The Ugandan army, UPDF is set to cooperate with West African country, Mali to help in fighting the country’s military Islamic insurgents, the Nile Post has learnt.
The Macina Liberation Front(FLM) which is part of the Jama’ at Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimin(JNIM) coalition has carried several violent attacks in Mali’s southern and central regions.
On Wednesday, a delegation from Mali’s military held discussions with their counterparts in Uganda on military cooperation in meetings held at Speake Resort in Munyonyo.
The Ugandan technical team was headed by the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs Under Secretary in charge of Air Force James Mutabazi while Col Maj Moussa Kante, Director of Military Schools in Mali headed the Malian technical team.
This website has learnt that key in the meeting was the discussion about Uganda’s assistance to West African country to help in fighting the Islamist insurgents.
This was on Mali’s request.
A statement by the UPDF on Friday indicated that the defence ministers for the two countries signed a framework on "military cooperation" at Speke Resort Munyonyo, Kampala after having earlier been drafted by technical teams.
“The military framework will guide the entire process of fostering unity and cooperation in military between the two countries,” the statement read in part.
Uganda’s Defence Minister, Vincent Ssempijja said, “There is no doubt that the conclusion and formalization of this framework will facilitate closer cooperation especially between our defence and military institutions.”
Ssempijja is quoted to have said that in the spirit of Pan-Africanism, Uganda remains open to working closely with Mali to strengthen continental security, by building capacity of the West African country’s defence and military entities.
He said President Museveni has already given a green light to the Ministry of Defence and UPDF in particular to work with the Malian army “particularly in the areas of training and other military exchange programs” to benefit both countries.
The agreement
The agreement signed between Uganda and Mali will see both countries cooperate in the areas of reciprocal training of military personnel; exchange between the military academic institutions, training in search and rescue; military intelligence, air operations and protection of the environment by the armed forces.
The MOU is also in regards mapping and hydrography, military health services, operationalization of the bilateral counter terrorism strategies, prevention and countering violent extremism, communications, electronics, information systems and cyber security among others.
The agreement that enters into force upon the date of its execution will remain in force for a period of five years, after which it will be automatically renewed for successive periods of five years at a time, unless earlier terminated by either party.
Mali insurgency
The security situation in Mali has deteriorated sharply since the military junta led by Colonel Assimi Goïta took power in 2020.
According to the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, the acceleration in militant Islamist group violence is both in time and territory since Col Goita’s group captured power.
Regarding time, extremist violence has been worse in every quarter since
since the military coup than in any quarter prior to the junta taking control,” the U.S. Department of Defense institution that studies security issues relating to Africa says.
They say fatalities linked to militant Islamist violence in 2022 have already surpassed those of any previous year and are projected to increase by nearly 150 percent from 2021 whereas civilians have borne the brunt of this violence.
“Militant Islamist groups have killed roughly three times as many people in violence against civilians during 2022 than in 2021. There have been more civilian fatalities in each of the first two quarters of 2022 than in any previous calendar year.
They say the surge in militant Islamist violence in Mali is also marked by its geographic spread with the Macina Liberation Front(FLM) which is part of the Jama’ at Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimin(JNIM) coalition being attributed to the surge in this violence in the southern and central regions of the West African country.
The terrorists have wreaked havoc in capital Bamako, Kayes, Koulikoro, and Sikasso regions in the south as well as Mopti and Segou regions in the central part of the country.
Northern Mali regions of Gao, Kidal, Menaka, Taoudenit, and Tombouctou have also not been spared by the violent attacks.
The establishment in Bamako hopes that with the vast experience especially in fighting Al Shabaab Islamist insurgents in Somalia which had been declared a no-go area by many; Ugandan troops are well positioned to help them in defeating the insurgents in their country.
The UPDF has also supported several other peacekeeping missions around the African continent.
Whereas it was thought that Uganda would send troops to Mali but according to the MOU signed between the two countries, it will be in terms of training and capacity building to the Malian army.