Kenya committed to ideals of peaceful Somalia – Kindiki

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki with Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud at the Extraordinary Summit of the troop contributing countries to the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) at State House, Entebbe, Uganda/DPCS

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has insisted that Kenya remains committed to the ideals of a peaceful Somalia.

Speaking after the Extraordinary Summit of the troop contributing countries to the African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) held in Uganda, Kindiki said Kenya will do its part to ensure the mission achieves the intended success.

He went on to say that the stability of Somalia affects that of the entire region of Eastern Africa.

The DP said this is the reason all troop contributing countries are determined to defeat al Shabaab and other violent extremists to ensure the full realisation of peace, security and stability in Somalia.

“Kenya remains committed to the ideals of a peaceful Somalia and will do its part to ensure success of AUSSOM and the disruption of terrorist support networks in the region. A stable, secure Somalia has direct consequences on peace and security for Kenya and Eastern Africa,” Kindiki said.

The troop contributing countries leaders met at State House in Entebe, Uganda where they were hosted by President Yoweri Museveni.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (Somalia), Prime Ministers Abdoulkadir Kamil Mohamed (Djibouti), Dr. Mostafa Madbouly (Egypt), Aisha Mohammed Mussa (Minister of Defence, Ethiopia) were present as well as Ministers and other senior officials from the troops contributing countries.

During the Extraordinary Summit, the leaders stressed the importance of addressing operational shortfalls through the provision of adequate and sustainable funding.

“The Summit reiterated the call to consider the provision of additional resources from the African Union Peace Fund to cater for the shortfalls currently affecting African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia following the due process,” a joint communique reads in part.

The leaders urged the African Union Commission (AUC) to mobilise resources to support AUSSOM.

They reiterated the need to increase the troops by at least 8,000 to address the prevailing security situation in Somalia, so as not to roll back the hard-earned gains made so far.

“The Summit stressed the urgent need to consider deploying bilateral troops to augment AUSSOM and SSF taking into consideration the current security situation in the country.”