The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) said on Friday that it has wrapped up a three-day training for top commanders of the Somali Police Force (SPF) tasked with running election security operation centers known as Joint Operation Centers in various parts of the country.
The AU mission said the training was aimed to equip the participants with the requisite knowledge to effectively manage the centers by conducting joint analysis, joint integrated planning, operational coordination, and joint performance assessment, in order to secure the ongoing electoral process.
AMISOM police election security advisor Anthony Placid said with the knowledge acquired from the training, the participants will be able to collect and share intelligence while discharging their duties to secure the elections.
“With this knowledge that has been imparted to them, it is expected that they will go back to their various Joint Operation Center and operationalize them putting in use all the ideas and knowledge gained so that the ongoing elections are intelligence-led,” Placid said in a statement.
Participants had interactive discussions on various topics, including the joint operation center concept of operations, map reading and interpretation, intelligence gathering and information sharing, and tactical radio communication.
Ahmed Sugulle, a participant, said the training was informative and had boosted their knowledge on issues regarding election security.
“Now we are ready to secure the elections that are happening across the country,” said Sugulle.
The SPF is tasked with securing the elections, with AMISOM Police playing a supporting role.
