THE
UN Security Council will on Wednesday be briefed of the Somali
monitoring report which blames Kenya Defence Forces of facilitating a
banned multibillion charcoal export business in Kismayu port city.
The report whose contents have been reported by Reuters will be
tabled by Korean chair Kim Sook in New York. The report was due for
presentation last Friday according to the UNSC programme.
Resolution 2036 of 2012 imposed a ban on the direct or indirect
import of charcoal from Somalia as one of the ways of financially
crippling the al Shaabab militants who were running the port.
“All member states shall take the necessary measures to prevent the
direct or indirect import of charcoal from Somalia, whether or not such
charcoal originated in Somalia. Somali authorities shall take the
necessary measures to prevent the export of charcoal from Somalia,” it
said.
But the report which Sook will be presenting KDF of not only abetting
the export business but also expanding it. It says KDF resorted to
abetting the export business after the UNSC failed to lift the ban
following a request by the African Union.
The report shows the thrust of KDF arguments in supporting the AU
position on the charcoal ban was that angry charcoal dealers could have
undermined its presence in Kismayu.
“Instead, it was far more likely that exporting charcoal would
exacerbate clan tensions and resource interests, leading to much
broader conditions of conflict. And this is precisely what subsequently
occurred,” Reuters quoted the report as saying.
Last month, fierce fighting erupted in Kismayu between rival militias
over control of the city. The fighting happened after Ahmed Madobe,
the leader of the Ras Kamboni militia, became the leader of the
Jubaland region (which includes Kismayu) in May.
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