate Mugabe, who took me on

my rst assignment in Uruba hotel, which serves

as the UPDF detachment post. My daily routine

involves taking a camera and going on assign-

ment in various UPDF detachment areas around

the city. My work as a peacekeeper is different

from others, because I witness the situation on the

ground through the lens.

What really motivates me is waking up every

day and pursuing my true passion, which is pho-

tography. I cover the dreams and hopes of various people in the society. I always try to be smart in

what I am doing. This profession really changed

my life in a positive way.

The saddest moments come when I see those

young kids and their mothers suffering from a

war that they don’t know anything about. It re-

ally hurts to witness people suffering in their own

country.

What I can tell our brothers on the other side is

to think beyond what they have in their tiny heads.

Because life is richer than your thinking. I know

most youths in Mogadishu are lured into the hands

of extremists through different kinds of promises.

But they should think of the consequences, be-

cause ultimately they end up meeting their death

in bad shape.My message to my fellow peacekeepers is to

tighten up our belt in order to achieve the mission

objective, which is to bring peace, stability and

development to this beloved country. g

In Prole Private Emmanual Mucunguzistays focused

Private Emmanual Mucunguzi


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Jazeera, a village in southern Mogadishu, isenjoying relative calm and growth these days

hanks to the presence of AMISOM peacekeep-

rs in the area. The population of the hamlet

has sharply risen over the years. That is because

many civilians eeing violence in other parts of

he chaotic capital have settled in Jazeera, where

African Union peacekeepers operate a training

amp for Somali government forces.

Maryan Mohammud, a mother of eleven, runs

kiosk in the area. She has been living in Jazeera

or more than a decade and says AMISOM’s pres-

ence in recent years has brought a sense of stabil-ty.

“I have been living here for the last 15 years,”

Mohammud said. “AMISOM found us here.

They help us a lot in terms of education for our

hildren. Life has improved for better compared

to the other people in parts of Mogadishu.”Major Saad Katemba, the AMISOM comman-

dant in Jazeera, says AU peacekeepers have a

good relationship with area residents.

“The population here is very supportive and

cooperative,” Katemba said. “They are engaged

in constructive means for sustaining livelihoods.

Some of them run their own businesses, while oth-

ers are part of a work force that is really helping

in constructions that are going on in this camp.”

The youngsters in the neighborhood benet

from free primary education, which AMISOM

provides. Housed in a refurbished former sweetsfactory, the AMISOM school is a pilot project

meant to encourage parents to bring their children

for free primary education. Aniso Hassan Jama,

a teacher at the school, says the free education is

helping shape the future of the young Somalis for

the better.“The school is making progress,” said Jama,

who noted that enrollment at the school continued

to rise. “The most important thing is that our chil-

dren are getting education, an important compo-

nent of life.”

Sacid Mohammed, who teaches at a Quranic

school in the area, has advice for the youngsters

who may tempted to join armed opposition groups

claiming to be ghting a holy war.

“As much as they focus on the negativity, they

should really strive to understand the religion and

Quran and implement them in real life,” Moham-med said. “What the armed opposition groups

are preaching is un-Islamic, because our religion

means peace. I have never seen a verse in the

Quran that calls for jihad amongst Muslims.” g

4

Simple LifeJazeera residents enjoy relative calm

Children sit for class at the Jazeerapilot school run by AMISOM



Leadership within al-Shabab, the main armed

opposition group in Somalia, recently admit-

ed that their habitual mistreatment and abuse of

Somali citizens was costing them key support. In

a rare public appearance on the southern outskirtsof Mogadishu, senior al-Shabab commander Fuad

Mohamed Khalaf said in effect that the militant

group was losing against AMISOM and Somali

government forces because it had alienated the

Somali public.

“The reason the holy warriors have failed to

merge victorious against the indels is largely

due to the bad relationship between the public

and al-Shabab,” said Khalaf, whose remarks were

arried on local radio. “If we are stronger than

he public, we should remember that Allah is also

tronger than us… We need to fairly treat thepeople if we are to succeed.”

The comments by Khalaf amounted to an ad-

mission by al-Shabab leaders that the group has

ndeed been engaged in human rights abuses. Hu-

man rights groups have long accused al-Shabab

of being guilty of harassment, killings, robbery

and rape -- charges al-Shabab normally denies.

Al-Shabab ghters, for example, were recently

reported to be robbing internally displaced per-

sons who have settled into camps along the Af-goye corridor, a large swath of territory stretching

southwest of Mogadishu where tens of thousands

of displaced Somalis have gathered.

Analysts say Khalaf’s remarks are unlikely

to change the group’s cruelty against the public,

since most of its foot soldiers and enforcers have

a free hand in areas under al-Shabab control.

Al-Shabab effectively controls territory stretch-

ing from the southern port city of Kismayu to

the central regions of Somalia, a broad area that

is also home to the bulk of Somalia’s internally

displaced. Aid agencies seeking to alleviate thehumanitarian crisis there have struggled to oper-

ate in al-Shabab areas, because the militant group

routinely issues seemingly nonsensical bans on

some organizations.

