MALCOM LUMUMBA
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- Jul 26, 2012
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Kenyan troops stationed in Somalia are involved in a $400 million sugar-smuggling ring that also involves the militant group Al-Shabab, a report by investigative journalists in Kenya has alleged.
AFP reported that a paper, issued on Thursday by the Nairobi Journalists for Justice group, detailed how Kenyan Defence Forces (KDF) stationed in Somalia illegally tax every bag of sugar and every piece of charcoal that leaves the Somali port of Kismayo. Al-Shabab, which is based in Somalia but frequently launches attacks in Kenya, also has a sizeable stake in the racket.
The report has been dismissed by the Kenyan government, with a spokesperson calling it "absolute garbage," according to Reuters Africa.
According to the report—which the journalists said was based on interviews with U.N. officials and serving Kenyan military officers, among others—150,000 tonnes of sugar enters Kenya illegally via Kismayo each year. The racket is worth between $200 million and $400 million, the report stated, with the KDF, Al-Shabab and the administration of Jubaland—an autonomous region in southern Somalia—all having substantial stakes in the profits.
The report also alleged that KDF forces tax charcoal leaving Kismayo, and that the combined earnings from sugar and charcoal total $50 million per year. Additionally, the report accused Kenyan forces of widespread human rights violations and of conducting airstrikes in Somalia that were targeting civilians rather than Al-Shabab training camps.
"The corruption and human rights abuses undermine Kenya's goals in Somalia, provide funds and propaganda to Al-Shabab, and ultimately result in the deaths of hundreds of innocent Kenyans," the report concluded.
A spokesperson for the Kenyan army, Colonel David Obonyo, denied all the allegations and rejected the notion they were cooperating with Al-Shabab in the sugar or charcoal trade.
"How can you sit down with [Al-Shabab] one minute, and the next you are killing each other?" said Obonyo, according to AFP.
KDF forces are currently stationed in Somalia as part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which is a 22,000-strong peacekeeping mission seeking to stabilize the country and disrupt Al-Shabab's activities. Nevertheless, Al-Shabab still managed to launch an attack in April on Garissa University in Kenya, killing 148 people.
Kenyan forces invaded Somalia in 2011 and took control of Kismayo in 2012, seizing a stockpile of millions of bag of charcoal. Exports of charcoal from Somalia were banned by the U.N. in 2012 for fear that it was funding the militant group. However, a report by the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia released in October found widespread violations of the export ban.
Source: xxx NEWS WEEK EUROPE
CC: Masunga Maziku , MOTOCHINI , melkiorysaranga , Geza Ulole , FaizaFoxy , Annael
AFP reported that a paper, issued on Thursday by the Nairobi Journalists for Justice group, detailed how Kenyan Defence Forces (KDF) stationed in Somalia illegally tax every bag of sugar and every piece of charcoal that leaves the Somali port of Kismayo. Al-Shabab, which is based in Somalia but frequently launches attacks in Kenya, also has a sizeable stake in the racket.
The report has been dismissed by the Kenyan government, with a spokesperson calling it "absolute garbage," according to Reuters Africa.
According to the report—which the journalists said was based on interviews with U.N. officials and serving Kenyan military officers, among others—150,000 tonnes of sugar enters Kenya illegally via Kismayo each year. The racket is worth between $200 million and $400 million, the report stated, with the KDF, Al-Shabab and the administration of Jubaland—an autonomous region in southern Somalia—all having substantial stakes in the profits.
The report also alleged that KDF forces tax charcoal leaving Kismayo, and that the combined earnings from sugar and charcoal total $50 million per year. Additionally, the report accused Kenyan forces of widespread human rights violations and of conducting airstrikes in Somalia that were targeting civilians rather than Al-Shabab training camps.
"The corruption and human rights abuses undermine Kenya's goals in Somalia, provide funds and propaganda to Al-Shabab, and ultimately result in the deaths of hundreds of innocent Kenyans," the report concluded.
A spokesperson for the Kenyan army, Colonel David Obonyo, denied all the allegations and rejected the notion they were cooperating with Al-Shabab in the sugar or charcoal trade.
"How can you sit down with [Al-Shabab] one minute, and the next you are killing each other?" said Obonyo, according to AFP.
KDF forces are currently stationed in Somalia as part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which is a 22,000-strong peacekeeping mission seeking to stabilize the country and disrupt Al-Shabab's activities. Nevertheless, Al-Shabab still managed to launch an attack in April on Garissa University in Kenya, killing 148 people.
Kenyan forces invaded Somalia in 2011 and took control of Kismayo in 2012, seizing a stockpile of millions of bag of charcoal. Exports of charcoal from Somalia were banned by the U.N. in 2012 for fear that it was funding the militant group. However, a report by the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia released in October found widespread violations of the export ban.
Source: xxx NEWS WEEK EUROPE
CC: Masunga Maziku , MOTOCHINI , melkiorysaranga , Geza Ulole , FaizaFoxy , Annael