Gen Kainerugaba Visits UPDF Troops in Somalia Ahead of Presidential Election

The Commander of the UPDF Land Forces Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba has concluded a five-day visit to the Ugandan troops in Sector I of the African Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

During his visit that was concluded on September 26th, Gen Kainerugaba who is also the Senior Presidential Advisor on Special Operations thanked the troops for their excellent work and encouraged them to keep it up.

The CLF was particularly interested in the preparedness of the troops ahead of the forthcoming Parliamentary and Presidential elections later this year.

Somalia's political leaders have agreed to hold a long-delayed presidential election on October 10, the prime minister's office said recently, following months of deadlock that turned violent at times.

The office of Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble unveiled the timetable for indirect parliamentary and presidential elections in a statement on Twitter, saying stakeholders had agreed to a roadmap for a vote following two days of talks in the capital Mogadishu.

Currently, the military component in Somalia is comprised of troops drawn from Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti, Kenya and Ethiopia who are deployed in six sectors covering south and central Somalia.

Ugandan troops are deployed in Sector 1, which comprises the regions of Banadir, and Lower Shabelle.

First deployed in March 2007, the AMISOM military component has been instrumental in helping Somali National Security Forces push the Al Qaeda-affiliated terror group, Al-Shabaab, out of much of southern Somalia including most major towns and cities.

It has created a secure environment that has allowed the Somali peace process to take root, allowing the local population the opportunity to begin to establish accountable local governance institutions that can begin to deliver services as well as rebuild the local economy and create linkages to the national economy and government.

Mogadishu is today transformed with the local economy booming and the effects are far from confined to Mogadishu. Securing the capital allowed AMISOM to move into the second phase of its original concept of operations, deploying across the country and expanding the authority of the state.