Several batches of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) battalion going to join the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) are on their way to the war-torn country. It comes amid concerns that the country is too dangerous to deploy our troops and follows the deployment of a company of troops deployed in Darfur. The Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Samuel Omar Williams has been talking to us on the deployment in this interview.
Politico: What are the details of your deployment and how many men are being deployed?
S O Williams: We are deploying a mechanized infantry battalion of 850 personnel all ranks, and of course like any other contingent on the AMISOM operations which is the African Union Mission in Somalia we are deploying there first of all to bring the peace, to maintain the peace in Somalia and consolidate the gains that have been made by other contingents that have been deployed previously on that mission
Politico: When you announced this deployment early last year there were threats issued by the Al-Shabab Movement. Does that worry you and your men?
S O Williams : Well I would not say we are worried by the threats but we guard against Al-Shabab carrying through that threat. We guard against that. And that is why when you were gaining entrance [into our defence headquarters] you saw some of our security measures in place. In Somalia of course Al-Shabab have lost a lot of territory. I think they are no longer in a position really to put up a fight as formed bodies against the AMISOM troops. So I think the troops have been sufficiently trained.
Politico: But are you concerned or worried that you may have a lot of body bags coming back in view of the volatility of Somalia?
S O Williams: Well the input made into the generation of the force and the training of the personnel I believe give them sufficient grounding to be able to first of all defend themselves against any would-be attacks by Al-Shabab that could lead to massive casualties. I have no fear that our men will actually accomplish themselves on that mission
Politico: There are some concerns that have been expressed by some members of the public. A lot of people I have spoken to are against sending troops to that country.
S O Williams: Well for any human endeavour you may people who have varied views. As soldiers our responsibilities are to carry out tasks given to us by government and on a similar vein when we had our own crisis here we had contingents coming from East of Africa. We had Kenyans here. We also had other nationalities outside the continent of Africa here that came to our aid.
Politico: This battalion that is leaving, there is no woman soldier amongst them. Why are you not sending women amongst the peacekeepers to Somalia?
S O Williams: Initially when we were assembling the troops for training there was a sizeable female component. They were trained. But then initially you would recall developments in Somalia were rather very hostile. So therefore we were to deploy alongside the Kenyans and the Sector Two which was a newly established sector; so because first of all the hostile nature of the terrain itself we were advised by the Kenyans with whom we are going to be collocated that they too have resisted all attempts to deploy female military personnel in the theatre. Accommodation was a problem. There was no fixed accommodation. Troops were to live in tents. And of course like I said the terrain itself to even assess decent toilet facilities could have been a problem.
Politico: But the women soldiers have also signed up to these inconveniences
S O Williams: I quite agree. But then sometimes we still have variance where we think we may need to protect the female population. They will be included in the second contingent which will be LEOBATT 2, a year from now.
