Tanzania has offered to train Somalia’s civil service and security apparatus. This commitment was disclosed today, April 27, 2024, during the official state visit of Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
Speaking during the joint press conference, President Samia Suluhu said the country supports Somalia in its process toward national building.
“As you know, the situation of our colleagues is not very good, so we have assured them of our support in building their capacity as a country to defend themselves,” said President Samia.
She added: “We have expressed our readiness to provide training in various fields, whether in the defense and security sector or other areas of civil services.”
This is not the first time Tanzania has offered capacity-building support for Somalia, in 2014 Tanzania agreed to train 1,000 Somalia’s soldiers following a request from Somalia and a discussion that started in 2007 as the country expressed its hesitancy to deploy its army to Somalia.
On his side, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud who started his visit yesterday April 26, 2024, said that Somalia has managed to build systems that have helped the country lower its national debt and also saw the lifting of the arms embargo which was placed on Somalia since 1992.
President Mohamud also thanked Tanzania for its support even during border challenges with its neighbors and emphasized that Somalia respects, ‘international laws and agreement that it has entered with its neighbors over borders’.
President Mohamud’s visit comes a month after Ethiopia’s Prime Minister visited Tanzania on a three-day visit that began on February 29, 2024, and concluded on March 2, 2024.
Ethiopia and Somalia have been at loggerheads over an agreement that Ethiopia entered with Somaliland, a self-declared separate state from Somalia since 1991. Somaliland remains significantly more stable than the rest of Somalia.
The agreement saw Ethiopia getting a 50-year lease on 20 kilometers of Somaliland’s Red Sea coast for naval and commercial maritime use. On the other hand, Somaliland received a stake in Ethiopia Airlines and a commitment from Ethiopia to fostering its cause as an independent state.
The situation between the two neighbors has since then become dire, On February 17, 2024, Somalia’s President accused Ethiopia of trying to block his access to the African Union. Somalia has also expelled Ethiopia’s ambassador from the country.
One Response
Thanks for Tanzania and its leadership to provide such vital support
Somalia has helped many African countries in their struve for freedom in 1960s, trained and equipped freedom figheters, treated and educated tbousand of fellow Africans including black South Aftican’s struggle againts aparthied. Due to unfortunate circumstances, Somalia is now bouncing back from a protracted state seizure that made Somalia absenf from intl arena and ripe for terror groups and a victam of proxy entaglement.