STORY: AMISOM staff officers honoured for contributing to

peace and stability in Somalia

DURATION: 4:15
SOURCE: AMISOM PUBLIC INFORMATION
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LANGUAGE: ENGLISH SOMALI NATURAL SOUND
DATELINE: 25/AUGUST/2020, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

SHOT LIST:

1. Wide shot, troop contributing countries of Burundi, Kenya, Uganda and the
Somalia national flags
2. Close up shot, Somalia national flag
3. Med shot, African Union, Djibouti and Ethiopia flags
4. Wide shot, AMISOM Staff Officers on parade
5. Close up shot, a staff officer from Burundi
6. Med shot, staff officers from Burundi and Sierra Leone
7. Wide shot, Major General Nakibus Lakara, AMISOM Deputy Force Commander in
charge of Operations and Plans addressing the staff officers
8. Close up shot, a staff officer from Egypt listening
9. Med shot, Major General Nakibus Lakara, AMISOM Deputy Force Commander in
charge of Operations and Plans
10. Wide shot, staff officers on parade
11. Close up shot, a staff officer from Uganda
12. Close up shot, a staff officer from Nigeria
13. Wide shot, Major General Nakibus Lakara, AMISOM Deputy Force Commander in
charge of Operations and Plans addressing the staff officers
14. Med shot, Colonel Mohamed Sadique Fofanah from Sierra Leone, AMISOM Chief
Military Personnel and Administration Officer commanding the parade
15. Wide shot, staff officers on parade
16. Wide shot, Lieutenant General Tigabu Yilma Wondimhunegn, AMISOM Force
Commander arriving to preside over the medal ceremony
17. Close up shot, Major Lillian Maela from Sierra Leone, AMISOM Military Gender
Officer
18. Med shot, salute of honor for the force commander
19. Wide shot, salute of honor for the force commander
20. Med shot, staff officers on parade
21. Close up shot, a staff officer from Kenya
22. Close up shot, medal
23. Med shot, Lieutenant General Tigabu Yilma Wondimhunegn, AMISOM Force
Commander pinning a medal
24. Wide shot, staff officers waiting to receive medals
25. Med shot, Major General George Owinow, AMISOM Deputy Force Commander in
charge of logistics and supplies pinning a medal
26. Close up shot, a staff officer from Zambia
27. Wide shot, Colonel Lloyd Kwaku Atroh from Ghana, AMISOM Chief Plans Officer
receives a medal from Lieutenant General Tigabu Yilma Wondimhunegn, AMISOM
Force Commander
28. Close up shot, medal
29. Wide shot, Major General Nakibus Lakara, AMISOM Deputy Force Commander in
charge of Operations and Plans pinning a medal
30. SOUNDBITE: (English) Lieutenant General Tigabu Yilma Wondimhunegn,
AMISOM Force Commander
“We have secured the population. We have secured the main supply routes. We
have degraded Al-Shabaab everywhere. AMISOM Military, jointly with the Somali
National Army (SNA), have sacrificed their lives for this. To succeed on a mission like
this, it takes a military with strong combat support and strong combat service
support. Staff officers are the key to the military. Without strong combat service
support, we cannot do anything, we cannot achieve. That’s why now our task is
achieved – because we have a strong military and strong staff officers. That’s why I
want to congratulate you,”

31. Med shot,, Major Lillian Maela from Sierra Leone, AMISOM Military Gender
Officer receives a medal from Lieutenant General Tigabu Yilma Wondimhunegn,
AMISOM Force Commander
32. Wide shot, Lieutenant General Tigabu Yilma Wondimhunegn, AMISOM Force
Commander pins a medal
33. SOUNDBITE: (English) Colonel Mohamed Sadique Fofanah from Sierra Leone,
AMISOM Chief Military Personnel and Administration Officer
“This medal serves as a recognition of my contribution to bring peace to Somalia. At
the same time, it serves a souvenir. Equally so, from my background, I come from
Sierra Leone, which fought an 11-year civil war, and during the peak of our war,
other countries contributed troops to bring peace to my country. So I feel very much
delighted today, to be part of this ceremony as my payback time for me to
contribute in bringing peace to another nation,”

34. Wide shot, staff officers pose for a photo with the force commander
AMISOM staff officers honoured for contributing to peace and stability in Somalia.

Mogadishu, August 25, 2020 - The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has
awarded service medals to 42 senior military staff officers serving within the
AMISOM Force Headquarters in Mogadishu from 10 African countries in recognition
of their contribution towards peace and stability in Somalia.

The recognized officers hail from Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Egypt, Uganda, Kenya,
Burundi, Ghana, Eswatini, Ethiopia and Zambia. AMISOM Force Commander (FC),
Lieutenant General (Lt. Gen.) Tigabu Yilma, on Tuesday decorated the officers with
African Union medals of service during a parade held in their honour.

AMISOM FC Lt. Gen. Yilma was joined in the decoration exercise by his two Deputies,
Major General Nakibus Lakara, in-charge of Operations and Plans, and Major General
George Owinow, who is in-charge of Logistics and Supplies.

The Force Commander praised the staff officers for conceptualizing, planning and
mapping out the military component’s work at a strategic level before it is
operationalized on ground by the different combat groups in the fight against the Al-
Shabaab.

He said it was because of the important supportive role played by the staff officers
that AMISOM continues to register noteworthy successes against the Al-Shabaab,
hence, achieving its mandate of peace and security in Somalia.

“We have secured the population. We have secured the main supply routes. We
have degraded Al-Shabaab everywhere. AMISOM Military, jointly with the Somali
National Army (SNA), have sacrificed their lives for this. To succeed on a mission like
this, it takes a military with strong combat support and strong combat service
support. Staff officers are the key to the military. Without strong combat service
support, we cannot do anything, we cannot achieve. That’s why now our task is
achieved – because we have a strong military and strong staff officers and I want to
congratulate you,” says Lt. Gen. Yilma.

Following his decoration, AMISOM Chief Military Personnel and Administration

Officer, Colonel Mohamed Sadique Fofanah from the Sierra Leone military, said
receiving a service medal for taking part in the peace-building process of another
country meant a lot to him as someone from a country that was ravaged by war for
11 years.

“This medal serves as a recognition of my contribution to bringing peace to Somalia,

and at the same time it serves a souvenir. Equally so, from my background, I come
from Sierra Leone, which fought an 11-year civil war, and during the peak of our war,
other countries contributed troops to bring peace to my country. So, I feel very much
delighted today, to be part of this ceremony, as my payback time, for me to
contribute in bringing peace to another nation,” said Colonel Fofanah.