This week, the New AU Commission Chairperson stepped foot in Mogadishu, Somalia, on his maiden working visit to a member state. During his visit, he met and held talks with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohammad and the AU Mission in Somalia.
The AU has been coordinating a peace initiative in Somalia for years and has played a role in strengthening the government’s operation in the country. According to ENA, during his conversation with the Somali President, Youssef, Youssef vowed to sustain security assistance for Somalia.
Indeed pacifying Somalia needs due priority to systematically ensure peace and stability in the Horn of Africa region as well as the continent.
The HoA is one of the most volatile regions of the world which is notoriously known for the sporadic conflicts, insurgencies, and other conflicts that killed and displaced scores of people. This situation has also dragged the social and economic development of the region.
Therefore, the priority given by the newly elected AU Commission chairperson to the matter is an encouraging step towards ensuring sustainable peace and stability in the region. Youssef should further enhance his endeavour in durably addressing the security problem in Somalia so that the region can transform itself from a haven of conflict and chaos brewers.
The current situation in Somalia dates back to the early 1990s when the country was rocked by the civil war that broke out between the then governments led by Mohammad Siad Barre and various opposition forces. Following the ouster of Siad Barre, the country was left stateless as many of its regions continued to be ruled by regional warlords and administrations.
The various attempts made to reestablish the central government in Somalia were not successful because of the complexity of the political issues in the country as well as in the region. The absence of a central government that is in charge of controlling the peace and security situation in the country has made it a safe haven for anti-peace forces that intend to destabilize the country as well as the Horn of Africa countries, especially Ethiopia.
As a result, Ethiopia has been struggling throughout the decades to reinstate a central government, law and order in Somalia since the nature of the region’s peace and security requires it to ensure peace for mutual benefit.
Though Ethiopia has been doing its best and is still discharging its responsibility without any reservation, all relevant stakeholders need also to participate actively for effective and speedy outcomes. Especially at this moment, there are indications for worsening security in the country as the long-time terrorist group Al Shabaab has launched a deadly attack in the capital Mogadishu recently.
Unless the AU and allying forces that are working to pacify Somalia take urgent action to curb the threat posed by Al Shaab, the security vacuum would widen the chance for another terror group to further exacerbate the situation in the country.
The Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents have made significant territorial gains in recent weeks, capturing vast areas near Mogadishu and effectively encircling the city from the north and south, according to ENA.
All efforts should focus on relieving the people of Somalia from the decades of security and economic development problems that beset their nation. It is clear that the people had suffered more than anyone due to the conflict. They faced the brunt of the problems like hunger, poverty, violence and like other parts of the Horn of Africa, impacted by climate change.
It is to be recalled that the worsening conflict and climate shocks are increasing humanitarian needs in Somalia as communities work to recover from the country’s most severe drought in four decades, which has reduced food insecurity, nutrition and water, sanitation and hygiene levels across the country.
Such grave humanitarian and climate shocks are likely to emaciate the capacity of the grassroots to overcome the impacts as the unstable situation in the country for decades did not allow the implementation of preventive or rehabilitation activities.
Therefore, AU needs to further intensify its peacekeeping as well as rehabilitation activities in Somalia with a wider goal of addressing not only the long-ingrained security vacuum but also the socio-economic development needs of the people.
BY ZEKARIAS WOLDEMARIAM
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD WEDNESDAY 26 MARCH 2025
