Somalia’s Roadmap, including the proposed constitution, is anti-democratic and should be abandoned. It will probably produce another illegitimate, unworkable transitional entity and lead to further violence.

A combined Amisom force comprised of Ugandan, Burundian and Somali Transitional Federal Government troops launched a massive dawn assault on al-Shabaab positions outside Mogadishu, marking the second phase of the Somalia war. Sources said an estimated 5,000 Ugandan, 1,500 Burundian and 2,000 Somali soldiers were still advancing to Afgoye and areas of Shabelle with tanks and motorised infantry fighting vehicles, including armoured mambas and tanks.

Widespread opposition to the document stems from the way it was formulated in secret without public mandate or the input of Somali civil society, intellectuals and constitutional experts.

The Washington Post reports that since 2007, the US State Department has trained about 35,000 African soldiers for an international force in Somalia, mostly deployed to Mogadishu. The African Union is planning to expand its Somalia force from 12,000 to 18,000, the majority of the troops US-trained. Training has occurred at these three primary sites.

Sending troops to Somalia will be seen as furthering the agenda of imperialists. The idea of Africans fighting Africans is abhorrent.