Somalia and the African Union has agreed to examine the future of the combat mission Amisom, whose mandate was extended recently to the end of March 2022.
And in a show of consensus, the two sides who have been quibble over what form the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) should take, appeared to agree on the basics such as predictable funding and focus on Al-Shabab and other terrorism in Somalia
In a meeting between Somali’s government, African Union representatives and Amisom representatives, they all agreed that each party should bring forth a technical team that shall discuss the transitional plan starting from January 10 to February 10
The teams will submit their report to the African Union Peace and Security Council from February 11 to inform the actual pattern the mission should take place.
The Mogadishu meeting
The decision indicated in a joint communiqué surfaced after the Africa Union Commission delegation which was led by Alhaji Sarjo Bahand, Director of Conflict Management met in Mogadishu with the Somali government which include, federal Minister for defence, Abdul Kadir Mohamed Nur and his internal security counterpart Abdullahi Mohammed Nor.
The meeting was also graced by the Amisom mission boss and Mozambican diplomat, Francisco Madeira, and other Amisom senior military officials
The meeting was crucial because Amisom’s directive which was extended by the UN security last week by three months appeared to expire without formal agreement on what shall replace it.
They all agreed that Somalia should resubmit its transition plan, a document that was previously tabled at the AU Peace and Security Council in February, saying that Amisom stay on until 2023,
They also agreed that a joint technical team consisting of representatives from the federal government of Somalia and the African Union should resume discussions on January 10 and end them by February 2022
Both sides, the communiqué said: “The need for a reconfigured AU transition mission in Somalia to have practicable and sustainable funding mechanism”
Reason for the formation of Amisom
Amisom was established in 2007 to fight Al-Shabab, but after more than 13 years, the existence and threat of the terrorist group still persist.
Although all parties acknowledge the role of the Amisom in driving the Shabaab from major cities such as Mogadishu and Kismayu, however, Somalia’s argues that there’s a need for them to start taking over responsibility by improving their own military troops
The AU were careful with a quick handover, pointing to the existing threat from Al-Shabab, which still consume the majority of the country.
In October, the AU Peace and Security Council accepted one of the four recommendations submitted by an independent technical team hired by the AU.
The council also endorsed a hybrid mission to take over from Amisom, and which would be funded by the UN and include troop amnesty from UN member States
