Somalia seeks donor funds to fight piracy and boost security

Somalia's President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed (left) and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at the end of the International Somali donors conference in Brussels on Thursday. International donors have pledged more than $250 million to help Somalia boost security and restore order, a senior European Union official said on the sidelines of a donors conference on Thursday. Photo/REUTERS

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Somalia’s president on Thursday urged international donors to give the country more money to fight piracy and restore order after two decades of anarchy. Mr Ban and President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed made their pleas at a conference in Brussels intended to raise at least $250 million (KSh19.8 billion) to help Somalia’s government boost security and to support an African Union force in the Horn of Africa nation.

The seizure of ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean by Somali gangs has driven up insurance rates and other costs in sea lanes linking Europe to Asia, and Washington has long tried to ensure al Qaeda cannot operate in Somalia. “Restoring security and stability in Somalia is vital to the success of the reconciliation effort and the survival of the unity government,” Mr Ban told the conference, held under the auspices of the United Nations. “Much remains to be done.”

Mr Ban reiterated he had no intention of sending a UN force to Somalia any time soon, saying peacekeepers would go only when “circumstances and conditions are appropriate”. Organisers of the meeting, chaired by Mr Ban and the AU, say more than $250 million is needed for next year to improve security in a state which has had no central government since 1991 and is mired in conflict.

EU officials said the aim was to build up a police force of some 10,000 personnel and a security force of 5,000. Support is also sought for the 4,300-strong African Union Mission (Amisom). Many world leaders say Sheikh Ahmed, a former Islamist rebel leader elected at UN-brokered talks in January, offers the best hope for years of restoring stability, though his administration is the 15th attempt in 18 years to set up a central government.

More than one million people have been uprooted by fighting in the past two years and one third of the population survives on food aid. “We are firmly determined to undertake reforms ... to try to alleviate the suffering of the Somali people. However, we can only achieve real progress if we manage to restore security to the country,” Sheikh Ahmed said.

He, Mr Ban and EU leaders underlined the need to combat the gangs involved in piracy on land as well as at sea. Piracy has worsened off Somalia’s coast despite the presence of naval forces from more than a dozen countries, including task forces under Nato, EU and US command.

Nato’s four-ship mission was due to wind up its operation yesterday. Diplomats were discussing whether it could be extended and Nato has said it wants tougher rules to allow the detention of captured suspects. The United States, which is reviewing its Somalia policy, plans to help build Somali security forces and bolster the new government but has made clear it has no desire to “drive” the whole process.

Sheikh Ahmed did not comment on reports that Islamist opposition leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who is on the US list of terrorism suspects for alleged links to al Qaeda, had returned to Somalia two years after being ousted.

And in Nairobi, the AU said political stability in Somalia needs more than a political approach. Mr Nicolas Bwakira, the AU’s Special Representative for Somalia, called for concerted international efforts to pull Somalia out of its leadership and security crises.

Brussels conference

Speaking in Nairobi ahead of a donor’s conference on Somalia in Brussels on Thursday, Mr Bwakira said the war-torn country required a strong police force and army to counter insurgents. He said the AU had confidence that the newly-elected Somalia President would fulfil his pledge to ensure security in Somalia.

“Somalia has gained momentum since the signing of the Djibouti agreement in August last year,” he added. The UN-sponsored agreement was signed between the Transitional Government and the Somali opposition on August 19 after talks in Djibouti.

Mr Bwakira said the AU commission had allocated $1 million (Sh77 million) for the training and allowances of some 2,700 police officers for Somalia, a move he said would boost security situation in Somalia. He said the money could not used for hiring new security officers.

Mr Bwakira described the humanitarian situation in Somalia as critical and said the new government would be expected to deal with it as its first priority. “We call upon humanitarian assistance,” he said adding that “the situation is bad and we call upon the United Nations and the World Food Programme to come in with assistance”.

The Horn of Africa nation has had no central government since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991. It is grappling with Islamist insurgents fighting for power and a food crisis which has left a third of the population dependant on aid.

Amisom currently consists of 4,300 troops (from Uganda and Burundi). Amisom requires salaries, additional military equipment and a civilian capacity. Mr Bwakira said “support is also needed to strengthen the AU’s financial accountability mechanisms and for civilian police, who will train the Somali police”. The total requirement for 12 months is approximately $134 million.

He said piracy would only be contained once the country has a strong force to counter them. “Piracy has been as a result of lawlessness in Somalia,” he said adding that “a strong security mechanism to counter them is the only way forward”.

Military response

He warned that response to piracy cannot only be a military response and it would not be a lasting response without determined action from the international community tackling the root causes. He said Al-Shabaab was one of the groups opposing policies of the new government of national unity led by Sheikh Ahmed.

“They want Amisom forces to leave the country and that Somalia be ruled by Islamic laws, and not the secular Transitional Federal Charter,” he Mr Bwakira. He said clannism was fanning animosity in Somalia and added that many moderate Islamists and clan elders were trying to mediate between the government and its radical Islamist opponents.

Mr Bwakira said a political stability in Somalia needs more than a political approach and agreements in various African capitals. “It needs the international community’s determination to have a security presence that will allow a real national reconciliation conference inside Somalia that leads to a government that belongs to the Somali people” he said. So far, 22 AU peacekeepers have been killed in Somalia.

Responding to the quit order by al Shabaab, Mr Bwakira said: “Somalia is a sovereign country. We were invited by the government and this was re-affirmed by the new president, that is what we go by, not al-Shabaab threats.” Meanwhile, six US aid agencies working in Somalia have appealed to US President Barack Obama to respond to the humanitarian crisis.

American Friends Service Committee, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, Oxfam America, Refugees International and World Concern said in a statement “the country remains in the midst of a severe humanitarian crisis,” with three million people in need of emergency assistance.

They said “the humanitarian crisis requires massive support from the international community and in particular the US.” The agencies said only US$251 million had been raised despite the consolidated humanitarian appeal for 2009 of $918 million. The low response to the appeal could force aid agencies to scale back life-saving programmes in parts of the country.