140 Nigeria policemen for Somalia poll security
About 140 Nigerians policemen that have been training the Somali police force will be involved in that securing the ongoing elections.
Also, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) said it will require no fewer than 4,000 more troops from African countries to be able to liberate the remaining regions of Somalia from Islamic terrorist group Al-Shabab.
Somalia is conducting its first democratic elections in over 20 years after a conflict which has forced millions of the citizens to become refugees around the world.
Somalia has one of the world’s most complicated democratic processes where clans and family heads elect members of parliament who in turn would elect the President.
In the past two months, clans have been electing their representatives to the parliament while the presidential election will hold before next month.
AMISOM spokesperson in Somalia, Lt. Col. Joseph Kibet told The Nation that security for the election is paramount for the AMISOM troops. “Security is calm now even though it is unpredictable, we have been able to drive Al-Shabab out of Mogadishu, but we are yet to liberate Juba Valley from them, also Bakoo and Hiraan and along the coastline.
“What they are doing now is to carry our insurgency attacks using vehicle bombs and laying ambush for our troops, but we are in control of the situation and hopefully we will be able to drive them out. Currently, we have 21,000 troops and for maximum effect we need to double that but for the immediate job at hand we will need minimum 4,000 troops,” Kibet said.
As Somalia prepares for the election, a result of which will have far reaching consequences for the fragile peace of the war-torn country, Al-Shabab continues to intimidate and plan attacks to disrupt the process.
“What they are doing now to stop the election is to intimidate and kill prominent leaders in the country, they acquired Somali National Army uniforms and identity cards but we have been arresting them, we have launched a counter-Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) strategy and more than 70 of them have been discovered. It is a struggle against a determined enemy, but we are also determined,” Kibet revealed.
The spokesperson for the government of Somalia capital Mogadishu, Abdulfatir Oman Halare said the government is optimistic the indirect elections will be successful. “We are ready to hold the indirect elections not only in Mogadishu but also all over the country.
The process has been on for a long time and nothing has happened to stop it, the Somali people hate Al-shabab and they have been giving us information about them, we have been arresting them and diminishing their ranks,” he said.
The Nation