Botswana to decide on deployment of troops to Somalia
BAME PIET
Staff Writer
The government of Botswana has still not decided whether it will deploy troops to beef-up those under the African Union (AU) in the troubled East African country of Somalia.
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Speaking to Mmegi yesterday, Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Ramadeluka Seretse said the Vice-President Mompati Merafhe has just returned from the AU Summit and he is yet to brief President Ian Khama on the issue.
"The president will then assess the information and make a comparison to the kind of resources that the country has and whether it would be affordable to deploy troops to a foreign land," he said.
Seretse would not shed light on when the Office of President will make the decision as it entails a lot of things."But once that decision is taken we will definitely inform the public about it," he said. The AU Summit in Kampala resolved this week to increase its troops in Somalia after al-Qaida-linked militants claimed responsibility for the bombings that killed 76 people who were watching the World Cup final in Kampala on July 11th. Uganda has deployed troops to Somalia to assist the struggling government that is failing to cope with the insurgents.
Botswana has in the past deployed military personnel to troubled countries such as Somalia and Sudan. The country is also known for being loud on issues of human rights abuses common in Somalia and other countries on the continent.
