Kenya’s National Assembly speaker Justine Muturi has slammed the US
accusing the superpower of rejecting a bid to declare al Shabaab a terror
group.
According to the Speaker, the move by Americans serves to embolden the group to the extent of making them considered for financial assistance by foreign organizations.
Kenya has is seeking the European Union’s support to have Al Shabaab listed
as a terrorist organization under the United Nations Resolution 1267 of 1999.
It comes in the wake of an upsurge
in attacks claimed by the group, including an attack in January on a hotel in
Nairobi that killed 21 people, including aid and development workers.
The assertion was however immediately discounted by US Ambassador to Kenya Kyle McCarter who said the US government has never failed to declare and categorize the Somalia militants as a terror grouping.
According to McCarter, the US supported the United Nations resolution No.
751 which declare al Shabaab a terrorist group, denying allegations made by the
Speaker.
The US envoy, however, said the US was not comfortable with Kenya’s request
to cut off all humanitarian support to war-torn Somalia.
Such a move means humanitarian groups operating in Somalia would no longer
benefit from an exemption that keeps their work in compliance with existing
sanctions.
The humanitarian group says if the proposal is approved, it could “exacerbate the dire humanitarian situation and put hundreds of thousands if not millions of people at grave risk.” It is estimated that about 2.2 million people in Somalia are in crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity through September.
By Hussein Jama
October 7, 2019
