STORY: AU Special Representative for Somalia reiterates

support for transition plan

DURATION: 3:12
SOURCE: AMISOM PUBLIC INFORMATION
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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH NATURAL SOUND
DATELINE: 17/MAY/2018, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

SHOT LIST:

1. Wide shot, ceremony hall

2. Pan (right to left) senior AMISOM officials
3. Med shot, officers during the ceremony

4. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH). Ambassador Francisco Madeira, Special Representative

of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia
“All our commanders have said yes to the transition. All of them without exception;
the Sector Commanders who have learnt to do and bear the brunt of the effort of
this war despite all the challenges said yes to the transition,”

5. Close up shot, Senior AMISOM officials listening to the speech

6. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH). Ambassador Francisco Madeira, Special Representative

of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia
“We need to transition because the Somalis want us to transition, because the
partners feel that we should transition and we are going to transition, but, frankly,
and in all honesty, we would not want to see the things that we won with so much
sacrifice to go down the drain. We don’t want that and this is the challenge we are
facing now.”

7. Wide shot, officers during the ceremony

8. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH). Ambassador Francisco Madeira, Special Representative

of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia
“We need to straighten up this place but we cannot do it without the Somalis. There
is no way we can do it without them. We have to hand over these things to them
and we just cannot handover to anyone. We have to handover to people who are
prepared to receive it and hold it and keep it and even improve it further, and that is
the challenge.”

9. Med shot, officers during the ceremony

10. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH). Ambassador Francisco Madeira, Special Representative
of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (SRCC) for Somalia
“Despite all the difficulties we had, we performed well and produced the expected
results. The things that we were not able to do, cannot be attributed to us,”

11. Med shot, awarding of certificate of recognition

12. Med shot, awarding of certificate of recognition
13. Med shot, awarding of certificate of recognition
14. Med shot, awarding of certificate of recognition
15. Close up shot, awarding of certificate of recognition.

END

AU Special Representative for Somalia reiterates support for the transition plan

Mogadishu, 17 May 2018 - The top African Union Special Representative for Somalia
Ambassador Francisco Madeira has reiterated AMISOM’s support for the recently
endorsed transition plan but called for a cautious implementation to protect gains
made in stabilizing the country.

Ambassador Madeira made the remarks, on Wednesday, while presiding at a medal

awards ceremony for 21 staff officers, who will be rotating out of the Mission after
completing their tour of duty.

“All our commanders have said yes to the transition. All of them without exception;
the sector commanders who bear the brunt of this war despite all the challenges
said yes to the transition,” he added.

Ambassador Madeira noted that the transition is a necessity, driven by a number of

factors but should be implemented cautiously, so as not to erode the gains made in
Somalia over the last decade.

“We need to transition because the Somali’s want us to transition, because the
partners feel that we should transition and we are going to transition, but, frankly,
and in all honesty, we would not want to see the things that we won with so much
sacrifice to go down the drain,” said Ambassador Madeira, who is also the head of
the Mission.

“We don’t want that and this is the challenge we are facing now,” he added.
Last year, the UN Security Council authorized a gradual troop reduction amid
transition of security responsibility to Somali National Security Forces.

AMISOM, the Federal Government of Somalia and development partners have

agreed on a transition plan, which was the topic of discussion at a high-level meeting
in Brussels early this month.
The SRCC noted that the transition plan must involve the people of Somalia for it to
succeed and ensure the gains made so far are not eroded.

“We need to straighten up this place but we cannot do it without the Somalis. We
have to handover to people who are prepared to receive it and hold it and keep it
and even improve it further, and that is the challenge,” Ambassador Madeira
observed.

The head of the Mission reiterated AMISOM’s commitment to ensuring the

transition plan succeeds and will continue working closely with the people of
Somalia in stabilizing the country.

The ceremony was attended by senior officials, among them, the Deputy AU Special
Representative for Somalia, Simon Mulongo; the Force Commander, Lt. Gen. Jim
Beesigye Owoyesigire; Acting AMISOM Police Commissioner, Christine Alalo and
Deputy Force Commander in charge Operations and Plans, Maj. Gen. Charles Tai
Gituai.

Others were Ambassadors of Uganda and Kenya, Prof. Sam Turyamuhika and Lucas
Tumbo, respectively; delegations to the AU/UN joint review teams from AU and UN
headquarters and Brig Gen Pietro Addis, the Commander of the European Union
Training Mission in Somalia.

Ambassador Madeira hailed the 21 officers for their hard work in stabilizing Somalia.

“From the discussions we had today, it became clear that despite all the difficulties
we had, we performed well and produced the expected results. The things that we
were not able to do, cannot be attributed to us,” he stated.

Ambassador Madeira praised the openness and frankness exhibited at the review
exercise undertaken by the AU/UN joint review of AMISOM, adding that the
information gathered will help inform the implementation of the transition plan.

Notable among the 21 officers from Kenya, Egypt, Ghana, Uganda, Burundi,
Swaziland, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia were Col. Paul Mwasi, the Chief Operations
Officer; Brigadier Assefa Endalew and Brigadier Victor Nduwumukiza, the Contingent
Commanders of Burundi and Ethiopia, respectively and the Col. Marah Christian, the
Chief Military Personnel and Administration.

Despite that numerous challenges, the SRCC expressed optimism that victory is
certain against the Al-Shabaab.