A delegation of Uganda Parliamentarians are on a five-day working visit to Somalia to assess the contributions of the country’s troops serving under the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS).
The team led by the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs, Rosemary Nyakikorongo, also includes the State Minister for Defence in charge of Veterans Affairs, Huda Abason Oleru, and other top officials from the Ministry.
On Wednesday, the delegation met with the SRCC and Head of ATMIS, Ambassador Mohammed El-Amine Souef and the ATMIS Acting Force Commander, Brig. Gen. Keith Katungi.
The Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs, Ms. Nyakikorongo, said the committee was in Somalia to assess the welfare of deployed troops, challenges, and progress made in preparing Somali Security Forces to take over security responsibilities of their country ahead of the exit of ATMIS.
The SRCC and Head of ATMIS, Ambassador Souef, praised Uganda troops for their role in restoring stability and security in Somalia. Uganda is one of the ATMIS troop contributing countries together with Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya.
“There has been a big achievement in restoring peace and stability in Somalia and this has been realised mainly because of the support of the government and the people of Uganda,” said Ambassador Souef.
According to Ambassador Souef, noted that the Federal Government of Somalia, Federal Member States, federal parliaments, civil society groups and the people of Somalia are committed to liberating the country from the menace of Al-Shabaab.
The State Minister for Defence in-charge of Veterans Affairs, Huda Abason Oleru, lauded the international community for their support for the African Union peacekeeping operations in Somalia, which she said had allowed the country to make tremendous progress towards regaining peace and stability.
Among other engagements, the legislators are scheduled to visit the Forward Operating Bases under the command of the Uganda troops and meet the Somali Federal Minister of Defence and the SNA Chief of Defence Forces.
