President Museveni Hosts Heads Of State Summit Of Troop Contributing Countries To ATMIS
The President of the Republic of Uganda H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is hosting Officials and Heads of State from countries contributing troops to the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) who are meeting in Kampala to review and evaluate the mission’s performance in Somalia.
The Heads of State Summit is a follow-up event after the meeting between the President of the Republic of Somalia H.E Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and the President of the Republic of Uganda H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, during the United States Africa Leaders’ Summit held in Washington DC, from December 13-15, 2022 in which H.E Hassan Mohamud requested H.E Museveni to host an Extra-Ordinary Summit of Heads of State of the Troop Contributing Countries to ATIMS including, Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda.
President Museveni confirmed the arrival of his guests ahead of the much-anticipated summit; ”It is a pleasure to host my brothers, Their Excellencies; Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (Somalia), Ismail Omar Guelleh (Djibouti), Evariste Ndayishimiye (Burundi), William Ruto (Kenya), and Demeke Mekonnen (Ethiopia) at State House Entebbe, for the Heads of State Summit of the Troop Contributing Countries to the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS)” Museveni in a tweet this afternoon.
The Delegates will deliberate on how to smoothly implement the ATMIS troop drawdown, with the first phase, involving the withdrawal of 2,000 troops from Somalia, scheduled for the end of June 2023 under revised timelines.
Under Resolution 2670 (2022), the UN Security Council unanimously endorsed the African Union’s commitment to adopt a strategic, gradual, sector-by-sector approach to the troop drawdown and maintain the ATMIS exit date of 31 December 2024.
The summit in Kampala will also assess the preparedness of the Somali Security Forces to take over security responsibilities from the African Union troops, with consideration of key aspects including force generation and logistical support.
It’s worth noting that the Technical Officials from Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs) to the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) met on Monday 24, April 2023 in preparation for the summit starting today Thursday 27, April 3023 at Entebbe State House
Speaking at the opening of the meeting, Ambassador Julius Joshua Kivuna, the Head of the Ugandan Delegation and Head of the Regional Peace and Security Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the meeting had been convened at the request of the Federal Government of Somalia.
“During the US-Africa Summit in December 2022, H.E Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the President of Somalia requested H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the President of the Republic of Uganda to host the Heads of State of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia, ATMIS, to discuss the status of implementation of our mandate and come up with resolutions on the way forward. That’s why we are here,” he said on Monday during the meeting that took place at Serena Conference Hotel in Kampala
Ambassador Kivuna also reiterated the importance of the meeting to evaluate the performance of ATMIS and to facilitate preparations for the phased handover of security responsibilities to the Somali Security Forces.
“The meeting provides a crucial platform for us to be able to deliberate on pertinent issues about ATMIS, and most importantly to evaluate the achievements made in the execution of the ATMIS mandate,” he added.
Monday’s meeting precedes subsequent meetings to be held by Permanent Secretaries and Chiefs of Defence Forces as well as Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defence for ATMIS Troop Contributing Countries and recommendations from the meetings will feed into the ATMIS Head of State Summit.
