Halo Trust Hands Over Rehabilitated Police Armoury to Somaliland Authorities

[Freedom]

HARGEISA –The international humanitarian mine-clearance charity group ‘The Halo Trust’, based in the Scottish city of Glasgow, officially presented the keys for a newly rehabilitated police armoury to the deputy chief of Somaliland police, Mr Col. Abdir-Rahman Liban Ahmed, during an official ceremony to mark the completion of the armoury. The ceremony was held in the Special Police Unit (SPU) headquarters in Hargeisa on Tuesday (19/04/11).

 

Those attending the handover ceremony were Mr Col. Sandy Wade who is the British Military Attaché at the UK embassy in Addis Ababa, Mr. Ahmed Ali Maah from Somaliland Mine Action Centre, Mr Dahir Muse Abraar the chief of Somaliland CID and other high ranking officials from Somaliland government and police authorities.

 

Funds for the newly rehabilitated police armouries, a special repository purpose built buildings which will store armaments and munitions used by the Somaliland police, was provided by the British government as part of its policy to support the government of Somaliland continue to sustain its current stability and peace despite the overwhelming volatile nature of the region.

 

The new rehabilitated armoury building was opened by the deputy chief of police, Col. Abdi-Rahman Ahmed. The deputy-chief thanked Halo Trust for the completion of the armoury building and for training his officers on the control and management procedures for the repository and also thanked the British government for its assistance in providing the funds needed to rehabilitate the country’s police armouries.

 

Mohamed Ahmed Warsame, a senior Halo Trust manager, flanking the deputy chief of police during ‘the cutting of the ribbon’ of the newly rehabilitated armoury building said, ‘that Halo Trust would like to personally thank the deputy chief for taking the honour of opening the armoury,” and thanked everyone for attending the ceremony organised by the Halo Trust. In particular, Warsame thanked the British government for providing the funds for the rehabilitation of Somaliland’s police armouries.

 

Warsame, furthermore added that, “this project of armoury rehabilitation is an expression of Halo Trust’s current work of mine-clearance in Somaliland and that Halo Trust is not deviating from its core commitment of getting mines out of the ground in Somaliland and will continue to run its mine-clearance program as it has done since 1999.”

 

According to the Halo Trust Somaliland programme manager, Mr Roly Clark, Halo Trust has completed the rehabilitation of the SPU armaments storage facility at the SPU Hargeisa command centre and said, “his organisation plans to complete the second armoury by the end of the month (April) which is located at Somaliland’s CID headquarters in Hargeisa. The two armouries will each house a capacity to hold 1,100 rifles and several hundred handguns + munitions in a safe and a secure environment.”

 

Clark also pointed out that “the buildings are fitted with thick metal vault ‘safe-deposit’ type doors and reinforced concrete walls and roof. The rooms contain special walled-shelving units and gun-racks fitted on the floor for holding large and small firearms along with special rooms for storing munitions in large metal walled cabinet units and steel chest boxes fixed on the floor.

 

In addition, Halo Trust has been providing various training courses for SPU police officers on the management of armoury control procedures and the safe handling of firearms and munitions,” Clark told journalists at the ceremony. The rehabilitation of Somaliland’s police armouries and the training of its police forces is only one part of the British government’s determination to booster Somaliland’s security capacities. What was not mentioned or covered in the ceremony was the container seen outside the SPU armoury building which was recently delivered as part of the armoury rehabilitation program.

 

The container has inside a cargo of thousands of brand new AK47 rifles and munitions purchased from the Czech Republic by the British government on behalf of the Somaliland police force, and are part of the British government’s assistance to boosting security in Somaliland.

 

The newly rehabilitated armoury at SPU headquarters and the one at the CID headquarters will both house these new Czech-made AK47 rifles and munitions currently inside the container. It was only last February when Nairobi based British Senior UK representative for Somalia, Mr Matt Baugh, wrote to the Somali TFG president and the Somali TFG ambassador for Kenya in Nairobi, in order to explain his governments commitments to safe guarding Somaliland’s security needs and at the same time, tried to reassure the TFG of the British government’s policy towards as a whole the region’s security.

 

Mr Baugh’s letter came in response after an official compliant was submitted by the TFG to the British government and made a strong objection and reservations of the British government’s ambitious plans in bolstering Somaliland’s security resources and security personnel capacities and training. Chief among the TFG’s complaint to the British government was the issue of Her Majesty’s government supplying Somaliland’s police forces with new armaments and equipment. To this Mr Baugh said in his letter ‘As a matter of courtesy, we have notified the TFG of any UK project relating to the security sector of Somaliland that requires the approval of the UN Sanctions Committee. This includes, for example, the providing of training and replacement weapons to its police special protection unit.’

 

Indeed, as part of the armoury rehabilitation program, already a great majority of SPU forces rifles and munitions have been dismantled and destroyed and is only a matter of time when we’ll see these new AK47 rifles issued to Somaliland’s SPU forces, thanks to the British government.

 

 

Somaliland all the way baby!