Over 100 Somali security officers have undergone a five-day Intelligence Data Management and Reporting training to equip them with skills to secure the ongoing electoral process.

The training, which ended in Mogadishu on Friday, was attended by 120 officers who work on the Joint Operations and Centres (JOCs) and Women’s Situation Desks in Mogadishu and the federal member states. The training was organised by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) police component and the Integrated Election Support Group (IESG) of the UN in Somalia.

The JOCs work in collaboration with the National Election Security Taskforce. The National Election Taskforce is the highest security organ tasked with securing Somalia’s national elections. The taskforce is chaired by the Somali Police Force, with support from AMISOM Police. Also, the taskforce established the Women’s Situation Desks to protect women against all forms of election-related violence.

The training covered several topics that included intelligence collection and analysis, management of intelligence data, surveillance and investigation, intelligence data preservation, intelligence report writing, and intelligence data presentation.

The AMISOM Police Training and Development Coordinator, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Kofi Amevenku, noted that good intelligence ensures operational efficiency and effectiveness.

“Intelligence, when properly used, leads to faster detection and remediation of threats. This guarantees information security and makes security operations easy to execute,” he said.

ACP Amevenku noted that good intelligence gathering and management is key to bolstering efforts to secure Somalia and its democratic processes.

The Deputy Somali Police Commissioner, Gen. Osman Abdullahi Mohamed, encouraged the participants to apply the knowledge gained while conducting their duties.

“We hope the officers drawn from across the regions have grasped the knowledge to enable them to effectively perform their duties,” said Gen. Osman.

A participant, Capt. Ibrahim Adan, who commands the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in the Lower Shabelle region, welcomed the training for the forces.

“Through such training, our security forces can bolster ongoing efforts to stabilise the country,” said Capt. Ibrahim.