The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) police have handed over an assortment of critical office equipment to the Somali Police Force to help enhance their capacity to deter terror threats in the country.
AMISOM Deputy Police Commissioner Christine Alalo handed over the equipment donated by Denmark to the police in Mogadishu. She said the consignment will help in facilitating the work of police officers to maintain law and order.
“We have a mandate here in Somalia and our mandate is to build the capacity of the Somali police forces. This is in terms of training, mentoring, operational support; you see the Formed Police Unit (FPU) that undertake day and night patrols,” Alalo said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
“We also do strategic advising, but most of all, we are supposed to support them in terms of logistics and equipment, (and) to equip the police stations,” she added.
The equipment which included office furniture, desktop computers, printers, folding chairs, tables, cabinets, solar torches and solar lamps, will be distributed to various police stations in Mogadishu.
The AU mission’s police skills and mentors Somali police officers to effectively maintain law and order across the country.
They also train them on the consequences of sexual and gender-based violence, human rights observance and protection in conflict and post- conflict environments, community policing, traffic management and basic criminal investigation techniques, which are critical areas in the maintenance of law and order.
General Ahmed Hassan Malin, the commander of the Banadir Police Station, said the cabinets will be used for storing documents and the solar torches for night patrols.
“We are grateful for the donation brought to us by our brothers at AMISOM Police. We will distribute them to four police stations in Banadir and I know they will enhance greatly our operations,” Malin said.