On Wednesday, 4th December 2019, the Head of the African Union Mission (AMISOM) in Somalia, Ambassador Francisco Caetano Jose Madeira has said at least 80% of Somalia has been liberated.
Amb. Francisco who also doubles as Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia made this statement while speaking to Sierra Leonean and Zambia Journalists at the AMISOM Headquarters in Mogadishu, Somalia.
He disclosed that since 2007 AMISOM have supported and continue to support Somalia’s security forces to subdue and defeat Alshabab- “and today we have registered victories in the African Union led effort to liberate Somalia from the strongholds of terrorist groups like Alshabab and ISIS.”
He added that efforts are ongoing to ensure that the federal government of Somalia extend effective presence, governance and control of the areas that they have recovered, and that, presently, the implementation of the Somali Transition Plan is in progress.
“We are expected to leave Somalia in December 2021, and the transition plan is a guide for our gradual and conditions-based transfer of security responsibilities to the Somali security forces. The transition will culminate in Somalia conducting one-person, one-vote elections in 2020/21,” he pointed out.
He further stated that the upcoming election will be a milestone as the first such election in Somalia in five decades, and that the AMISOM police component, to which Sierra Leone and Zambia are contributors, will play a key role in ensuring security before, during, and after this landmark election
Ambassador Francisco on behalf of AMISOM saluted the Governments of the Republic of Sierra Leone and Zambia and Police officers from both countries for their dedicated service to Africa and supporting a member state in distress.
He said AMISOM presently has seven hundred and nineteen (719) police officers from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Zambia in Somalia deployed in the mission, and that from the aforementioned amount, they have six serving at the senior leadership team, ranging from Police Commissioner, Chief of Staff, and more.
He added that there are two hundred (200) individual police officers (IPOS) and three (3) Form Police Units (FPUs) of one hundred and sixty (160) each from Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Uganda, and that they are also expecting another set of one hundred sixty (FPUs) from Ghana– “everything have been done for their arrival, they have sent their equipment and thirteen (13) advance officers are on ground.”
He said the deployment is based on instructions given by the United Nations Security Council to AMISOM to deploy one thousand and forty (1 040) police personnel based on the reduction of AMISOM military components, adding that the police personnel will be able to take over in the liberated areas to maintain the rule of law and public order.
