US Gives Kenya $92.9 million Financial Aid To Fight Al-Shabaab

The US Government has given the Kenya Defence Force $92.9 million in aid this financial year to enhance the fight against Al-Shabaab.



The money will be used to buy equipment, train soldiers and support the Kenya military in Somalia and the fight against Al-Shabaab.

From this amount, about $57.7 million will go to Amisom, of which Kenya is a part. The money is for enhancing "manoeuvre and border force, counter-improvised explosive devices, intelligence and logistics".

It will also help Kenya soldiers identify and target Al-Shabaab terrorists and respond to attacks effectively. The money would also buy military aircraft.

The military said that about $18.5 million would be used to buy drones and unmanned aerial systems for spying on land and sea, while another $24.6 million would support the Kenyan Ranger Regiment.

The surveillance equipment the military is expected to buy has been described as virtually undetectable and is equipped with video cameras which can be monitored from a remote location. They also do not require a runway to launch.

According to a security assistance monitor document released on July 21, just three days ahead of the arrival of US President Barack Obama in Nairobi, this year's allocation is a 163 per cent increase compared to the $37.1 million given last year.

The security assistance monitor is part of the Centre for International Policy, which tracks and analyses US security and defence assistance worldwide by collecting publicly available government data.

The July report found that in 2010, Kenya received $23.4 million, while in 2011 and 2012, it received $22.5 million and $20.3 million respectively.

However, according to the Global Terrorism Database, there was a rapid rise in the number of terrorist attacks in the country, from 11 in 2010 to 115 in 2014.