Money reimbursed to Kenya for troops fighting the Al-Shabaab militia group in war-torn Somalia has nearly dried out, signalling a significant drawdown of soldiers ahead of the planned exit of the African Union-backed mission in December.
Grants from the European Union and its partners plunged to a measly Sh86 million in the year ended June 2024 compared with Sh6.98 billion the year before, data from Treasury shows.
The 98.77 percent fall pushed the cash receipts from the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (Atmis), formerly the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), to the lowest levels on record, based on publicly available data.
Kenya received the highest refunds in a single year of Sh8.94 billion in the year ended June 2021 followed by Sh6.98 billion for the year ended June 2023.
The Treasury funds operations by the Kenya Defence Forces in war-torn Somalia and gets refunded by the Ministry of Defence once they get cash from the African Union.
The Treasury data shows Kenya has received nearly Sh58.74 billion since it sent its troops to fight the Al Shabaab militia more than 12 years ago.
Kenya formally sent about 4,660 soldiers to Somalia in October 2011 after incessant attacks and kidnapping of civilians by Al Shabaab militants within its territory, numbers which have since been gradually trimmed. 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.
The Atmis took over from Amisom on April 1, 2022, following approval from the United Nations Security Council, ending Amisom’s 15-year mission.
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The transition and drawdown mission has been mandated to work with Somali National Security Forces towards lasting peace and stability in the Horn of Africa country ravaged by civil war for more than three decades.
The mandate of the Atmis ends in December 2024 when Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Burundi, and Djibouti are expected to have withdrawn all their forces and handed over to the Somali National Security Forces.
The drawdown, overseen by the UN Security Council and AU guided by the Somalia Transition Plan, started in earnest in June last year with the five countries withdrawing 2,000 military officers.
At the time, Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia each withdrew 400 of their troops under Atmis, Burundi drew down 650 officers, while Djibouti withdrew 150 soldiers.
Kenya Defence Forces, in the book titled War for Peace: Kenya’s Military in the African Mission in Somalia, 2011-2020— published May 8, 2020 — suggested that reforming the Somali National Army to take charge of sustainable peace should be the first pillar of the AU mission’s exit plan.
The second pillar is creating a “stable, peaceful and prosperous” Jubbaland, which has had relative peace amid years of civil strife in mainland Somalia by “securing routes in Jubbaland accessible to and used by Al Shabaab”.
Soldiers in the AU-backed military mission in Somalia serve for a year which may be extended for a few months or cut short depending on the situation and the financial operations.
Earlier estimates suggested the international community pays $1,028 (about Sh133,640 under prevailing dollar conversion rates) for each soldier per month. Their respective governments then deduct about $200 (Sh26,000) for administrative costs, meaning the soldiers take home about $800 (Sh104,000).
Under the Amisom, the EU funds largely catered for allowances for the about 20,000 Amisom troops and police, international and local civilian staff salaries, and operational costs of their offices.
The United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS), on the other hand, provided logistical field support to the Amisom troops and Somali National Security Forces during joint operations.
