The Commander of Ugandan Contingent in Somalia, Brig Gen Keith Katungi has assured Ugandan businessmen that it is now safe to invest in the war torn Somalia.
Speaking at the inaugural Uganda – Somalia Investment and Business Summit at Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort on Wednesday, Gen Katungi said that the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has ensured peace, stability and recovery from the war waged against the Horn of African country by the Al Qaeda linked Al Shabab terror group.
In March 2007, Uganda deployed its forces, the UPDF to fight Al Shabab in Somalia, and became the first country to deploy its forces in Horn of African country to fight terrorism.
This, Gen Katungi said was out of Uganda’s long historical relationship with Somalia, and the Pan-African spirit.
“This is an intervention that was referred to as ‘dead on arrival’ as very few believed it would make a difference,” Gen Katungi said.
“However, from the time of inception in Somalia, and other successive offensive operations, Mogadishu City was liberated, and UPDF presence extended to Arbiska, Afgoove, Marka, Janaale up to Barawe port. We were then later joined by other countries; Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Burundi,” he added.
The fight against Al Shabab was a success, and according to Gen. Katungi, the general security situation is calm although the terror group maintains a moderate tempo of conducting small scale terror operations.
“Their weapons of choice are the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) – probing, ambushes, and assassinations against the SSF and civilians. To some extent, these attacks disorganize the economic activities of the country and cause a danger to human security. However, with the improved security situation there is a remarkable increase in the economic activities,” he said.
Over the last 15 years, albeit the volatile security situation, Katungi said Somalia has registered development across all sectors of the economy; Infrastructure, Business volume, Population, Airport operations and Social services.
In 2007, the population of Somalia was 11.1 million people, but today it is estimated at 16.8 million with growth rate estimated at 3.12%
Basing on the success registered in Somalia due to UPDF presence, Gen Katungi told Ugandan investors that the business is flourishing, adding that they are safe to invest in Somalia.
“Somali economy is on the right trajectory. You cannot develop when you don’t have security. We still have Al Shabab activities in Somalia, but these are isolated. Security liberated areas, and business is flourishing,” he said.
Comparing the pictures of Somalia in 2007 when UPDF first entered the war torn country, and current pictures, Gen Katungi said there is no country in history that recovered from war faster than Somalia.
“I don’t know anywhere in the history of wars where reconstruction and recovery has been faster than Somalia,” he said.
In road network, Katungi said there is significant improvement that would facilitate easy movement of goods.
Gen Katungi also said that the functioning of Somali ports has greatly improved.
“In 2000, the three major ports of Somalia (Mogadishu, Berbera and Kismayo) used to receive 17 ships with an average capacity ranging between 1,100 to 2,700 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUS). Current statistics suggest that about 3 million tons/year, including 73,000 TEUS of container traffic, are handled at the ports of Somali. There is an improvement in the seaport infrastructure from 2007 to 2022. This translates to an increased revenue collection,” Katungi said.
The UPDF, he said will continue mentoring the Somali National Army as provided by the ATMIS mandate in order to ensure total stability, adding that when time for UPDF to leave Somalia comes, it will exit.
“We went to help brothers, and we went to extinguish fire before it comes to us. When right time comes, we will exit,” he said.
