US Ambassador Arrives In Somalia To Head US Mission

Newly approved US ambassador Somalia, Donald Yamamoto has reached Somalia to assume office, US mission said on Thursday.

Donald Yamamoto, a former US ambassador to Ethiopia and Djibouti was nominated to take the office in July this year.

In a statement, the US mission to Somalia announced that Mr. Yamamoto arrived in the country.

“The United States is pleased to announce the arrival of the Ambassador Donald Y. Yamamoto to head the United States Mission to the Federal Republic of Somalia,” the statement reads in part. Ambassador, “Yamamoto is one of the highest-level U.S. ambassadors on the African continent, a symbol of the significance that the United States places on our relationship with the people and government of Somalia.”

According to the statement, Ambassador Yamamoto “is looking forward to working with sectors of Somali society such as youth leaders, women leaders, educators, community and traditional leaders, civil society groups, business people, Federal Government, and regional member state officials, and security sector partners to help build a brighter future for Somalia.”

Yamamoto, 64, previously served as the senior US diplomat for Ethiopia and Eritrea.

He also worked in an acting capacity as head of the State Department’s Africa bureau during the first term of Obama administration.

The administration of President Donald Trump this year stepped up ongoing American military intervention in Somalia.