Keep the peace, don’t enforce it, African Union tells Amisom

African Union peacekeeping troops in Mogadishu will continue to play a defensive role despite increasingly daring attacks by insurgents.

The 15-member African Union Peace and Security Council has shelved Uganda’s request for change of the forces’ mandate.

Uganda contributes the bulk of the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom).

It wants changes to the rules of engagement to allow the troops to defend themselves more effectively against attacks by militants, say diplomatic sources.

The EastAfrican learned that if the request is granted, the scope of Amisom will broaden from peace-keeping to peace-enforcement. Nigeria supports this wider scope.

But diplomatic sources say that a cautious Peace and Security Council, worried that such a mandate could complicate the mission and suck the troops into a no-win situation, has been reluctant to grant the request.

Confirming that the matter has been under discussion for some time now, Uganda’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, James Mugume, says a change in mandate is desirable but achieving it will need wide consultation.

“We would want a more robust force... but this is not a simple matter. It’s not something you ask for today and reach a quick agreement on. Consultations on the issue have been going on since last year,” he said.

The sticking points, according to him, centre mainly on the increased burden that a change in mandate would impose on the mission.

For instance, there would be new troop requirements and equipment.

These extra issues would have to be agreed upon by the troop contributing countries, the host and the financiers.

Amisom, which on March 6 marks three years since Ugandan troops first landed in Mogadishu, has so far raised close to 5,000 of the optimum 8,000 troops.

While attacks against the peace keepers — who now include a Burundian contingent — were few at the beginning, the past year has witnessed daring raids. The death toll over the three-year period is 70 soldiers.

Despite the growing frequency and severity of attack, the AU says increasing the mandate to include offensive operations against Somali militants would have dire consequences on the host country and the continent

The AU, during the recent 14th Africa Union Heads of State Summit in Addis Ababa, saw a change of guard. Its new Commission Chairman is Jean Ping of Gabon.

At the heart of AU’s fears is the possibility of a drawn-out conflict similar to that in Afghanistan and Iraq. Africa lacks the resources to back such an undertaking.