Wednesday October 6, 2021
Kenya will increase the number of police officers seconded to the Amisom to ensure stability in Somalia.
Inspector General of police Hilary Mutyambai said the stability of Somalia is good for the region in all ways, hence the need for it to be supported.
He said the seconding of officers to the Amisom has also exposed and widened the Kenyan team on their scope in policing, resulting in quality service delivery to the public.
“He (IGP) also assured them of continued support and cooperation towards achieving the mandate of the African Union,” said a statement from his office.
He spoke when he met the African Union Police Selection Assistance and Assessment Team (SAAT), which is in Nairobi.
The team has been conducting an assessment of police officers for mission service in Somalia. They thanked the IG for continued support in the AU’s mandate in conflict resolution and capacity building of the Somalia Police Force.
Police are part of the security team in Somalia trying to stabilise the country.
This comes as Kenya plans to mark a decade since Kenya Defence Forces officers moved to southern Somalia to pursue insurgents group al Shabaab after a series of kidnappings of tourists along the border.
One month later, the Kenyan government agreed to rehat its forces under the African Union Mission in Somalia.
October 14 marks the day when the troops went to Somalia under Operation Linda Nchi.
Chief of Defence Forces Gen Robert Kibochi has revealed Kenyan troops have already had a huge impact on Somalia by opening up 14 major areas initially under al Shabaab control.
The military chief explained the current formation of Amisom makes it a force and argued one cannot win a war with force only. He said they need police to carry out civilian work, which soldiers cannot do.
Gen Kibochi said Kenya and other countries are pushing to have Amisom funded by the UN. This is because one of the main donors, the European Union, has stopped supporting the mission.
This has necessitated a reconfiguration of the operations of the mission, which is likely to be done by end of this year.
The troops have degraded the terrorists’ capability to launch attacks. For instance, the CDF said unlike between 2011 and 2012 when dozens of grenades and other weapons were being smuggled from Somalia, the trend had significantly dropped.