Risdel Kasasira
15 June 2011
The newly appointed Amisom commander, Brig. Fred Mugisha has been promoted to the rank of Major general and is expected to take-over the command of the African force in Mogadishu in September.
Gen. Mugisha will replace Maj. Gen. Nathan Mugisha who has been appointed deputy Ugandan Ambassador in Mogadishu. President Museveni has also appointed the outgoing force commander as the Ugandan envoy in Mogadishu.
Gen. Mugisha will command 9,000 African Union force composed of Uganda and Burundian forces in the fragile Somali capital, Mogadishu.
The Chief of defence Forces, Gen. Aronda Nyakairima who decorated the new African force commander at Officers’ Mess in Kololo, said Gen. Mugisha was given the new role because of “good discipline” and the experience in artillery. Uganda is the lead nation of the African union mission in Somalia.
Gen. Mugisha has been the commandant of the artillery division based in Masindi. He will be the fourth commander of African peacekeepers in Somalia. He has done a number of military courses in Intelligence and anti-terrorism in Russia and America.
Other Ugandan generals who previously commanded the African peacekeepers are; Levy Karuhanga, Francis Okello and Nathan Mugisha who handing over the command in September.
Meanwhile the Somali Prime Minister, Mohammed Fermajo has said he will not quit the job until parliament approves the Kampala accord which suggests the PM should resign within 30 days.
This is likely to escalate the bickering within the transitional federal government.
The agreement also extends the government’s mandate for a year.
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