Monday, August 12, 2013
The Somali Ambassador to Uganda, Ahmed
Sayid Sheikh Dahir, has advised newly trained Somali soldiers to be
patriotic and persevere in the job even when their expectations are not
met.
Somalia has been torn apart by civil war
since 1991 and has got logistical and military support and training
from the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) and the European
Union. At the final parade and graduation of 121 Somali trainees at
Bihanga Training School in Ibanda district, Ambassador Sheik Dahir
advised the trainees, who completed a four months training in company
commander, military police and Civilian-Military (CIMIC) cooperation
carried out by the European Union Training Mission in Somalia (EUTM), to
first offer something before they expect anything from their
government. The recruits also trained in international humanitarian law
and protection of citizens, gender awareness and human rights.
“After the war in 1986, Ugandan soldiers
(NRA) went for five years without (any regular) payment from their
government. But they continued working because they wanted to build the
peace and stability of their country. It is an open secret that when
trained Somalis don’t get what they expect from the government, they
resort to looting. Persevere, if you miss something, concentrate on
building your country first just like the developed countries did in the
earlier years,” he said.
He added that such training came in
handy, especially in reinforcing civilian-military cooperation, because
the reason why there are still skirmishes in Somalia is because the
population is not feeding the military with intelligence information
about the al Shabab.
This was the second last EUTM training
in Uganda, with the final one scheduled to start later on August 25.
Some 175 recruits will be trained until December, before the base is
relocated to Jazeera Training Camp in Mogadishu, and Kenya.