Somali premier meets with Uganda's land forces commander

By Mohammed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) - Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble met Monday with Uganda's Land Forces Commander Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba in the capital Mogadishu amid political uncertainty in the country.

The two officials discussed security and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), in which Uganda is one of the leading and largest troop contributing countries, according to Somali government spokesman Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu.

"PM thanks the UPDF role for supporting Somalia," Moalimuu said in a brief statement posted on Twitter, referring to the Uganda People’s Defense Forces.

Kainerugaba's visit to Somalia and his meeting with Roble comes 18 days after Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni threatened to withdraw his country's peacekeeping troops in Somalia who are serving under the African Union mission that has been fighting the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabaab terrorist group since 2007.

He said he was tired of the endless misunderstandings between Somali leaders, which he noted is unfortunate.

“The issue in Somalia is when internal forces do not come up to shoulder their responsibilities. They are always against one another. If they did corporate, the situation would have been solved,” he told France 24 TV earlier this month.

Somalia is mired in political uncertainty as a rift between the prime minister and President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed continues, with all efforts to resolve the crisis so far ending in failure.