Former Director of Military Intelligence disputes KDF charcoal and sugar accusations.

I knew the researcher well and had been with him twice in Kampala in 2011 and 2012. This was during a round table conference on regional security issues under Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE).

During the said conferences, Uganda Peoples Defence Forces [UPDF] were praised for their gallant adventure in leading the way in the 2007 incursion into Somalia. KDF was always equally praised in strengthening Amisom in Somalia.

The regional security conferences in Juba, South Sudan, in 2013 and Musanze, Rwanda, in 2014 and Kenya in 2015 all had no adverse reports on Amisom contingents in Somalia.

Ambassador George Ward, while writing his report, had apparently not been to Somalia but based his report on The UN Report on Somalia of Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea in pursuant to resolution 751[1992] and 1907 [2009].

The Kenyan government challenged the legitimacy of the report through the official diplomatic channels.

The UN “experts” comprising Jorat Chapra, Lee Brudenell, Emmanuel Deisser, Aurelien, Llorca, Dinesh Mahtani, Jorg Roofhooft, Babatunde Taiwo and Kristele Youness compiled the report after UN contracted them over a long period.

The group claimed, “Monitoring group encountered a degree of unwillingness on the part of KDF to clarify its status”.

The group also claimed that “Ras Kamboni Forces prevented the task force delegation from leaving Kismayo Airport and that the task force was effectively stillborn.”

Hence, in what appeared as a frustrated effort to justify their huge payments, the group ended with 487 page of mixture of uncoordinated, illogical reports, amateur pictures and unauthorised documents, press releases and comments put together into a mess of a report acceptable only by UN officials who were unable to go through such a lengthy document.

The media was selective in quoting the document while others like Journalists for Justice are still propagating some details from the trashed report.

With my regional experience and passion for the Force I have served, I felt compelled to establish the source of KDF accusations in Somalia without any bias or influence from others.

I visited Somalia and specifically made a tour of Kismayo International Airport, the town, the Port and surrounding areas.

I made a courtesy call to President Ahmed Mohamed Islam, the leader of Interim Juba Administration in November 2014 at State House, Kismayo.

I also met General Mohamed Warsame Farah (Darwish), Minister of Interior and Security to get their views concerning the accusations against KDF and at the same time seeking for administration nominees to attend our Amisom coordinated training.

I met and interviewed many local citizens and businessmen in Kismayo and had a chance to meet officials of Kismayo University led by the Rector Prof. A/Kadir Sheikh Mohamed and Mohamed Abdi Farah, the public relations officer.

I talked to the only port captain who handles all ships at Kismayo Port and had an opportunity to consult Col David McNavin US Army Ret and Former Chief Kenya /US Liaison Officer in Nairobi who had been mentioned in UN Monitors Report and familiar with Kismayo area.

He had no information on any adverse activities by KDF.

Riaan Slabbert, a South African of Atlentean Camp in Kismayo, was happy with his camp relations and operational activities with KDF. I interviewed the Amisom Leadership of Kismayo Sector Command and the soldiers.

I did consultancy for IGAD and later I had the opportunity in June 2015 to discuss issues with Amisom Commander Lt Gen Jonathan Rono in Mogadishu, accompanied by Prof Samuel Nyanchoga, a colleague from our volunteer academic team, formed to assist Somali government officials in capacity building.

My corroborated findings and obvious facts have since established that KDF has been in Somalia under Amisom in war against al Shabaab.

The accusations against them are a war of words and propaganda meant to tarnish the good its professional image by enemies of the country and Somalia to benefit financially in exploitation of the situation in Somalia.

When Kismayo fell to KDF in September of 2012, stockpiles of charcoal were trapped in Jubaland accumulated during the port control by Al Shabaab militants.

The new administration took control of the Port supported by KDF who provided security of the airport and the port. Mounting pressure on the administration from business community prompted the administration to request the UN to officially allow for some of the charcoal to be exported. The UN granted the authority for the business community to dispose some of the charcoal through monitored export.

The charcoal stockpiles lined along most of the roads leading to both the airport and the port of Kismayo. These heaps of charcoal posed a major security concern to KDF as al Shabaab used them as hideouts and ambush defensive obstacles.

KDF requested the administration for removal of the heaps from the vicinity of the roads for better security. KDF was not involved in any export of the charcoal, which they did.

The UN monitors had no documents signed by any KDF personnel consigning the exports to any consignees.

Sugar has been cheaper in Somalia at Kismayo than it has always been in Kenya. Somalis are shroud businessmen known for their international business acumen and endowment. There is no doubt that cheaper sugar in Kismayo will always find its way into Kenya through the porous border.

The recent Journalists for Justice Report released by John Githongo has been highly damaging. The report was done without ground verification in Somalia.

Sources were claimed to be serving Kenya military officers, UN officials and Western intelligence agencies but in actual sense the originators of the report appear to be relying on extracts from the controversial UN Monitors Report challenged before by the Kenyan government.

Exaggeration of the number of vehicles travelling weekly from Kismayo to Kenya as 230 is false because this translates into 77 trucks daily.

Somalia does not have forest cover to support the claims of the quantities of charcoal indicated. The UN Report indicated the United Nations Support Office for Amisom (UNSOA) had major contracts for supply of charcoal from the local suppliers for use by Amisom.

KDF is modern force, which does not use charcoal. They use environmental friendly Defkitch, a modern award-winning diesel cooker.

It is inconceivable that at war you will sit with the enemy to share any loot.

I am not aware of any new KDF mission to curb smuggling activities either in Kenya or in Somalia.

KDF has been ranked among the most disciplined and best-trained forces in the world and is considered one of the strongest militaries in the world according to “Global fire power Military”.

Kenya was ranked 8th in Africa before the recent modernisation of equipment. KDF need not be compared with others on discipline as they remain simply the best.

As a part-time Lecturer in political science at various university colleges, international peace support center and national defence college, I formed a team of six Adventurous volunteer scholars with some PhD holders and PhD candidates to assist Somalis through capacity training project on various areas the team was best qualified.

They were to look at safety and security, public policy and governance, women and children rights, democratization and electioneering, environmental conservation, community and NGO collaboration for sustainable development among others.

Major Gen[Rtd] Charles Mwanzia is a professional safety and security expert and aviation air traffic management specialist and retired director of military intelligence KDF and commandant defence staff college.Email: cmmwanzia@yahoo.com