By Mary Karugaba

Four African countries have sent officers to study the situation in Somalia, before deciding on whether to send troops to the peacekeeping mission in the war-ravaged country.

The commander of the land forces, Lt. Gen. Katumba Wamala, said the countries are Nigeria, Zambia, Senegal and Ghana.

Katumba told MPs on the defence committee yesterday that the officers were working with the Ugandan and Burundian troops at their headquarters in Mogadishu.

“The officers’ presence is a sign that these countries will soon send their troops to Somalia. The officers have been working with us for the last six months,” Katumba said.

He was optimistic that with more troops, the situation in Somalia would be brought under control.

He informed the MPs that investigations had established that the ADF, al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda had links, given the type of bombs used in the July 11 twin bombings in Kampala and how the attack was executed.

Katumba, with other ministry officials, led by the ministers of defence Crispus Kiyonga and Gen. Jjeje Odongo, were appearing before the committee to defend their budget estimates for the financial year 2010/11.
The MPs were concerned that without the participation of other countries, Ugandan troops in Somalia were likely to be weakened by the constant attacks from the militants.

They wondered whether it was possible for Uganda to attack Somali in retaliation to the recent bomb attacks that left over 70 people dead.

Kiyonga explained that Uganda had no mandate to force other African states to send troops to Somalia or to attack the country.

“We know the al-Shabaab stay in Somalia. We cannot go and attack the country. It is out of our mandate,” Kiyonga said.

He said the Government was in the process of paying ex-service officers who had earlier sued government over non-payment.

“When court ruled that they had no case, the President said they should be given kasiimo (bonus). The verification exercise has started,” he said.