Germany envoy urges UPDF to continue pacifying Somalia

The Germany Ambassador to Uganda, Matthias Schauer, has called upon the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) to continue playing a vital role in pacifying Somalia as the vanguards of the mission.

This was during the ambassador's courtesy visit to the Ministry of Defence and Veteran affairs/UPDF headquarters in Mbuya, Kampala on Tuesday.

During the meeting with the UPDF leadership, the two sides discussed UPDF's African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) engagements and the role played by the European Union, to which Germany is a member, to create a resemblance of peace in the war-torn country.

In the brief meeting, the ambassador and his hosts also discussed issues of mutual interest in defence partnership between Uganda and German, a statement issued by the Deputy Defence spokesperson, Lt. Col. Deo Akiiki, said.

The Germany envoy called upon the UPDF leadership to resume from where the two countries had stopped with several programmes that were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

Lt. Gen. Joseph Musanyufu, the UPDF Joint Chief of Staff, who represented the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Gen. David Muhoozi, commended the Germany ambassador for the cordial defence corporation attained by the two countries, especially in training and defence diplomacy.

Lt. Gen. Musanyufu reiterated Uganda's position on the drawdown of AMISOM troop contributing countries slated for next year as an act that should not be determined by time, but rather by existing conditions in Somalia.

This, Gen. Musanyufu said, is in the interest of not overturning achievements and sacrifices already made to put Somalia back to its feet despite the donor fatigue.

Uganda was the first country to send soldiers to Somalia, spearheading the AMISOM in March 2007, to fight the a-Shabaab insurgents and protect the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu.

Since then, Uganda has deployed at least 30 regular battle groups, as well as three other special battle groups.

Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya have since joined up and the 22,100 strong mission had 6,200 Ugandan soldiers by June 2016.

AMISOM is an active, regional peacekeeping mission operated by the African Union, with the approval of the United Nations Security Council.

The meeting was also attended by the Germany Defence attache' to Uganda, Lt. Col. Stefan Hasler, a staff officer in the office of CDF Col. Charles Kisembo, and the Deputy Defence spokesperson  (Lt. Col. Akiiki) among others.