Kenyan troops assigned to the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) are profiting from the illegal charcoal trade which is devasting Somalia’s environment, the UN group says, citing illegal”charcoal industry and non-governmental organisations sources’.
The report estimates that up to six million bags of charcoal have been exported annually from Kismayo. Along with the criminal entities, kenya is Burning down the country they are meant to be helping as part of the AU mission.
Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) units may thus have reaped as much as $12 million (Sh1.2bn) a year from charcoal exports banned by the UN Security Council in 2012 in an effort to cut off funding for Al-Shabaab.
“The Kenyan contingent of Amisom continues to play a substantial role in the illicit export of charcoal from Somalia,” the UN monitoring group declares in its 247-page report.
Amisom has not replied to a request that the UN group made nine months ago for information on steps to prevent charcoal exports and ensure compliance by countries contributing troops to the AU mission.
A recent unspecified document estimated that a staggering 40% of Somalia’s forests has been devastated by defrostation, and if this illegal deforestation continues in the same rate the jubba region could soon be the jubba desert.
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