KDF announces compensation plan for troops

Posted by CHARLES GICHANE on March 18, 2012

NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 18 – The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) has announced that compensation for troops in Somalia will be backdated to January 5, the date when the UN voted to increase the number of AMISOM troops in the war torn country.
Military Spokesman Colonel Cyrus Oguna revealed that compensation for equipment used in the war will be backdated to February 22, the date when the UN passed the resolution to allow KDF to join AMISOM.
“Within AU missions, allowances for troops is normally the responsibility of the African Union,” he stated.
“Payment for use of equipment is the responsibility of the United Nations,” he explained.
Oguna said that the 85 officers stationed at the AMISOM headquarters in Mogadishu will be headed by a Force Commander of the rank of Lieutenant General from Uganda and he’ll have two deputies in charge of operations and logistics from Kenya and Burundi.
“Out of these 85 officers, Kenya has been given 16 slots and the others have been distributed among all African countries because this is an integrated African mission,” he revealed.
The heads of intelligence and public information will be Kenyan, and Oguna added that Uganda and Burundi will deploy 12,031 soldiers, Kenya 4,664 soldiers, Djibouti 1,000 soldiers and Sierre Leone 850 soldiers.
Operation Linda Nchi, which has lasted 154 days and captured almost 20 towns spanning 95,000 square kilometres of land under Al-Shabaab rule, has allowed for normalcy, security and freedom to return to the region.
Despite the progress in Somalia, Kenyan authorities have admitted that the internal security of the country has been threatened due to the recent grenade attacks.
Parents of various youths have come out and told Kenyan Police that their children may have been lured to join Al-Shabaab in Somalia, in light of last weekend’s grenade attacks that saw 9 people killed.
Deputy police spokesman Charles Owino urged parents to report any odd behaviour or disappearance of their children to the authorities.
“We’re happy that many parents have come forward to give us information on children that they suspect are not at home and could be somewhere planning bad activities,” he said.
Owino said that the grenade attacks were meant to create division and friction between Kenyans by generating fear within the country so that citizens would protest the Kenyan military’s efforts in Somalia.
“The main objective of pelting these hand grenades was to bring an outcry from members of the public so that we could move out of Somalia and stop our war against Al-Shabaab,” he acknowledged.
“We want to thank the public for their understanding and bravery that they have shown. Despite the fact that we have lost innocent Kenyans, you are still in support because you all understand that we are fighting for the peace of our neighbours and brothers in Somalia,” he said.
Owino emphasised that the conflict with Al-Shabaab is not a war against the Islamic religion; rather it’s a war against criminals who’ve used the religion as a tool to gain supporters.