JOWHAR- The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), based in HirShabelle State of Somalia will coordinate with the Somali National Army (SNA) and HirShabelle State police to secure elections and boost safety and confidence among the public and election officials.
Somalia is soon planning to hold nationwide indirect elections where 101 clan caucuses will elect a Member of Parliament (MP) to the 275 Somalia Parliament. These MPs will then elect a Speaker of parliament and later President of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS). These elections are projected to be held across the country.
Speaking on Wednesday after the three security agencies met in the AMISOM base in Jowhar, the provisional capital of HirShabelle State on Wednesday, Chief Operations Officer for AMISOM sector five Lt. Col. Damien Sebatutsi said they plan to jointly work together with local law enforcement agencies to foil Al-Shabaab in a bid to provide safety in the localities where election will be held.
“We can continue to ensure security this holiday period at the end of the year. Once again, AMISOM guarantees its participation on your side to build lasting brotherly peace with the Somali people. I take this opportunity to thank you for responding to this meeting and for your contribution on the subject that concerns us today,” said Lt. Col. Damien who added that they will conduct joint operations.
On his part Captain Ismail Kulow Tuure, Operations Commander of the 3rd Battalion of the SNA division in Jowhar expressed optimism that their joint coordination with AMISOM will improve security
“Today we met to discuss some key decisions which came out from this important meeting and includes how AMISOM and the Somali National Army will jointly coordinate to secure elections. These are crucial decisions,” Capt. Tuure said.
Colonel Mukhtar Abdulle Nur, a senior Hirshabelle police officer echoed the sentiments his security comrades highlighted and he is certain their coordination would bare fruits and the elections will be secured.
“We will make use of all the information we shared here today. These are information about the enemy Al-Shabaab and not political. We have updated ourselves on the areas where the enemy has a presence. Soon elections will be held here and so we discussed how to secure that election,” Col. Nur said.
AMISOM in collaboration with the Somali Police Force (SPF), and SNA are members of the Somalia Election Security Task Force which is tasked with providing security during elections and to ensure safety of election materials and officials both at the Federal and State levels of government where the task force will have a presence.
