MOGADISHU (Halbeeg News) – The new African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) force commander will soon assume office, the mission said.
Diomede Ndegeya from Burundi arrived in Mogadishu on Sunday to be the overall head of forces from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.
According to the mission, he is to take over from Lt. Gen. Tigabu Yilma of Ethiopia, whose tour of duty has ended after being Force Commander since January, 2019.
Gen. Ndegeya, was received at the Aden Abdulle International Airport by AMISOM Deputy Force Commander Operations and Plans, Major General Nakibus Lakara; Major Gen. George Owinow, the AMISOM Deputy Force Commander in charge Support and Logistics, and other senior AMISOM military officers.
“I have come to help Africa, to help Somalia, to help our brothers. I have previously been here a number of times, from 2007 to 2012,” said Gen. Ndegeya.
With a career spanning 38 years, Gen. Ndegeya, 57, is no stranger to Somalia, having previously served in Somalia from 2007 to 2009, as a member of the Burundi National Defence Forces AMISOM’s pre-deployment team in-charge of supervising and training.
In 2012, he was part of a reconnaissance mission to the Bay and Bakool regions of Somalia ahead of AMISOM troop deployment there.
Before his appointment as AMISOM Force Commander, Gen. Ndegeya was the Senior Advisor to the Minister of Defence in Burundi, charged with political and diplomatic affairs, a role he took on after serving four years as a Defence Attaché at the Burundian Embassy in Cairo, Egypt.
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