Rebirth of a nation
So why would an Irishman want to take charge of training a new army, especially in one of Africa’s poorest countries, a country that once boasted the continent’s largest force. But that’s not how Colonel Michael Beary sees it.
Security is important in a failed state where there is a fledgling government desperately trying to extend its control to the rest of this country in east Africa.
A new constitution has been drafted, elections are scheduled for later this year, and old enemies are involved in supporting the transitional government and building peace.
On foot of a UN request, the EU agreed to help train native Somalis into a well-disciplined army capable of keeping control in this country of about 10m people.
Add to that Operation Atalanta, the plan to deal with the growing problem of pirates off the Somali coastline, and you begin to see the scale of the job to hand.
The other, less high-profile, programme trains soldiers for the new professional army of Somalia initially to help defeat the Islamist group, al-Shabab, with its al-Qaeda links, and hopefully to plant peace and stability in the country is supported by the UN, the African Union, the US, and the EU.
The military training mission was launched two years ago, with Somali recruits receiving basic training under the leadership of the Ugandan People’s Defence Forces in Bihanga training camp, Uganda, while more undergo command and control and specialised training through the EU training mission under the command of Limerick man Colonel Michael Beary.
By the end of Col Beary’s mandate later this year, about 3,000 Somalis will have been trained.
“It is a significant figure in Somalia because they are well-behaved and disciplined and loyal to the transition government, and it’s a major move forward for Mogadishu and Somalia,” he says.
Despite widespread controversy surrounding the international community’s involvement with Somalia, Col Beary has no doubt that the current wide-ranging efforts are the right ones. The EU training has an emphasis on citizenship, and covers international humanitarian laws, and human rights as well as protecting civilians, including the needs of women and children.
“This is the Somalia lost generation,” said Col Beary. “Most of the kids have never experienced anything other than violence and a fractured system with no working medical or education services.”
The toll of almost two decades of civil war, exacerbated by cross-border interests, is obvious in his recruits. “There are huge challenges. We recently had two people still with bullets in their bodies.”
They were treated, bullets removed and they were sent home to recover. Others have ailments considered more normal in the region, like malaria. These are treated in the training camp.
The 12,000 African Union Somali Peace keeping mission is involved in medically screening would-be recruits and helping with their reintegration on return to Mogadishu after their six-month intensive training in Uganda. Most are attracted by the pay of $100 (€76) a month, paid for by the US, and its hoped the stipend will help keep them loyal when their training ends, together with regular monitoring and mentoring.
The EU trainers are from 12 different countries, which poses its own problems language wise. They use 15 Kenyan interpreters who speak English and Somali. “We can end up with French being translated into English into Somali through Kenyan — we have been very successful in overcoming the language barrier,” he says.
Some of the Irish trainers, Col Beary is happy to report, have even learnt rudimentary Somali to facilitate communications.
The training camp is in Uganda, 300km south-west of Kampala, but it’s just one of several venues to which Col Beary has to travel. He says his challenge is strategic, operational, and tactical. He regularly briefs at the Political Security Committee in Brussels who have political oversight of the mission.
Maintaining the support of countries for the mission means lots of other briefings too, including the delegations in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, and in Uganda. They were affected by the fighting between warlords, the droughts and famines that killed tens of thousands and resulted in over a million people being displaced, at least half a million of them into neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia.
But now, he is increasingly travelling to the Somali capital of Mogadishu where, despite a recent terror bombing, the city is making strides in getting back to normal business. “There are still spent rounds of ammunition to be seen, but the buildings are being repaired, Bakara market is busy, there is a new sense of hope. There are even traffic jams,” he says.
He is optimistic that, despite the complex mix of social, economic and political problems in the Horn of Africa, this time things will be different.
“I’ve seen it developing correctly along the right path. There is a good chance that Somalia may turn a corner. It’s so much better now than for decades. You are not just listening to the sound of gunfire — shopkeepers are putting in new panes of glass — so they are hopeful,” he says.
Col Beary’s mandate ends later this year when the EU will review the mission, taking into account the possible election in August, and decide on a possible new mandate. Ireland has not made any decisions on whether to continue its involvement.
“Ireland is gaining an enormous amount being involved on the ground in Somalia and Uganda to help provide a solution. And it’s a plus for Ireland and the Irish defence forces”, he says.
The son of Brigadier Jim Beary, whose family pub business is at Beary’s Cross near Ballyneety, Co Limerick, Col Beary is a veteran of overseas service having served three terms in the Lebanon, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, the EU for three years, and Africa.
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