Somalia’s government has declared a senior African Union official persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country within seven days.
In a statement Thursday, Somalia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry ordered Simon Mulongo, the deputy special representative of the chairperson of the African Union Commission for Somalia, to leave the country.
It said Mulongo was being expelled because of activities that were described as incompatible with the mandate of the AU mission in Somalia and the country’s security strategy. The statement did not elaborate.
Somali Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdirizak warned that his government “will hold accountable AMISOM personnel, particularly those at the leadership level, who are expected to be beyond reproach in their integrity as they discharge their duty under the UN/AU mandate.”
Analysts believe Mulong’s expulsion was a clear indication of growing disagreement between the Somali government and the AU Peace and Security Commission over the proposed reconfiguration of the AU peacekeeping force into a multinational agency, which Mogadishu strongly opposes.
In 2019, Somalia expelled the United Nations’ top envoy, Nicholas Haysom, accusing him of interfering in Somalia’s domestic affairs.
There are more than 20,000 AU peacekeepers in Somalia, operating under a U.N. mandate to help the federal government with security and peace building.
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