AMISOM’s new force commander arrives in the Somali capital

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has a new force commander, Lt Gen Diomede Ndegeya from Burundi, who arrived in Mogadishu on Sunday to be the overall head of forces from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda.

Lt Gen Ndegeya 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 Maj Gen Nakibus Lakara, Maj 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 in his brief remarks a few minutes after arrival.

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.

A holder of a Master’s degree in Technical Sciences, Gen Ndegeya has vast knowledge in military command and defense strategy obtained from military institutions in Russia, China, and France.

He has also published a number of research papers on peacekeeping missions in Africa and the professionalization of the Burundi National Defence Forces, among others.

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