By Umaru Fofana
In Casablanca over the weekend I met a Somali journalist. He does not want to be named so I will call him Noor, the name of one of his siblings. He was interested in knowing from me when the Sierra Leonean troops would be deployed to his country. “By the end of April”, I said to him, “my country will send a battalion of 850 of some of the most combat-tested soldiers on the continent”. I assured hi m that our soldiers are among the best-trained and best-tested fighters in West Africa. “Probably second only to Nigerian troops in terms of being tested” I said to him. He wore a broad smile. Something like a great feeling of a new sense of security and hope for peace in a country that has hardly known anything like that for decades. Even with the 17 degree Celsius weather he took off his scarf and rubbed it on his face, as if saying “Good!” Relieved I did feel myself, that for once somebody somewhere in some part of the world was appreciating my country’s contribution to their country and to humanity. Not like the medical doctor in Philadelphia who following a traffic road accident in which I was involved in 2008, or so, exclaimed when I told him that I was only visiting his country from Sierra Leone. Or the Indian lady I met at the Delhi airport who on seeing my passport admitted to having heard the name of my country only the previous night after watching the Hollywood movie, Blood Diamond. But while I showed off to Noor, I was also interested to know from him about the security situation in south central Somalia especially the notorious port city of Kismayo, where Sierra Leonean troops will be deployed. After all it is a dangerous venture we have got into. It was a deployment I was opposed to. But the troops are in it and we must support them. But come to think of it, the Sierra Leonean troops could just turn things around in that war-buffeted nation. But back to Mismayo, until recently it was a place where the feared and notorious islamist group, Al Shabab had as their stronghold. They have taken a severe beating lately by Kenyan troops of the UN-backed African Union Mission, AMISOM. But they are a group that have proved in the past to have the proverbial life of a cat. They must never be counted for dead or weak. And our deployment, significant though it is, has some accompanying risks. Sierra Leone is a country with borders too porous to enter and a society too feeble to resist, with a police force too compromised not to be broken along checkpoints. Under UN Security Council Resolution 2036 passed last year, the deployment of the mechanised infantry battalion from Sierra Leone means Kenya will withdraw one of their battalions from the Sector in the south of Somalia. The AU Peace and Security Council early last year authorized the integration of a contingent of Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces into AMISOM. This is a big international coup for Sierra Leone as it becomes the first country outside the region to deploy troops to AMISOM. Add to that the appalling condition under which our soldiers live back home. When they come back, their lives will change almost forever. This explains why despite the risks associated with the mission, many told me last year that they preferred deployment. And it is a sign of the times and how far our soldiers have come. From the rag-tagged outfit that unleashed terror on the civilian populace, to an army sensitive to their needs. Their combat experience in fighting our rebel war, and the series of military trainings they have undergone since that war ended, should be of tremendous advantage to them. And a life saver for the Somali civilians. So far, there are only four countries with boots on the ground – Kenya, Uganda, Burundi and Djibouti. All of them have strategic and business or commercial interests in Somalia. So altruism cannot be said to be a reason for their being there, as can be said of the Sierra Leonean troops. Apart from Uganda, they all share border with Somalia and a continued threat to security in the country means a clear and present danger to them. Djibouti to the north, Ethiopia to the west and Kenya to the southwest. By the way the Indian Ocean borders it to the east which also adds to strategic nature of Somalia and explains the lucrative piracy that goes on there. Sierra Leonean troops will not be viewed with any suspicion in Somalia. At least not by the Somalis. The country has no ambition to control its resources or laud it over its people. This is their greatest strength. Ethiopian troops had gone into Somalia to oust the Islamic Court Movement, a group many analysts believe ended the war in most of Somalia but failed to bring about peace to a country that has not know that for decades. They were accused of neo-colonialism and were hated by ordinary Somalis even if the interim government liked them. The boomerang effect was that the Ethiopians were chased out. And there is a historical explanation for that which we could discuss on another day. Kenya and Somalia share a lot in common. In fact there is a Somali ethnic group on Kenya’s ethnic list. Many people I spoke to in Kenya recently believe that its new Mecca , Naivasha, is being transformed with wealth from ethnic Somalis who have a vested interest in what goes on in Somalia and believed to be supporters, or at the very least sympathisers of Al-Shabab. Not surprisingly in recent times there has been hostility against Kenyans even in the port city of Kismayo. Somalia has had more than its fair share of turbulence. After 20 years of dictatorship, the Supreme Revolutionary Council of President Siad Barre was overthrown in the early 1990s by a coalition of armed opposition groups. It has not known peace since. And war in all its forms has been visited upon it. Many have cited the failure of the world only superpower to restore ccivility to Somalia. That cannot fly with me for two reasons. Because someone else failed does not mean no one else should try. And the United States and the Arab world have a love-hate relationship. So the reason America failed in its Operation Restore Hope in Somalia in the 1990s, as has been immortalised by the Hollywood movie Back Hawk Down, was that suspicion that they were neo-colonialists. Whoever accuses Sierra Leone of that mentality needs to have their head examined. The comment by the AU special representative to Somalia, Ambassador Boubacar Diarra, explains the significance of Sierra Leone’s troop deployment. “The contributions made by these African countries for our Somali brothers and sisters are an indication of the importance of this mission to continental and regional security” he says. He was reacting to the arrival of the advance party of RALAF. Noor and many other Somalis I have contacted in the last couple of days have spoken of the hope pinned on the Sierra Leonean troops as their full compliment is being awaited. But we must not be taken off guard. Our situation here should be given more attention than mere lip service. The Office of National Security should live up to its task. Their operatives must cease being political party spies and rise up to the national call to duty. Security must be stepped up. Without being racist or paranoid or sectarian, our Muslim missionaries should be engaged in such a way that their relationship with some Arabs or people from the Middle East would be tampered with some care even if slight suspicion. If our troops are supported in Somalia and they carry themselves well, we will all be proud as a nation. Go RSLAF, go! The nation is with you at this stage.
