File | NATION
President Kibaki with the United Nations Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon at the UN headquarters in New York.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Kenya’s efforts to send troops to Somalia received a major boost after
UN boss Ban Ki-moon asked the Security Council to expand the African
Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom). The UN secretary-general lobbied the powerful council to allow
more troops join the peacekeeping force to secure parts of Somalia that
have been liberated by the Kenya military and the Transitional Federal
Government troops in Operation Linda Nchi.
A statement from the Security Council quoted Mr Ban
telling representatives of member states that the withdrawal of
insurgents from Mogadishu and their retreat from other parts of the
country following Kenya’s military operation presents an opportunity for
the international community help stabilise the country.
Mr Ban stressed the importance of Amisom being able to station
soldiers beyond Mogadishu, which requires that the force be brought to
its full strength of 12,000 troops.
The force also needs to be provided with the
necessary equipment, including air assets like helicopters, and military
engineering capabilities.
“As more territory is liberated, the federal
government must strengthen its outreach to the local population and form
new regional entities in line with the Transitional Federal Charter.
“On the military front, we must not exclude the incorporation of new forces and the expansion of Amisom,” the UN boss stated.
He added that a joint AU-UN assessment was underway and its proposal would be presented to the council.
Last week, Parliament endorsed the government’s plan to add its troops to the peacekeeping force.
Besides Kenya, Djibouti, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and
Guinea governments have expressed their desire to send their troops to
the peacekeeping force in Somalia.
Only the UN Security Council is mandated to authorise the sending of additional troops to Amisom.
Currently, only Burundi and Uganda are providing troops to the peacekeeping force.
Mr Ban also echoed an appeal by the African Union for the council to consider more financial and logistical support to Amisom.
“We must also boost our efforts to safeguard civilians and the safety of the relief supply route,” he said.