President Uhuru Kenyatta has reportedly warned that the country could withdraw the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) peacekeeping troops from Somalia.
During a Friday meeting with the United Nations (UN) envoys, the President complained about the international community cutting funding to African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) adding that the gap created would not be filled by countries participating in the Mission.
“As one of Amisom’s major troop contributing countries, Kenya is questioning whether it was worth the huge cost. Kenyatta asserted that Amisom was not getting the support it needed in terms of resources and equipment, and argued that the UN needed to take on a much greater role,” A UN Security Council Report was quoted by the Nation.
As per the document, the Head of State stated that the best solution to the financial deadlock would be for Kenya to withdraw its forces out of the war-torn country.
“Referring to the recent cuts in European Union support, he said it was not Kenya’s role to close the funding gap and the logical conclusion would be for Kenya to pull out its troops,” part of the report declared.
Mr Kenyatta also defended KDF from previous allegations of involvement in illegal activities such as smuggling of sugar and charcoal in Somalia, saying that if people did not appreciate what they were doing, there was no reason for them to stay.
The Amison Mission is carried out by soldiers from African countries but is largely funded by international organisations. Earlier this year, EU reduced its contribution to the soldiers to Sh224 Million but the operation supposedly requires Sh300 Million every month.
