Hiiraan Online
Monday February 19, 2018
From Left to Right: Osman Sheikh Hussein , General Bashir Abdi Mohamed, Gen Bashir Mohamed Jama “Gobe”
Mogadishu (HOL) - The Somalia government has launched a major security shake-up on Monday after an emergency meeting held by cabinet ministers in Villa Somalia.
Immediate changes were made to the top brass of Somalia's security apparatus with new commanders in the intelligence, police and custodial corps.
The government has appointed Osman Sheikh Hussein as the nation's new spy chief, replacing Former NISA head, Abdullahi Mohamed Ali 'Sanbaloolshe'. Hussein previously served as the Deputy Minister of Health.
General Bashir Abdi Mohamed has been promoted from the deputy police chief to then Chief of Police.
Finally, Gen Bashir Mohamed Jama “Gobe” returns to his post as the chief of the Custodial Corps. "Bashir Gobe" previously served as the Director of Somali National Intelligence Agency (NSA) in 2013.
Somalia's security apparatus has seen shuffles before. two days before the infamous Oct 14 bombing, the nation's defense minister and army chief both abruptly resigned amid credible reports of infighting within the security establishment.
Analysts have forecasted that the security situation in Somalia will remain difficult. They predict that unless serious reforms are made in the security structure, Somalia will continue to remain vulnerable to Al-Shabaab attacks.
There are 22,000 AMISOM troops in Somalia who receive hundreds of millions of dollars from international donors to prop up Somalia's fractured security apparatus.
Many fear that Somalia will be ill-equipped to take over the AMISOM's security responsibility - especially in the wake of the Ethiopian protests and state of emergency - should the African Union decide to pull it's troops out too soon.