Meanwhile, accusations of human rights abuses

by al-Shabab continue to mount. Many reports

of al-Shabab atrocities surface in hospitals run by

AMISOM in Mogadishu, where Somalis harmed

by militants often come for care. One AMISOM

facility in Mogadishu is currently home to a potter struggling to recover from a violent attack by al-

Shabab militants who accused him of being a spy.

Al-Shabab punishers cut out the man’s tongue. In

another recent incident al-Shabab gunmen killed

two pastoralists near Kismayu for refusing to pay

money demanded by the militant group. Also a

Mogadishu teenager was reportedly shot dead by

al-Shabab gunmen. Reports said that al-Shabab

enforcers demanded that the youth cut off his long

hair then pick up the clippings. The teenager al-

lowed the haircut but refused the cleanup and was

killed.“Their inhuman treatment of the same public

who supported them yesterday will deprive them

of recruits and the economic muscle they badly

need,” said one radio commenter who refused to

give his name on air. “They stand no chance.”g

5

Losing StreakPublic support fades for al-Shabab

Former al-Shabab fghtersat Villa Somalia


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Al-Shabab is under renewed pressure to co-

operate with aid organizations seeking

ccess to tens of thousands of Somalis facing

drought and starvation in areas under the mili-

ant group’s control. Inuential religious gure

Sheikh Bashir Ahmed Salad, the chairman of the

Somali Clerics Council, has called on al-Shabab

o lift bans imposed on some humanitarian orga-

nizations, including the World Food Program.

“If you say that the aid agencies have done

omething wrong, then you should impose regula-ions but not completely ban them from helping

your poor people,” Salad said in recent comments

reported widely in the Somali media.

The United Nations estimates that 2 million

people, almost a third of Somalia’s population,

are in dire need of food aid, while over 560,000

Somalis live as refugees in neighboring countries.

The overwhelming majority of Somalis needing

humanitarian aid are settled in territory under

the control of al-Shabab, which has been reluc-

tant to cooperate with aid organizations. An aid

worker, who requested anonymity, says al-Shabab

has hindered deliveries of food aid to the impov-erished Somalis living in makeshift camps along

the Afgoye corridor outside Mogadishu.

“The living conditions of those IDPs are ex-

tremely difcult with many people struggling to

nd food for themselves and lacking other basic

necessities,” the aid worker said. “We have wit-

nessed scenarios in which al-Shabab ghters in-

spect public vehicles on the Mogadishu-Afgoye

road, just to make sure no humanitarian food is

smuggled to the camps. This is a total disregard

of humanitarian laws. They simply want these

people dead.”

According to the World Food Program, about600,000 people in Mogadishu depend on humani-

tarian food aid provided by the agency. g

Humanitarian Crisis

Thousands

face starvationin al-Shabab

territory

Somalis receive food aid

Children linning up for food in Mogadishu



In mid November, the Somali Youth Leadership

Forum (SYLF) organized a football tournament

n Eastleigh, Kenya. The participating teams all

wore t-shirts with “Somali Youth Eid and Peace

Tournament” on them. The goal of this tourna-

ment was to bring these young boys together so

hat they could put aside their personal differencesand celebrate Eid in peace and harmony.

SYLF provided the uniforms, shoes and medals

hat were given to all participants. The group also

provided food and refreshments throughout the

day and covered transpor t costs. Additionally, the

aptains of each team was chosen to be a part of

the fashion show for the “Somali Cultural Night,”

and event staged at the end of November also in

Nairobi.

The Laico Hotel in Nairobi hosted the Somalia

Cultural Night on Nov. 27, with the Somali Youth

Leadership Forum again sponsoring. More than

280 people attended the event, which was in-tended to foster among Somalis a sense of culture,

unity, diversity, integration and most of all peace.

There were traditional Somali dances that swayed

the crowd and reminded most of the Somali’s in

the audience of the beauty of the Somali culture.

The traditional clothes were designed in both clas-

sic and modern designs suitable for both old and

young Somalis.

The event stirred interest with both local and

international media houses. It was dubbed “an

exotic fashion show” by one international media

house. The pictures were displayed on all major

Somali websites and carried by the AssociatedPress (AP) and Getty Images. The impact this

event had was positive on all peace-loving Soma-

lis, and it rekindled new hope that indeed there

is beauty, diversity and uniqueness that resides

within the young generation of Somalis. g

7

Fun and Games

Somali cultural event inKenya draws hundreds

Youth Fest

Youth Fest


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Phone: +254 202 713 755 /56 /58

Fax: +254 202 713 766

Editorial Assistance: AU/UN Information Support Team eld reporters Guled Mohammed, Alinoor Moulid and Patrick Gathara

Design/Layout: Zvezdan Djukanovic

Field Reports: 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

Website: www.amisom-au.org Email: [email protected]

P.O Box 20182 – 00200,

Nairobi, Kenya

The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reect those of AMISOM and neither does their inclusion in the bulletin/website constitute an endorsement by AMISOM

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AMISOM Bulletin, Issue 20