MOGADISHU, July 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Deployed in one of the world’s most dangerous conflicts, Somali soldiers risking their lives daily against Al-
Shabaab insurgents were growing weary of being paid months late and
shortchanged by their superiors.
The government, under pressure from foreign backers, has started paying
troops directly, bypassing army commanders previously tasked with disbursing their pay but diverting the money instead.
Under the new system, payments are linked to a biometric database
containing soldiers’ fingerprints, personal details and bank accounts,
replacing patchy records kept on Excel spreadsheets.
Officials say about 10,000 “ghost soldiers” were expunged from the records
— roughly one in three troops according to government estimates, though
analysts questioned these figures.
These fictitious troops either did not exist at all or had long ago
deserted.
By taking control of salary payments, Mogadishu is seeking to cut out
powerful commanders who for decades ran the Somali National Army (SNA) “as private fiefdoms,” Fiona Blyth from the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia wrote in an April report.
The shake-up was fiercely resisted in some quarters of the army, with
several soldiers deserting their barracks in March in protest.
But the government is pressing ahead. In July it also began registering
fighters from an allied militia into its security forces, and identifying
older or injured soldiers for retirement.
Mogadishu says the reforms are a milestone in decade-long efforts to
rebuild the army into a force capable of taking over when the roughly 20,000 African Union AMISOM peacekeepers leave.
African soldiers were deployed in 2007 to provide muscle until Somalia’s
army could stand on its own. AMISOM’s withdrawal is slated for 2021.
Somalia’s donors have long complained that there is little to show for the
hundreds of millions poured into rebuilding the SNA.
In 2017, the United States suspended aid for the SNA over fraud
concerns.
But recent efforts to boost accountability and professionalism in the
military have struck a chord with traditional allies.
The United States announced this month it was resuming limited, non-lethal
assistance to an army unit in Lower Shabelle, where SNA and AMISOM troops liberated key towns from Al-Shabaab in April and May.
“The US notes several Somali-led steps towards security sector reform over
the last year, notably the biometric registration”, a State Department
official said.
The SNA faces a formidable foe in Al-Shabaab, which this month alone bombed the Mogadishu mayor’s office, blew up a checkpoint near Somalia’s
international airport and stormed a hotel with gunmen, collectively killing
49 people.
In January, heavily-armed jihadists overran a military camp on the
outskirts of Kismayo, killing at least eight soldiers in one of their
frequent ambushes of SNA locations.
Efforts by Somalia’s international partners to ready the SNA for war have
been criticised as being uncoordinated and piecemeal.
Some are trained by the British, others by the EU or the Turkish. Until
2018, the United Arab Emirates drilled its own troops in Somalia while the
US, which focuses on drone strikes and Somalia’s special forces, mentors
another unit. — NNN-AGENCIES
