President Museveni with Mohammed Abdullahi Farmajo, President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, after the ummit of Heads of State and Governments of AMISOM Troop Contributing Countries today at Speke Resort Munyonyo on Friday: COURTESY PHOTO
President Museveni has told the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that Somalia is still fragile and any quick withdrawal of troops and funding, the state will be thrown into turmoil.
“If we do things right, chances are Somalia will be much better soon. Let us avoid new mistakes,” the President told a summit of the heads of state and governments of troop contributing countries(TTCs) to the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) at Spoke Resort Munyonyo on Friday.
Mr Museveni’s concerns come amid declining financial and logistical support to Somalia as TTCs begin a gradual withdrawal from the country.
The UNSC in August 2017 agreed to a phased withdrawal and troop reduction of Amisom by 2020.
But the TTCs argue that this is unrealistic and would undermine their previous gains.
Amisom has so far recovered 80 percent of the country from Al Shabaab militants but TTCs said the country remains prone to militant attacks.
The countries want ample time to integrate, reorganize, train and mentor Somali security forces.
Somalia President Abdullahi Mohammed also reiterated the need for support from Amisom.
“I believe Amisom is succeeding but we have a long way to go. We need to collaborate and continue funding to defeat Al Shabaab,” he said.
Mr Museveni tasked African Union commissioner Moussa Faki Mahamat to communicate the summit resolutions to the UNSC.
The summit was attended by representatives from countries such as Burundi, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Algeria, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, France, Sweden, among others.
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