Kenya had embarked on a major diplomatic offensive to build a coalition of countries to support its military campaign in Somalia, prior to the Wednesday announcement that the country is ready to contribute troops to the African Union Mission in Somalia, Amisom, if requested. 

Since Kenya launched the campaign in October, Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula, together with Defence Minister Yusuf Haji and Internal Security Minister George Saitoti, have been on a mission to not only explain Kenya’s position, but also to persuade others to join in the coalition to stabilise Somalia.

Officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed that there have been extensive consultations, letters and special envoys sent all over the region, to support what Kenya sees as an exit strategy.

Patrick Wamoto, Political and Diplomatic Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, clarified that Kenya has expressed its willingness to contribute troops to Amisom, which they want to see take control of the liberated areas.

“Our aim was to dismantle Al Shabaab and let Amisom take over the liberated areas because they have the mandate to stabilise the entire country,” said Mr Wamoto

A meeting between Presidents Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Sheikh Sharif Ahmed of Somalia on Wednesday agreed that the Kenyan military will pursue its offensive against the militants together with troops from Amisom and the TFG. Kenya offered to deploy a few of its battalions to join Uganda, Burundi and Djibouti in Amisom.

The building of the coalition is part of a long-term project that recognises that the post-incursion period will be crucial and that the defeat of Al Shabaab must be followed by an elaborate programme for political settlement that could stabilise Somalia for the first time in 20 years. 

“This is an historical moment and an opportunity for the international community to make progress in Somalia for the first time. What Kenya suggested is so far merely an offer, but it is an open invitation for any country willing to put its troops at the disposal of Amisom to do so,” said Mr Wamoto.

On Monday, diplomats from countries contributing troops to Amisom had a closed-door meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to discuss the way forward. Among the issues discussed were future political dialogue, security and military operations in Somalia.

The diplomats from Uganda and Burundi, Djibouti, Kenya and Ethiopia, also discussed a UN resolution on maintaining the mission until October 2012, by which time Somalia is expected to have held elections.

This was preceded by a meeting of defence ministers from countries contributing troops to Somalia. On Thursday, Mr Wetangula flew to Morocco to brief an Arab League meeting about Kenya’s incursion into Somalia.

The entire region is aware that even though Amisom and TFG have managed to take control of 98 per cent of Mogadishu, the two forces are already stretched and are incapable of fully securing the liberated areas.

That is why the Kenya Defence Forces, which started the campaign with rapid advances, are now camped outside Afmadow, a town 105 km inside Somalia and near Kismayu.

Equally, there has been no major forward movements of the troops attacking from the south, who are now operating around Ras Kamboni.

The proposed Kenyan contribution to Amisom, accompanied by airpower, is part of phase two of the mission to stabilise Somalia, even though there has been debate whether Amisom can move out of Mogadishu without having a fresh mandate.

There are also discussions on bringing the entire Kenyan force in Somalia under the AU banner, because two international forces — the Kenyan army and Amisom — operating separately in Somalia is likely to cause some confusion.

According to Amison spokesperson Paddy Ankunda, the mission’s mandate allows it to liberate the entire country.

“Liberating Mogadishu and its environs is Phase 1 of the operation.

In Phase 2, Amisom will move out to areas of Marka, Kismayu and Baidoa and to the rest of the country,” he said.

But for Amisom to effect the next phase, the mission must have air power, maritime assets, increased combat engineer capability and more troops.

Currently, it comprises 9,600 Ugandan and Burundian troops, but to fully secure Mogadishu, Amisom needs 12,000, while they need a total of 20,000 men to move out to the rest of the country.

However, the Security Council will have to give approval for the troops to reach 20,000.

The biggest challenge for Amisom has been lack of troops and as a result, Al Shabaab gets time to reorganise itself and carry out hit-and-run attacks.

Lack of funding has been one of the main reasons discouraging other countries from sending troops to Somalia.

The mission has a funding gap of $10 million.

The AU mission had a budget of $472 million in 2011, but most of the money is taken up by wages, transport and operational costs. Each Amisom soldier earns $1,028 per month.