The European Union (EU) will soon disburse over $200 million to the African Union forces based in Somalia. This came after negotiations between the two parties.
An agreement was signed on Thursday for EU to release funds to be used for paying allowances to the Amison soldiers in Somalia. Their allowance arrears had accumulated for the last 9 months.
The Amison in Somalia has civilian staff, troops and police working for them. Their operational and logistics costs will be covered by this new funding. The money has come at the right time when Somalia is preparing for elections and as a result the fight against the extremists has to intensify.
The Amison in Somalia is a costly affair since $500 million is required every year to run its operations. Despite receiving the funding from EU, it still faces lots of uncertainty.
EU has always been one of the largest financiers of Amison in Somalia since its inception in 2007. The mission was established to deal with the extremists in Somalia. As a result EU remits Ksh 224 million every month to support the mission’s operations. Over half of this funding is used to pay for allowances and salaries for staff and police forces.
Amison in Somalia is made up of 22,000 soldiers who receive $1,028 per month. The Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) personnel’s allowances are deducted $200 per month as administration fee.
Lack of adequate funding for the Amison in Somalia affects the morale of soldiers on the ground and office civilian staff. KDF contributes 3,664 soldiers to make up the 22,000 strong troops who are helping to bring stability to the war torn Somalia.
Other countries contribute the following number of Soldiers towards Amison in Somalia:
- Uganda – 6,223
- Burundi – 5,432
- Ethiopia – 4,395
- Djibouti – 2,000.
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