MOGADISHU, 11 June 2019 – The process of recruiting police officers to help secure the recently liberated areas in Lower Shebelle region has begun.
Yesterday, a 12-member vetting committee, responsible for mobilising members of the public to enlist in the police force, underwent a one-day training in Mogadishu, to familiarise themselves with the vetting process.
“Today we have trained a 12-member vetting committee that will be tasked with mobilising recruits in the Lower Shabelle region,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police Maxwell Chikunguru, the AMISOM Police Reforms, Restructuring, and Development Coordinator.
AMISOM and the Somali Police Force (SPF) plan to recruit 400 police officers who will be charged with maintaining law and order and protecting civilians in the recently liberated areas, among them, the strategic towns of Sabiid and Bariire.
The two towns were captured from Al-Shabaab during joint military operations conducted by AMISOM and the Somali National Army (SNA) troops in April and May.
ACP Chikunguru said the training of the recruits is expected to commence before the end of July after the completion of the mobilisation and vetting exercise.
“We expect to end the mobilisation by 30th June and tentatively conduct vetting for two weeks which will take us up to 15th July. The tentative date for commencing the training is 20th July, this year,” the AMISOM officer explained.
Present at the training were the South West State Minister of Internal Security, Isaq Ali Subuq, the Governor of Lower Shebelle, Ibrahim Adan Ali, and senior officials from United Nations Police and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).
Mr. Subuq hailed the committee members for their steadfastness and untiring efforts to help establish a strong police force in the South West State.
“We have gone through a rigorous process and have invested a lot of time and I thank all those who have worked tirelessly with us during this period,” Mr. Isaq observed, thanking the members for attending the training.
The vetting committee, with the support of AMISOM Police, will be in charge of the recruitment exercise to be conducted in over 17 locations in Lower Shebelle region, among them, Afgoye, Wadigle, Bariire, Sabiid, Marka and Janaale.
The exercise will take into consideration gender and clan representation and also ensure those recruited are individuals with no criminal record.
The committee also assured the public that only persons of good character will be recruited in Mogadishu.
The Ethiopian Herald June 16/2019
