Kenya receives $17 million from KDF mission in Somalia

NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenya received Kshs2.5 billion [$17 million] for the last five years due to ongoing peacekeeping mission in Somalia, where the Kenya Defence Forces [KDF] has been participating for the last 12 years since invading the country under Operation Linda Nchi in 2011.

With the troops set to fully exit from Somalia by December 2024, the KDF has been a critical component in the fight against Al-Shabaab within Sectors II and VI of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS], which controls sections of Jubaland and Southwest states.

Aden Duale, Kenya's Defence Minister, recently revealed that the Treasury has been receiving Kshs500 million [$3.3 million] annually for the peacekeeping mission in the Horn of Africa nation. Usually, Kenya pays its troops given that the expenses are captured in fiscal estimates, before receiving reimbursement.

The KDF joined ATMIS, formerly the African Union Mission in Somalia [AMSOM] in 2012, a year after activation of the Operation Linda Nchi. According to Duale, compensation for dead soldiers in Kenya takes at least a month before full disclosure and conclusion.

“If the officer was serving within the country, they immediately get Ksh4 million [$26, 881] above his pension which has a component called death gratuity. If he was serving under Atmis like in Somalia, apart from the Ksh4 million the AU and the UN give that family Ksh5 million [$33,602)]” Duale told the National Assembly without revealing how many soldiers and officers who have died in Somalia.

In their decade’s stay in Somalia, KDF have come under at least three heavy attacks from Al Shabaab, the worst remains the January 2016 attack at a KDF Forward Operating Base in El Adde. Another attempt was made the following year in Kulbiyow with fewer casualties and yet another in 2012 at Hoosingo also with fewer casualties.

The troops have over the years not only destroyed terrorist cells in Somalia that would have otherwise been used to plan attacks in Kenya but also trained Somali forces, secured the locals, and provided medicine, water, and educated women on alternative sources of income, The EastAfrican reports.

There are close to 4,000 KDF troops in Somalia and are credited for their efforts to eliminate Al-Shabaab, particularly from areas like Jubaland and Southwest states where their second phase of operations is set to target. Upon full withdrawal, KDF is expected to retreat closer to the border with Somalia.

GAROWE ONLINE