Somalia ejects African Union envoy
Somalia on Thursday
asked the African Union Commission (AUC) representative in the country to leave
within a week after declaring him persona non grata.
The authorities in
Mogadishu have accused him of engaging in activities at odds with the
peacekeeping mission in the country.
Mr Simon Mulongo, a
Ugandan national, was declared persona non-grata on Thursday and given up to
November 11 to leave Mogadishu.
Somalia Foreign
Affairs ministry wrote to the Addis Ababa-based AU Commission, informing the
secretariat of the continental bloc of its decision.
Mr Mulongo “is
designated ‘persona non grata’ and ordered to leave Somalia within seven days,
for engaging in activities incompatible with Amisom’s mandate and Somalia’s
security strategy,” the ministry said.
According to the
African Union, AMISOM forces first arrived in Somalia in March 2007. Since
then, the AMISOM military component has aided the Somali National Security
Forces in driving out the al-Qaeda-affiliated takfiri terror group Al-Shabaab
from most of the major cities and towns of southern Somalia.
It has created a
relatively secure environment that has allowed the Somali peace process to take
root, allowed the local population the opportunity to begin establishing
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, it added.
Currently, five
countries — including Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi, Kenya and Djibouti —
contribute to the more than 19,000 AMISOM military personnel operating in Somalia.
The African Union says
it wants to partner with the United Nations in a proposed joint mission to
support Somalia in its efforts to battle armed extremists and achieve
stability.
In a statement, the
African Union’s Peace and Security Council said it endorsed an independent
assessment team’s recommendation for a hybrid operation that would replace the
African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) after this year.
