Traders sell charcoal in Kismayu in May. Illicit trade in charcoal
facilitated by Kenyan troops in Kismayu, Somalia is producing
significant revenues for the al-Shabaab, a team of United Nations
monitors say in a report published on July 17, 2013. FILE
NATION MEDIA GROUP
Friday, July 19, 2013
Illicit trade in charcoal facilitated by Kenyan troops in
Kismayu, Somalia is producing significant revenues for the al-Shabaab, a
team of United Nations monitors say in a report published on Wednesday.
Along with its local allies and in collaboration
with al-Shabaab militants, the KDF has been exporting charcoal from the
port of Kismayu for the past several months "in flagrant violation of
the Security Council ban," the report says.
Kenyan forces' involvement in the charcoal trade
began soon after the KDF drove Shabaab out of Kismayu last September,
according to the UN experts.
Working in cooperation with Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed
Islam “Madobe” and his Ras Kamboni militia, the KDF has helped export
about one million sacks of charcoal per month, the report states.
"Al-Shabaab, its commercial partners and networks
remain central to the business locally and internationally," the UN
monitors find.
They estimate that the charcoal trade is bringing
Shabaab even more than the $25 million a year it was making prior to the
KDF takeover of Kismayu.
"Overall, the charcoal exports have increased by
140 per cent in comparison to previous years," the report states,
reiterating that "the charcoal business architecture and trade networks
remain intact, with al-Shabaab maintaining a central role and continuing
to benefit significantly."
"Essentially, with the changeover of power in
Kismayu, the shareholding of the charcoal trade at the port was divided
into three between al-Shabaab, Ras Kamboni and Somali Kenyan businessmen
cooperating with the KDF," the report adds.
The Kenyan military has rejected the UN allegations.
If accurate, the monitors' study suggests that
Kenyan troops are indirectly helping sustain Shabaab as a fighting force
that in the past has killed Kenyan soldiers.
Despite serious setbacks inflicted by the KDF and
the African Union military mission in Somalia (Amisom), a Shabaab force
of about 5000 fighters remains "arguably intact in terms of operational
readiness, chain of command, discipline and communication capabilities,"
the monitors say.
They add that KDF units in southern Somalia are continuing at times to operate independently of Amisom.
The Kenyan government and the African Union signed
an agreement over a year ago stipulating that Kenyan troops would
formally integrate into Amisom's command-and-control structures.
As of last February, however, the monitoring group
"continued to receive corroborating reports indicating that the
operational presence of KDF in Amisom was more theoretical than
practical," the report says.
The monitors say they observed KDF personnel
failing to wear the African Union/Amisom insignia of a
troop-contributing country in Somalia.
In addition, the KDF has been carrying out
"unauthorised air strikes in Somalia," the report alleges, citing aerial
attacks on Jungal village last July.
Early this year, Colonel Cyrus Oguna, a spokesman
for the Kenyan forces in Somalia, "confirmed that KDF had conducted more
air strikes in the Gedo region," the report notes.
The UN Security Council has not approved an air
component of Amisom other than a fleet of three attack helicopters and
nine utility helicopters, the monitors point out.
"However," they add, "before and after integrating
into Amisom, the government of Kenya has continued to deploy the Kenya
Air Force in Somalia, potentially violating the arms embargo" imposed by
the UN.
Relations between Kenya and Somalia's federal
government have been roiled by a number of factors, including the KDF's
and the Ras Kamboni militia's move to "unilaterally" begin exporting
charcoal, the report says.
"The explicit instructions of President Hassan
Sheikh to Amisom to keep the port of Kismayu closed and prevent the
export of charcoal have been consistently flouted by KDF/Amisom," the
monitors report.
In addition, the UN group says it "has established
that the Sector 2 commander of KDF, Brigadier Anthony M. Ngere, and his
subordinates in Kismayu, in combination with the Ras Kamboni militia,
have routinely denied clearance for government of Somalia officials
visiting Kismayu."
Tensions between Nairobi and Mogadishu could be
further exacerbated by a dispute over maritime boundaries between the
two countries, the report adds.
Demarcation of the respective areas of control has
consequences for the extent to which Kenya and Somalia may benefit from
offshore exploitation of oil and gas deposits.
The report includes an acknowledgment of Kenya's cooperation with the research conducted by the UN team.
"The Monitoring Group would like to express its
sincerest gratitude to the government of Kenya for hosting its presence
at the United Nations Office at Nairobi and facilitating its work and
investigations," the report says.