Statement

by

H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni

PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA

On

Somalia Conference

London - 11th May 2017

1
Excellencies Heads of State and Government;

Distinguished Heads of Delegations;

Ladies and Gentlemen.

Uganda was the pioneer troop contributing country with

the leading elements of our first contingent landing in
Mogadishu on the 6th of March, 2007.

Many observers were convinced that our effort was

hopeless, if not suicidal. We were, however, confident of the
correctness and feasibility of our decision. This was due to
our knowledge of the African peoples, those people that
have inhabited this area for the last 4 million years.

Many of the African societies live symbiotically with one

another, utilizing their diversity for mutual benefit. Bigotry,
which seems to characterize some societies in the world, is
not common in African societies. I normally tell my
Moslem friends that, according to my culture my list of
haram (ebihagaro) is much longer than theirs. It is not
only pigs that we regard as haram. Our list includes: fish

2
(ebijongoma) which we regard as snake; chicken (because it
is a bird that are always flying) and if you eat it you are
likely to be restless and unsettled; mutton; etc., etc.
Nevertheless, we used to rear chicken for use in divination
in the traditional religions. Moreover, our people would
happily donate chicken to our neighbouring communities
who relish the consuming of those creatures. The same
applied to fish, mutton, etc. In other-words, our philosophy
was: live and let live enjoy your rights but do not
interfere with the rights of others. Our communities
specialize in skills and products and exchange goods and
services. That is how we were able to build a strong
civilization that withstood the assaults we suffered from
the slave-trade, colonialism and the local tyranny of our
myopic and ego-centric chiefs.

Therefore, when we heard of the bankrupt ideology of

bigotry being pushed by groups from Asia and the Middle
East being imposed on the people of Somalia, we had to
send a clear message to them and Somalia was one of the
rendezvous points between the two diametrically opposed
world outlooks: live and let live or chauvinism.

Since that time, the following have been achieved:

3
1. The Troops Contributing Countries have increased to
five. These are: Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia
and Djibouti.

2. The Somali Government moved from exile in Kenya

where it had been based to Mogadishu since 2007.

3. The International Organizations also relocated to

Mogadishu from Nairobi-Kenya.

4. Many Al-Shabaab dominated areas have been

liberated. The Ugandan contingent alone stretches
from Mogadishu to the Sea Port of Barawe. This is not
to talk of the areas liberated by the brother
contingents from Ethiopia, Kenya, Burundi and
Djibouti.

5. There are many noticeable reconstruction activities in

many parts of Somalis, especially in Mogadishu, in the
form of private buildings, roads, a modern Airport, etc.

6. Businesses are thriving in Mogadishu.

7. Indirect elections have taken place a number of times

since 2000. The most recent election was the one of
President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (Farmajo)
and the new Parliament.

4
8. The menace of piracy at Sea has been tamed.

However, our strongly held view is that it is not enough to

check Al-Shabaab. Somalia must heal completely and
stand on its own feet. In our view, there are a number of
bottlenecks that stop the complete healing of Somalia.

(i) The absence of patriotic, pan-Somali political parties.

There may be individuals who have got a pan-Somalia
outlook.
These individuals, however, need to form political
Parties with a patriotic, national outlook, away from
the bankrupt ideology of clanism being pushed by
opportunists. The recent election of the President by
an overwhelming consensus seems to be a healthy
seed for the future. This patriotic idea, however, needs
to be translated into political organizations.

(ii) The same patriotic ideas must then be infused in the

Somali National Army recruited on a quota basis from
all parts of the country.

(iii) This Army needs officers, NCOs, specialists in addition

to ordinary soldiers.

5
(iv) The multiplicity of trainers (from different countries) of
the Somali Army needs to be coordinated by the
Somali Command around a Somali forces military
doctrine so that it becomes a cohesive force with a
clear historical mission.

(v) The Somalis need to resolve the issue of whether they

will re-build the Somali Army by pay or patriotism. If it
is by pay, who will pay them? Is the Somali State able
to pay a large Army on that big territory of
637,657sqkms it needs so as to pacify the whole
country? The present partial pacification of the
country is not good enough.
Can the international community agree to pay a large
Somali Army for some years so that the wholly
liberated Somali territory can be used to generate
revenues to pay the public servants and also cope with
other obligations?

(vi) The Somali Army and the soldiers from the TCCs could
be further equipped to do more road projects in the
areas of their responsibility along with the local
authorities so that the country is opened up. They
can also build schools and health centres for the
benefit of the people. The liberation has to resonate
with the people in the countryside.
6
(vii) In the meantime, the TCCs should be supported
sufficiently, their small numbers notwithstanding, to
use force multipliers (gun-ships, attack planes, air-lift
means) to further weaken Al-Shabaab, in their remote
hide-outs. Our concept of counter-insurgency is to
have mobile forces to hit the enemy and zonal forces to
ensure that the enemy does not re-infest the area. It
should be the Somali Army to provide these zonal
forces. If they cannot do it yet, what should we do?
That is why we propose long jump operations to
eliminate them by surprise attacks. It is better than
giving them extended holidays without any
punishment for their mistakes and allowing them to
create liberated areas by default.

(viii) There is the short term issue of the drought. We need

to provide relief so that the long-suffering people of
Somalia do not die from this additional problem.

(ix) Apart from the drought, however, the international

community could harness the power of the Somali
business class. Do the Somali businessmen supply
the massive relief items that are delivered to Somalia?
Or is it the foreign businesses that supply these items?
Our view is that the harnessing the power of the
7
 Somali business class would not only be good for the
economy of the country but would also be good for the
politics of the country.

I thank you.

8
9