NAIROBI (Halbeeg News) – The Kenyan government is pushing plans to get funds to finance the war on Al-Shabaab barely 10 days after suspected Al-Shabaab fighters storm luxury hotel in Nairobi.
Over 21 people were killed and more than 40 other injured in the attack Dusit D2.
The attack was concluded 18 hours after the security forces conducted operations against the assailants.
In a gathering of diplomats from the African Union and the European Union in Brussels on Tuesday, the East African Nation has urged the United Nations to finance the continental counter-terrorism mission in Somalia
Foreign Affairs Chief Administrative Secretary Ababu Namwamba argued that it will stop the country from falling back to Al-Shabaab control.
Namwamba said there is a need to plug funding gaps and boost counter-terrorism efforts.
“The promotion and maintenance of peace and security in the world is the primary mandate of the United Nations,” Mr. Namwamba said.
“Unfortunately, the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) continues to suffer insufficient and unpredictable funding,” he said.
The East African nation deployed its troops in Somalia to fight Al-Shabaab fighters in Southern Somalia in 2011.
A year later, the UN Security Council gave Kenya the green light to join Amisom, a decision that meant the Treasury would not bear the full costs of the incursion.
There are at least 4,000 Kenyan soldiers in Somalia, meaning it would cost KSh10.08 billion a year to keep them in a war that has no end in sight.
The international community pays $1,028 (Sh103,828) for each soldier per month, their respective governments then deduct about $200 (Sh20,200) for administrative costs, leaving them with a take-home of about $800 (Sh83,628).
Kenyan authorities have been demanding compensation from the United Nations (UN) for its troops fighting Al-Shabaab.
Though Kenya has never made public the number of its troops killed or amount of money it has spent on the war on Al-Shabaab, the country suffered the highest death toll when compared to its AMISOM partners.
Key among the numbers which remain a military secret is how many soldiers died in the twin Kulbiyow (2017) and El Adde (2016) attacks. A tally from various media reports shows at least 1,000 Kenyans have died since 2011.
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