NAIROBI (HalbeegNews) – Kenya military soldiers working under the framework of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) have not being paid salaries for months after the delayed disbursement of funds by the European Union.
According to local media in Kenya, the EU has not been able to fulfill financial obligations for the last three months.
Kenya is set to pursue reimbursement of close to KSh5 billion from the Brussel-based organization as it seeks to support close to 4,000 her AMISOM soldiers in Somalia.
The 28-nation EU, the largest contributor of funds to the AMISOM through the African Peace Facility, in April pledged to continue supporting the mission’s programmes and activities in the financial year 2019/20.
The funds cater for allowances for the AMISOM troops and police, international and local civilian staff salaries, operational costs of their offices, among others.
The East African nation sent troops to Somalia in 2011 to neutralize Al-Shabaab fighters who were accused of kidnapping several people from Kenya.
A year later, the UN Security Council gave Kenya the green light goes ahead to join AMISOM, a decision that meant the treasury would not bear the full costs of the incursion.
Though Kenya has never made public the number of its troops killed or the 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.
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