US will hold Somali govt accountable- Ambassador designate

President Trump nominee for ambassador to Somalia Donald Yamamoto appearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee August 25, 2018. Image: C-SPAN

The US will strive to hold the Somali government accountable to its people, US ambassadorial nominee to Somalia Donald Yamamoto has said pledging to support building of democratic institutions in the Horn of Africa nation.

Speaking during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for vetting Friday, Yamamoto who has variously served in a number of African countries as a diplomat said if approved he would advance US national interests in Somalia.

Yamamoto also pledged US to support ‘building of effective security forces, implementing stabilization and economic recovery programmes and delivering humanitarian aid.

His appointment comes in the backdrop of Mogadishu’s struggle to regain US confidence following suspension of fuel and food aid to the Somali National army over corruption claims last December. Somalia is also lobbying for lifting of travel ban imposed by President Donald Trump administration on the Horn of Africa country alongside five other Muslim countries.

Somalia engages 3rd US lobby firm amid travel ban and military aid cut

President Mohamed Farmaajo this month engaged a US lobby firm Sonoran Policy Group to lobby the Trump administration to lift the ban and military aid suspension.

If approved by the Senate, Yamamoto will become the third nominee for the post since the US restored diplomatic relations with Somalia in 2013. Ambassador Stephen Schwartz resigned last October barely a year into the job citing personal reasons. He was the second nominee to the post after President Barack Obama’s appointee Katherine Dhanani declined to take up the post in May 2015.

Yamamoto was appointed Charge d’Affaires for US Mission to Somalia in May 2016 and to date is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of African Affairs.

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