Kenya: President Ruto Attends AU Transition Mission Summit on Somalia in Uganda
Nairobi — President William Ruto on Thursday attended the Heads of State Summit of the Troop Contributing Countries to the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) in Uganda.
Uganda President Yoweri Museveni played host to the summit that also brought together Presidents Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (Somalia), Ismail Omar Guelleh (Djibouti), Evariste Ndayishimiye (Burundi), and Demeke Mekonnen (Ethiopia) at State House Entebbe.
The United Nations (UN) Security Council had in March 2022, sanctioned ATMIS activities in fighting Al-Shabaab insurgents that have been seeking to overthrow the fragile Somalia government for more than a decade.
The leaders had in February 2023 vowed at a summit to “make the final push” against Al-Shabaab as a wide-ranging offensive against the militants gathers pace.
They discussed a coordinated military offensive against the Al-Qaeda-linked group, which has been waging an insurgency in the troubled Horn of Africa nation for more than 15 years.
“The summit agrees to make the final push for joint operations in the areas that remain under the terrorists to completely liberate the whole of Somalia from Al-Shabaab,” the leaders said in a statement released after the meeting.
