The new AMISOM force commander has taken office with a vow to fight and eliminate Al-Shabaab terrorist group.
Lt. Gen. Jim Beesigye Owoyesigire of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) assumed office on Wednesday and pledged to work with all AMISOM troops from Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti, Burundi and Ethiopia to make sure Somalia is has been liberated from the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab terrorists.
Lt. Gen. Jim Beesigye Owoyesigire took over from Lt. Gen. Osman Noor Soubagleh who has served the Mission since July 2016.
The new force commander has 39-year experience in military. He brings to the force a vast knowledge in Field Artillery and Air Defence.
He has served the Ugandan military as Air Force Commander and Division Commander – Field Artillery Division, among other capacities.
The General pledged to continue with the work already started, especially with capacity building of the Somali National Army (SNA).
“All of us here have one problem, and that is Al-Shabaab. We don’t have to collocate with Al-Shabaab. We need to fight him, break his backbone and then finally eradicate him. That’s my goal and I will achieve it,” Owoyesigire said.
His priorities include overseeing a seamless, gradual and conditions-based transition and transfer of the security responsibility from AMISOM, to the Somali security forces, and destroying the remaining pockets of the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab terrorists.
