STORY: Somalia and Troop Contributing Countries call for

a halt to AMISOM troop reduction

DURATION: 3:06
SOURCE: AMISOM PUBLIC INFORMATION
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CREDIT REQUIRED: AMISOM PUBLIC INFORMATION
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NATURAL SOUND
DATELINE: 2/MARCH/2018, KAMPALA, UGANDA

SHOT LIST:

1. Wide Shot, Presidents and delegates in the hall

2. Medium Shot, journalists covering the meeting
3. Medium shot, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda
addressing the meeting
4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Yoweri Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda
“There are friends of Africa, many of whom are not Africans, but who have been
supporting Africa for a long time. These (officials representing development
partners) are from the American continent, from Europe and from Asia. They have
been contributing money for the Somali operation all these years since we started.
They have been training our soldiers.”

5. Medium shot, delegates from Ethiopia and Kenya attending the meeting
6. Medium shot, a delegate from Burundi and the African Union Commission
Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat
7. Wide shot, journalists covering the meeting
8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union
Commission
“A premature withdrawal is likely to undermine the gains made over the last
decade, a great human and financial cost. Central to this will be predictable
financing for AMISOM that will make it possible for the Somali National
Security Forces to take over primary security responsibility from AMISOM.”

9. Medium shot, Presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Mohamed Abdullahi

Farmaajo of Somalia at the meeting
10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union
Commission
“The special envoys have started the joint consultations engaging partner
countries, AMISOM Troop Contributing Countries and other key
stakeholders in a bid to reconcile varied perspectives and come up with a
pragmatic and politically acceptable solution.”
11. Close up shot, Somali delegates at the meeting
12. Extreme close up shot, Brig. Richard Karemire, Uganda People’s Defence Force
(UPDF) spokesperson
13. Medium shot, delegates from Burundi at the meeting
14. SOUNDBITE: (English) Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo, President of the Federal
Republic of Somalia
“I believe we have a long way to go. We need to put together a sound strategy in
order to effectively fight against Al-Shabaab and defeat them. And I believe they are
weak. Not the way they sound and the way they perform, and the way they operate
lately by coming in the public and blow up car bombs and destroy humanity and
properties. But I believe if we continue to collaborate with the help of EU and the
international community to continue funding this operation, we will be able to
defeat Al-Shabaab in a very short order.”

15. Perspective wide shot, delegates in the audience.

16. Wide shot, Presidents and delegates walking in the compound at the end of the
meeting
17. Medium shot, Presidents and delegates walking in the compound at the end of
the meeting

Somalia and Troop Contributing Countries call for a halt to AMISOM troop
reduction

Kampala, 3 March 2018 – The Troop Contributing Countries to the African Union
Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the Federal Government of Somalia want the
troop drawdown exercise which started last December halted.

In a communiqué read by Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Sam Kutesa, the Heads
of State and representatives from Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs) and the
Somali government urged the UN Security Council to reconsider the resolution on
drawdown of AMISOM troops, restore the previous troop levels and stay any further
reduction to allow recovery of territory still under control of Al-Shabaab and other
terrorist groups.

The resolution was reached, on Friday, at a meeting convened by Ugandan

President, Yoweri Museveni, in Kampala, and attended by his Somali counterpart,
Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmaajo; the First Vice President of Burundi, Gaston
Sindimwo, and Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Defence, Ambassador Raychelle
Omamo.

Also in attendance were Djibouti’s Minister of National Defence, Ali Hassan Bahdon;
the Ambassador of Ethiopia to Uganda, Tolesa Shagi Moti; the Chairperson of the
African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, and the Executive Secretary of
the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD), Mahboub Maalim.
The summit mandated the Ugandan President to communicate the resolution to the
United Nations as well as the African Union currently chaired by President Paul
Kagame of Rwanda.

The leaders observed that the timeframe and troop levels under the UN Security
Council Resolution are not realistic and would lead to a reversal of gains made by
AMISOM over the years to defeat the terrorist group, Al-Shabaab.

The summit also noted that the drawdown undermined the capacity of AMISOM to
deliver on its mandate, the inadequate capacity of the Somali National Army and the
importance of hastening the formation of the Somali national security forces.

President Museveni said the communique of the summit was a collective product
resulting from confidential discussions by the five AMISOM TCCs, Somalia and
partners.

“There are friends of Africa, many of whom are not Africans but who have been
supporting Africa for a long time. They (officials representing development partners)
are from the American continent, Europe and Asia. They have been contributing
money for the Somali operation all these years since we started. They have been
training our soldiers,” President Museveni explained.

The African Union Commission Chairperson said there is need for efforts to be put
on continued improvement of security through sustained military operations,
stabilisation efforts across the country, and ensuring that AMISOM continues to be
present in Somalia.

“A premature withdrawal is likely to undermine the gains made over the last decade,
at a great human and financial cost. Central to this will be predictable financing for
AMISOM that will make it possible for the Somali national security forces to take
over primary security responsibility from AMISOM,” Mr. Mahamat observed.

The African Union Commission Chairperson confirmed that a joint AU-UN high-level
team of special envoys on predictable AMISOM funding consultations had been
appointed to lead this endeavour.

“The special envoys have started the joint consultations engaging partner countries,
AMISOM Troop Contributing Countries and other key stakeholders in a bid to
reconcile varying perspectives and come up with a pragmatic and politically
acceptable solution. The outcomes of the consultations will be presented to the
relevant African Union and United Nations organs,” Mr. Mahamat noted.

In his remarks, President Farmaajo said joint collaboration between AMISOM and
the Somali National Army, for over a decade, to fight Al-Shabaab, have registered
success in dislodging the group from areas it previously controlled.
“I believe we have a long way to go. We need to put together a sound strategy in
order to effectively fight against Al-Shabaab and defeat them. And I believe they are
weak,” he said.

“I believe if we continue to collaborate with the help of EU (European Union) and the
international community to continue funding this operation, we will be able to
defeat Al-Shabaab in a very short order,” President Farmaajo added.

The leaders also held discussions with representatives of international partners from
Algeria, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South
Korea, Sweden, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of
America, United Nations and the European Union.

During the consultations, the international partners made commitments and offered
to support AMISOM and the Federal Government of Somalia in their stabilisation
efforts.

The leaders agreed to meet at least once a year at the summit level and twice a year
at the ministerial and chiefs of defence forces levels, in order to jointly plan, review
progress and chart a way forward towards the effective implementation of the
AMISOM mandate and transition plan.

They also stressed the need to urgently develop a realistic AMISOM–Somali led
Transition Plan that includes a comprehensive approach to security and manifests
the dividends of peace. The summit called upon the African Union Commission,
AMISOM leadership and the Somali Government to work together to come up with
the plan for consideration at the TCCs next meeting.

The Summit of Heads of State and Government of AMISOM Troop Contributing

Countries was held in the wake of UN Security Council Resolution 2372(2017) calling
for the condition-based gradual drawdown and handover of security responsibilities
to Somali national security forces.

ENDS