Somalia and Sierra Leone

How do Somalia and Sierra Leone relate today?

The main link between the two countries is the African Union mission in Somalia. Sierra Leone sent combat troops from 2013 to 2015, then police officers. In 2023 the AU mission described Sierra Leone as a police-contributing country that provides military staff officers, a Formed Police Unit and individual police officers (ATMIS, 28 April 2023).

Sierra Leonean nationals have also held senior posts in the missions. The AU mission's police component was led by Sierra Leonean commissioners from 2019, and Amadu Kamara, Director of the UN Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) in 2023, is from Sierra Leone (ATMIS, 28 April 2023).

Sierra Leone sat on the UN Security Council in 2024 and 2025. It voted for resolution 2767 on 27 December 2024, which set up the AU Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia, AUSSOM (UN Project, S/PV.9828).

When did contact begin?

Sierra Leone became independent from Britain on 27 April 1961 (ATMIS, 28 April 2023). The first large, recorded contact between the two states came in April 2013, when an 850-soldier Sierra Leonean battalion deployed to Somalia with AMISOM (Garowe Online, 18 December 2014).

The AU mission in Mogadishu marked Sierra Leone's 62nd independence anniversary in April 2023. Acting Force Commander Major General Marius Ngendabanka said Sierra Leone's peacekeepers "made tremendous contributions to AMISOM" (ATMIS, 28 April 2023).

Who built the tie?

• Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President of Somalia, said in August 2014 that no new Sierra Leonean troops would deploy because of Ebola, and praised the contingent for coming "at a very difficult time" (Al Jazeera, 21 December 2014). On 18 December 2014 he bade the battalion farewell in Kismayo (Garowe Online, 18 December 2014).
• Ahmed Mohamed Islam (Madobe), Jubaland's leader, joined the Kismayo farewell (Garowe Online, 18 December 2014).
• Maman Sidikou, the AU's special representative for Somalia, spoke at the farewell and said, "They have to go" (Al Jazeera, 21 December 2014).
• Augustine Magnus Kailie, an assistant inspector general of the Sierra Leone Police with about 30 years' service, became AMISOM Police Commissioner in November 2019. He said the post repaid the support Sierra Leone received after its 1991–2002 civil war (Garowe Online, 9 November 2019).
• Francisco Madeira, head of AMISOM, met Kailie on his arrival and praised the Sierra Leone Police contingent (Garowe Online, 9 November 2019).
• Hillary Sao Kanu, formerly Director of Support Services at Sierra Leone Police headquarters, took up duty as ATMIS Police Commissioner on 2 March 2023 (ATMIS, 17 May 2023). She led a police force of about 856 personnel in four Formed Police Units in 2023 (Daily Graphic, 25 September 2023).
• Samuel Abu Bakarr Kargbo, a superintendent of police, commanded the Sierra Leone Formed Police Unit in Kismayo in 2024 (ATMIS, 19 November 2024).
• Amadu Kamara, from Sierra Leone, was Director of UNSOS, the UN office that supplies the AU mission, in 2023 (ATMIS, 28 April 2023).

How much do they trade?

UN Comtrade holds no trade with Somalia reported by Sierra Leone for 2019 or 2021 to 2024 (UN Comtrade, Sierra Leone reporter, 2023).

What about security?

Sierra Leone's 850 soldiers deployed in April 2013 for a 12-month tour and were based in Kismayo (Garowe Online, 2014; Al Jazeera, 2014). On 14 October 2014 an 800-strong replacement battalion was placed in 21-day quarantine in Sierra Leone after one soldier tested positive for Ebola (Reuters via UNHCR, 14 October 2014). The AU blocked the rotation, the battalion was due to leave in January 2015, and Ethiopian troops in AMISOM were set to replace it in Kismayo (Al Jazeera, 2014; Garowe Online, 2014).

Sierra Leone then sent police. On 19 November 2024, 160 officers of the Sierra Leone Formed Police Unit received AU medals in Kismayo for a year's service. Their tasks included VIP escorts, guarding government sites and protecting AU police trainers (ATMIS, 19 November 2024). See Foreign forces in Somalia.

How does Sierra Leone deal with Somaliland and the member states?

Sierra Leone's troops and police served mainly in Jubaland. The 2014 farewell in Kismayo was held with Jubaland's leader, Ahmed Madobe (Garowe Online, 18 December 2014). The 2024 medal parade at the AU mission's Sector Six headquarters in Kismayo was attended by Jubaland officials, including CID commander Omar Hujale (ATMIS, 19 November 2024).

Have there been disputes?

In 2014, activists and a social media campaign by Somalis called for no new Sierra Leonean troops to be sent while Ebola spread in West Africa. In August 2014 President Hassan Sheikh said none would deploy (Al Jazeera, 21 December 2014). Sierra Leone had by then reported more than 2,470 Ebola deaths, according to WHO figures cited in the same report.

Where does Sierra Leone stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

• AU missions: troop contributor to AMISOM in 2013–2015; police contributor to AMISOM, ATMIS and AUSSOM (ATMIS, 2023; SONNA, 16 November 2021).
• UN Security Council, 2024–2025: Sierra Leone was one of 14 members voting for resolution 2767 on 27 December 2024; the United States abstained. Algeria spoke for the three African members (Algeria, Mozambique and Sierra Leone) and Guyana, the "A3+". Guided by the AU, the group backed the "hybrid" option for funding the new mission (UN Project, S/PV.9828).

Related pages

• AMISOM
• ATMIS
• AUSSOM
• Foreign forces in Somalia
• Somali Police Force
• Jubaland
• Ahmed Madobe
• Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
• Somalia and Ethiopia
• Somalia and Algeria