Baidoa – Sergeant Issah Salifu’s journey did not begin in uniform, but in classrooms where he studied electrical engineering from secondary school through to tertiary level. He spent five years working as a civilian engineer before making a decision that reshaped his path.
Now part of Ghana’s Formed Police Unit (FPU), deployed as peacekeepers under the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), Sgt Salifu’s role carries a responsibility that often goes unnoticed – making sure mission vehicles are always ready for troops to carry out their duties uninterrupted.
Sgt Salifu’s day doesn’t begin in the workshop, but the mosque. By 5:30 a.m., he is back in the workshop walking between rows of mission vehicles, listening, inspecting, noticing. Beyond repairing and maintaining the fleet, he also keeps a close eye on the generators, ensuring power supply remains steady and reliable.
“I go around to the vehicles to inspect any of them that is having a problem. At the same time, I also go to the generators to make sure they are in good condition, they are ready to come on when the main power fails,” Sgt Salifu says.
Throughout the day, Sgt Salifu and his team handle a steady stream of repairs. “We make sure the vehicles are operationally ready so that we can convey our colleagues in and out of the camp peacefully,” he adds.
For him, the shift from civilian engineering into the police service was not a departure from his profession, but an expansion of its purpose. “Being an electrical engineer as a civilian, my work cannot touch the entire country,” Sgt Salifu says. “But as an engineer and a police officer, my work can touch everybody.” This is a belief he has carried with him for the past 13 years in the Ghana Police Service.
Although assigned to the Ghanaian FPU camp, Salifu’s work stretches far beyond it. His tools and expertise move across contingents and communities.
He supports the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) contingent under AUSSOM with electrical systems, and assists logistics teams under the United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS). Sgt Salifu repairs vehicles for fuel units and, at times, steps in to help the Somali Police Force (SPF).
“I extend my duty to SPF and the local authorities by repairing their vehicles,” he says.
Asked what drives him, Sgt Salifu says, “The only thing that motivates me is to see these vehicles in operational readiness.”
According to him, the mission environment is not forgiving, filled with numerous security risks, including Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Language barriers complicate coordination with local partners, coupled with limited resources. Yet over the past year, he and his colleagues have adapted.
“I have learnt how to be at a particular point for a long period of time… I’ve also learnt to manage with the little I must keep me and my team going,” he adds.
Life in deployment has also reshaped his sense of freedom. In Ghana, movement was unrestricted. In Somalia, it is controlled, and mostly confined to the camp, with occasional external duties.
Sgt Salifu’s advice to those wishing to follow a similar path of balancing engineering with policing is: “It isn’t an easy task. But when the passion is there, it becomes easier.”