Some of Somali Soldiers Are Fleeing to Join Al Shabab.‏

With the almost daily bomb blasts, suicide attacks, and ambushes in Somalia's sandy capital, which, at 91 km², is almost just half the size of Kampala city, the pressure mounts on the African Peace-keeping force, AMISOM.

The mandate of AMISOM is renewed every year by the African Union (AU) and with the endorsement of the United Nations (UN).

But amidst the explosion of bombs and crackle of battlefront gunfire and wail of emergency vehicles, the UN has since 2017 appeared determined to cut down the numbers of peace-keepers. In a move described as misadvised by Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs), the UN wants the Somali National Army to take charge.

The proposed troop drawdown was top of the agenda when President Yoweri Museveni recently met with former South African President, Thabo Mbeki at State House Nakasero in Kampala.

Mbeki is the head of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel on the Horn of Africa (AUHIP) and with Museveni, they discussed the security, economic and political challenges of countries in the Horn of Africa. This region includes Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia.

In the meeting was AU Special Envoy for Silencing Guns, Lamamra Ramtane; IGAD Special Envoy for the Red Sea; Mohammed Ali Guyo, the UN Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa; Parfait Onanga Anyanga, and the UN Political Affairs Officer, Pauline Adero.