A latest United Nations report published on the Kenyan dailies has revealed that the country's defense forces in Somalia are receiving cash to allow illicit exports of charcoal from a key port that is under their control.
The publication indicated that Kenyan troops assigned to African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) charge up to Sh200 per bag of charcoal that is loaded at the port of Kismayu, citing evidence from charcoal industry and non-governmental organizations sources.
"Kenyan contingent of Amisom peace keepers continue to play a substantial role in illicit exports of charcoal from Somaliland," disclosed the 247-page report.
The report further estimated that approximately six million bags of charcoal are been exported each year from Kismayu and Buur Gaabo ports that lie adjacent to the Kenyan military base.
With the disclosure, the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) units may have reaped as much as Sh1.2 billion a year from the charcoal exports that were banned by the UN Security Council in the year 2012 in an attempt to cut off funding for the Al-Shabaab insurgent groups.