Kenyan president in Uganda over security in Somalia

Monday, August 05, 2013

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Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta left on Saturday evening to Uganda for a regional summit which is aimed at reinforcing security in Somalia.

A statement issued in Nairobi said Kenyatta will attend the Africa Union Peacekeeping Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) Troops Contributing Countries Summit of Heads of State.

"The summit will discuss recent developments and map out ways of addressing challenges faced by the AMISOM," the statement said.

Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Sierra Leone are the countries contributing troops to AMISOM.

Other leaders attending the summit, which opens on Sunday, are Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and host Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

Analysts say the Horn of Africa nation has improved security and enhanced investor confidence, including those seeking contracts in reconstruction in a country where infrastructure has been reduced to a bare minimum by over 20 years of war.

Somalia is considered a virgin investment market usually characterized by high levels of return on investment, raising the appetite for regional investors.

Kenyan and Sierra Leone soldiers who are part of the AMISOM are conducting daily patrols to restore relative calm in the southern port city of Kismayo where recent armed clashes flared up among groups claiming leadership over the "Jubaland" regional administration.

AU/UN Information Support Team said recently that the patrols have helped restore normalcy to the country’s second largest city, where fierce fighting between rival militias claimed 71 lives in June.

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