Kenya hints a pull out of its troops from Somalia with budget cut

NAIROBI (Halbeeg News) – The government of Kenya whittling down its funds on Kenya Defence Forces in Somalia by drawing down the troops.

The East African nation deployed its troops in Somalia to fight Al-Shabaab fighters in Southern Somalia in 2011.

Kenyan authorities have been demanding compensation from the United Nations (UN) for its troops fighting Al-Shabaab.

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

According to an article posted on Business Daily, the refund is set to drop to Sh5 billion and Ksh3.5 billion in the next two years.

The move by Kenyan authorities to cut the funds, paves the way a gradual reduction of the troops after working under the framework of African Union Mission in Somalia.

The article noted that Kenya expects reimbursement of Sh8.5 billion in the financial year starting July, up from the current Sh6.1 billion — which has remained static for the past four years.

Military insiders say it costs about Sh7,000 ($70) a day to keep a kenyan soldier in Somalia.

This covers food, transport, medical care, communication and water expenses, which translates to Sh210,000 ($2100) a month and Sh2.52 million a year.

There are at least 4,000 Kenyan soldiers in Somalia, meaning it would cost Sh10.08 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).

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.