MPs support Sh19bn budget for Kenya soldiers

The military has received parliamentary backing for the Sh19.2 billion additional money, the bulk of it –Sh14.7 billion-- to bankroll the Kenyan troops operating in Somalia.

Although the Kenyan forces are in Somalia under the Africa Union Mission in Somalia, Parliament’s Defence and Foreign Relations Committee has said that the troops are getting their “mission subsistence allowance” from Nairobi.

“The Ministry of State for Defence will be expected to pay the allowance to the troops and thereafter seek re-imbursement for the amount paid from the AU/UN system,” the MPs noted in their report.

Military equipment –the armoured personnel carriers, artillery and motor systems, communication gadgets, ammunition—will take Sh12.5 billion of the Operation Linda Nchi budget. The Kenya Army, the Kenya Airforce and the Kenya Navy, will go with Sh2.2 billion under an item called “pol & ration”.

The MPs have also agreed with the Sh78 million allocation for the purchase of drugs, and the Sh20 million allocation for specialised military treatment.

The money, the MPs said, will then be surrendered to the Treasury as a revenue line.

The MPs have also roped the military in the tax-exempt class, as they have agreed that Sh4.1 billion will be used to “cushion the members of the Kenya Defence Forces from taxation of monetised allowance in the financial year 2012/13”.

The lawmakers have also set aside Sh1 billion for “emergency security operations”.

“It is important to note that this operation has reached a critical stage where it has to be sustained despite our forces having been rehatted to AMISOM,” said the committee in its report.

The military had asked the Treasury for Sh3 billion for “the maintenance and sustenance of the KDF troops deployed along the Kenya-Somali border on the Kenyan side for close and rear operations”. But the Treasury only agreed to giving the role Sh1 billion.

“The amount provided will not be adequate to sustain the rear operations,” the MPs noted.

The military has also asked for Sh9.45 billion for “military modernisation programme”. The Treasury had only allocated Sh6.65 billion. While the allocation looks meagre, the MPs are happy with it and they insist that the full request be granted.

“This amount will go a long way in improving the military capability in firepower to tackle the existing and emerging security threats in the region,” the committee added.

The money, the MPs said is required urgently to ensure that the military equipment is in the “highest state of serviceability” that meets “pre-determined United Nations standards so as to accrue maximum reimbursement”.

“The UN will also require that the ministry provides to AMISOM other equipment which are not available at the moment, due to inadequate funding and the ministry is obligated to procure and avail (sic) the same,” the MPs added in the report.

The committee said that it is desirable that the balance of Sh2.8 billion be allocated.

An upgrade of the Microwave Communication Network is also in the works. This is a joint project of the military, the National Security Intelligence Service and the Communication Commission of Kenya.

“It will be in the interest of the government to fund this migration so that the surrendered frequencies can be commercialised,” the committee added.