Kenya to establish KSh7bn peace-keeping fund
Kenya will establish KSh7 billion peace-keeping fund following delays in refunds from the United Nations for several missions abroad
Kenya will establish KSh7 billion peace-keeping fund following delays in refunds from the United Nations for several missions abroad.
The National Peace Support Operations Fund has been established for peacekeeping missions by regulations released by Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u.
The fund’s initial capital would be Sh7 billion; Sh1 billion will come from an appropriation from the National Assembly, while the remaining Sh6 billion will come from reimbursements from the various peacekeeping missions.
“The object and purpose of the fund shall be to provide funds to support the participation in Peace Support Operations by the Kenya Defence Forces, the National Police Service, or any other organization in accordance with Article 240 (8)(a) of the Constitution,” reads the Public Finance Management (National Peace Support Operations Fund) Regulations, 2022.
The UN is meant to reimburse Kenya for its contribution to peace operations, but since it takes so long, the government has been left footing the cost.
As a result of the creation of the kitty, the Ministry of Defense’s budget will decrease from Sh133.9 billion in the fiscal year 2021/22 to Sh128.4 billion in the current fiscal year, which ends in June, ensuring that such delays do not put financial pressure on the national government.
The money from the fund will be used to create equipment parks, places where the Defense Council, the fund’s top decision-making body, has determined that equipment and other assets for the peacekeeping mission can be kept.
Money from the fund will also be used to acquire training facilities and infrastructure, funding of capacity building programme including training.
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The money from the kitty will also finance research, monitoring, and evaluation of activities related to the peace-keeping mission.
The Ministry of Defence says on its website that with each deployment, Kenya spends significant amounts of money preparing troops, maintaining readiness, and deploying expensive equipment to support given mandates.
Although the UN is expected to reimburse Kenya for authorized missions, the Ministry adds, such resources may not be immediately available especially due to the fact that they may not have been budgeted for in advance.
“The AMISOM deployment was one such case due to the protracted nature of reimbursements negotiations,” said the ministry.
The Kenyan forces joined the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in 2012, teaming up with troops from Uganda, Burundi, and Djibouti in the fight against the terror group Al Shabaab.
Currently, Kenya is in 10 countries for peace-keeping missions.
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