by PARSELELO KANTAI and PATRICK SMITH
There is an unprecedented build-up of military force in Somalia. African Union peacekeepers are set to double to more than 17,000 while Kenya and Ethiopia have launched their own invasions. Soldiers from the USA, Britain and France are targeting insurgents with foreign terrorist links. This military influx could prove counter-productive, given the lack of resources for stabilising local politics and strengthening the economy?.
Charming and jovial, Tanzanian diplomat Augustine Mahiga worked the room hard as he talked about tangible progress in Somalia to an array of stern faces at the African Union’s (AU) Peace and Security Council on 5 January in Addis Ababa.
“This is the moment when years of investment in Somalia could finally pay off if we stay the course and move forward together,” Mahiga intoned in his role as the UN secretary general’s special representative to Somalia.
?It was a hard sell convincing fellow diplomats about progress in Somalia after another year of famine, piracy, fist fights in parliament and battles with jihadist militias.
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