Sunday, May 06, 2007
After a two-week course, they will be on the streets of violence-torn Mogadishu, attempting to restore law and order as the country's newest police officers.
"The emergency course of two weeks will enable you to deal with the situation in Mogadishu," said police commander General Abdulahi Ali Uma, who visited on Sunday for the promotion of the first 500 recruits. "We have no time to keep you for a longer time."
The Somali government is seeking to quickly deploy more security officers onto the streets of Mogadishu after having taken control of the capital with the help of the Ethiopian army late last month.
Control came at a heavy price. Mogadishu has seen some of the most intense violence in the city's history in recent months as Somali and Ethiopian soldiers battled Islamist rebels.
They have now turned their attention to searching for arms caches and rooting out rebels in an effort to consolidate control over the war-wracked city.
The insurgents, including remnants of the Union of Islamic Courts movement routed four months ago in central and southern Somalia, remain opposed to the government.
At the police academy some 25 kilometres (16 miles) south of the capital, the recruits -- both women and men -- stood in line as the general instructed them.
"We have to change the ugly face of Somalia, based on tribalism and personal warlordism," he said. "We want to bring back peace and order in this country."
His deputy, Abdi Mohamed Fidow, added some words of his own.
"The first task will be to fight banditry in Mogadishu and to enhance the administration of justice," he said.
The commander promised that they will all receive new, identical uniforms. Other details were not so clear.
The head of Mogadishu's police force, Colonel Ali Said, was unsure what his budget will be and how many officers he will have. He said only former police officers are being recruited for the moment.
Some served under the dictatorship of Mohamed Siad Barre before his regime fell in 1991, while others were under the orders of various clan chiefs before joining the country's transitional government police force.
Said said the fast-track program was meant only as a refresher course for the former officers.
The ceremony accompanying the commander's visit drew to a close as a military hymn dating to the early years of independence was played. The commander's procession of all-terrain vehicles did not wait until the end before pulling off in a cloud of dust.
The abrupt departure did not seem to discourage the recruits.
"I like being a policeman," said Inspector Hassan Mohamed Wasuge, a 25-year veteran officer participating in the course. But, he said, "I know this is a dangerous job."
Source: AFP, May 06, 2007