The Kenyan government has spoken on the withdrawal of Kenyan troops, Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) from Somalia.
Under the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), KDF was deployed to Somalia years ago to rid the country of Al-Shabaab capture.
Defence CS Dr Monicah Juma while speaking at the British Army Training Unit in Nanyuki (BATUK) on Tuesday said the decision to withdraw Kenyan troops from Somalia must be ratified but the UN Security Council.
She maintained that all Amisom operations are not bound by any bilateral agreements.
“The withdrawal is the mandate of the African Union which is the authorizing agency. It is not us to decide when to get in or out,” she said according to the Star.
She spoke as Somalia federal government lifted an earlier ban of miraa from Kenya.
Through Somalia’s finance Minister Dr Abdirahman Dualeh Baileh, Kenyan entities selling miraa to Somalia must obtain import licenses.
They will have to pay a duty fee to obtain the import license.
Somalia banned miraa imports from Kenya a year ago. Desperate miraa farmers from Meru had to look for alternative market in Djibouti which was not as favourable as that of Somalia.
Following the news, miraa farmers in Igembe are upbeat that their financial status will improve following the lifting of the miraa ban.
