|
2023-05-22 Africa Horn
|
|
Ahead of withdrawal from Somalia, KDF builds 14 bases along common border
|
[Garowe] The Kenya Defense Forces [KDF] has established 14 Forward Operating Bases [FOBs] along the common border with Somalia, just a few weeks before the official down-scaling of the African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS] kicks off in compliance with Somali Transition Plan [STP].
This, insiders say, is a strategy to boost security along the border ahead of strategic exit from the Horn of Africa nation, where KDF has been part of the peacekeeping mission for the last decade. The FOBs will play a critical role during and after the exit, Defence Minister Aden Duale says.
"We are fully committed that when the drawdown from the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS] comes, we are secure as a country by ensuring that when al-Shabaab
 ...... the personification of Somali state failure...
feels the heat of the Somalia Security Forces they don’t come to find refuge in Kenya."
"Our military has a conspicuous presence along the borderline to ensure that Kenyans are secure," Duale said.
As part of stabilizing Somalia, the drawdown of soldiers was agreed by Troops Contributing Countries after a conference in Uganda last month which brought together various regional leaders and stakeholders among them the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
[EU] and United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
who are key financiers of the mission.
Duale made the remarks when he appeared before the Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee to defend the ministry budget for the Financial Year 2023/24. He said KDF will continue to undertake critical roles in the stabilization process.
According to him, the Ministry of Defence has a tradition of being cost-effective and doing projects within the shortest time possible, saying the ministry remains committed to undertaking government projects in support of civil authorities.
To facilitate ongoing modernization and expansion of KDF, Duale has asked parliament to approve proposed budgetary allocations. He further implored the politicians to provide the necessary funding to enable recruitment before the end of 2023, an exercise that has not been done for the last two years owing to budgetary constraints, The Star reports.
"We constructed Ulinzi Complex in a record 18 months. Uhuru Gardens, which we supervised its construction shall be handed over by December this year."
"We are supervising the construction of Embu Stadium, which shall host this year’s Madaraka Day celebrations. We shall be ready to supervise any project which we shall do with military precision within the shortest time possible and without wastage of resources," he said.
Duale told the committee that MoD leadership is doing an analysis to see whether it’s viable to make the Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies [SAGAS] domiciled in the Ministry independent government parastatals.
"The Ministry has three SAGAS and are chaired by the sitting Chief of Defence Forces [CDF] and Service Commanders. In the next 60 days, we shall have a mechanism to see whether they shall be independent SAGAS with their own budget to ensure that none of our Generals faces litigation," Duale said.
Last week, Kenya agreed to open her common borders with Somalia in three phases, an exercise which will take place within the next 90 days. The two countries agreed on some basics of the fight against al-Shabaab, including having joint patrols along the mostly non-existent border. 
|
Posted by trailing wife 2023-05-22 00:00||
||
Front Page|| [16 views ]
Top
|
|
Posted by ed in texas 2023-05-22 09:11||
2023-05-22 09:11||
Front Page
Top
|
|
06:44 Grom the Reflective
06:42 MikeKozlowski
06:42 Besoeker
06:41 NN2N1
06:40 MikeKozlowski
06:38 MikeKozlowski
06:38 Besoeker
06:38 NN2N1
06:37 Besoeker
06:35 MikeKozlowski
06:23 NN2N1
06:16 Procopius2k
06:14 Procopius2k
06:11 Procopius2k
06:08 NN2N1
05:14 NN2N1
04:45 Grom the Reflective
04:37 Grom the Reflective
04:34 Grom the Reflective
02:01 Angealing+B.+Hayes4677
01:34 Angealing+B.+Hayes4677
00:55 Besoeker
|
