PRESS STATEMENT BY THE GOVERNMENT OF KENYA ON COMMUNIQUE OF THE SUMMIT OF AMISOM TCC’s, ETHIOPIA AND SOMALIA KAMPALA UGANDA; 3RD - 4TH AUGUST 2013 It has come to the attention of the Kenya Government that the Communiqué issued at the conclusion of the meeting Of Heads of State and Government of the AMISOM Troops Contributing Countries, and Ethiopia with Somalia in Kampala on 4th August, 2013, has elicited disturbing reaction and heightened tension within and outside Somalia. Divergent interpretations of the contents of the Communiqué by various stakeholder groups, including AMISOM troop contingents, have moreover, raised concerns among different stakeholders that are directly engaged in the ongoing war against the Al-Shabaab and the various processes aimed at pacifying and stabilizing Somalia. In view of the foregoing the Kenya Government wishes to make the following clarifications; 1. That to get the correct meaning and accurate interpretations for the purposes of implementation, the Communiqué must be read in its totality as no single paragraph or section is a standalone statement. 2. That the Communiqué is a statement of intent and provides a set of recommendations whose implementation must be based on frameworks that guarantee the strategic objective to fight and eliminate the Al-Shabaab, and the overarching imperative that threats of terrorism do not escalate. Accordingly, these imperatives demand negotiation and consensus building among all parties directly affected, based on the provisional Somali Federal Constitution. Equally, these imperatives must be firmly anchored in the Garowe Principles. 3. The Government of Kenya strongly believes that any attempt by any party to circumvent this requirement and spirit will fundamentally undermine the fragile peace and stability so far attained, inevitably leading to serious deterioration of the precarious security situation prevailing in all parts of Somalia. 4. That the key recommendations made in the Communiqué and which have raised the considerable tension being experienced in various parts of Somalia require careful sequencing of principal preconditions which must be met before any attempt is made to implement them. In this regard the Government of Kenya wishes to underscore the following: a. That leadership of the FGS in the process of producing local leaders from the regions (item 20 in the Communiqué) MUST conform to the stipulations of the Provisional Federal Constitution CHAPTER 5, and in the case of the South Central region, be informed by the outcomes of the Addis Ababa negotiations between the FGS and the interim leadership of the emergent Jubaland Federal Member State (item 23), as well as by the political processes stipulated, (items 23 and 30 of the Communiqué, respectively), b. That assumption of control of the Kismayu seaport and the airport by the Federal Government of Somalia as proffered in the Communiqué (item 15), in as far as this recommendation relates to resource sharing must be negotiated between the FGS and the leadership of the Federal Member States as provided for in the Provisional Federal Constitution, Article 54. Moreover any formulae anticipated for revenue collection and distribution, resource sharing and control of income generating assets must have equal and universal application in all Federal Member States to avoid negative sense of discrimination and lack of equity between the regions. c. The implementation of all provisions of the Communique must secure the main strategic objective of fighting and defeating the Al-Shabaab and eradicating corresponding threats directed to neighbouring countries, particularly Kenya. Signed ........................ 6th August 2013-08
Posted on: Wed, 07 Aug 2013 09:54:24 +0000