PS for Foreign Affairs Mr Kamau Macharia.[Photo/Linkdin]
Kenya’s cash crisis has been eased by the The United Nations with a Sh1.9 billion refund for money spent by its troops fighting Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia.
The Treasury documents show that the payment was done last month, and accounts for a third of this year’s total refunds of Sh6.1 billion.
The reimbursement is scheduled quarterly and the Treasury had received Sh906 million in the five months to November pushing total refunds for the first half to Sh2.7 billion.
The refund is expected to ease budgetary hindrance for a government whose revenue collection for first five months to November is behind targets by Sh52.6 billion, setting the stage for further budget cuts.
Nearly 4,000 Kenyan soldiers are part of African Union Mission to Somalia (Amisom) and the international community provides $1,028 (Sh103,828) for each Amisom soldier a month.Their respective governments then deduct about $200 (Sh20,200) for administrative costs meaning the soldiers take home about $800 (Sh83,628).
The funds are only released to Amisom by the UN once accounts from the previous payment are signed off.
Kenya has in the past used its ambassador to the UN, Macharia Kamau, to demand the reimbursements, saying that failure to refund was “unacceptable”.