‘It’s normal practice,’ PS Sing’Oei clarifies Kenya's Ksh.2.1B spending on Haiti mission

Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Principal Secretary Dr. Korir Sing’Oei has downplayed concerns by Kenyans following the government’s spending Ksh.2.1 billion on the Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti.

Dr Sing’Oei who spoke on Citizen TV’s JKLive Show on Wednesday said there was no need for alarm since the money spent would be refunded later by the United Nations.

The PS argued that the Ksh.2.1 billion spent by the government would act as a Trust Fund to enable the mission to kick off, as the United Nations Security Council, which is leading the mission mobilises resources for the same.

He referred to the just-concluded DR Congo security mission by the Kenya Defence Forces saying that Kenya made initial payments towards the operation before the African Union came in.

“This is the normal practice when we sent a deployment to DRC; Kenya underwrote a great deal of that money until we got money from the African Union Peace Fund in the same manner, the multi-national security support Mission to Haiti is a UN-mandated mission,” he explained.

“The financing mechanism for it is what we are called Trust Fund which basically enables countries to make a contribution to this fund.”

He added, “This is what happens in the normal course of business around peacekeeping and peace enforcement because the resources are never quite available at the get-go and yet the deployment has to take place because we have to deal with immediate security needs that have been identified.”

PS Sing’Oei echoed Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi’s sentiments that the UN is supposed to reimburse the money noting that the billions spent should not be counted as loss for the nation.

According to Sing’Oei, several countries had already made their contribution to the peace support mission and it was just a matter of time before the Ksh.2.2 billion was reimbursed to the government.

“Several countries have already made contributions to this Fund and so it is really a matter of accounting here, the resources will certainly be reimbursed to Kenya the way National Treasury CS has said so there is no actual loss to the country,” he said.

The treasury revealed that Kenya on Sept 18th this year spent Ksh.2.1 billion on the Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti, despite an earlier commitment that no taxpayer money would be used to fund the peace mission.

A letter from the Treasury to the National Assembly, seen by Citizen Digital, revealed that the National Treasury spent a total of Ksh.17.6 billion under Article 223, which allows the government to spend funds without parliamentary approval. Of this amount, Ksh.2 billion was directed to support Kenya’s peacekeeping mission in Haiti.

When contacted for clarification, Treasury CS John Mbadi explained that the funds spent by Kenya would be reimbursed by the United Nations.

“This money we are spending on behalf of the UN, we are the ones making the payment so the money comes from our exchequer because these are our officers,” he said.

He underscored that the Haitian mission is led by the UN Security Council and that the USA is just a member of the Council thus there would not be any substantial effect of Trump’s victory.

“The multi-national mission is in Haiti pursuant to a UN Security Council resolution. The USA is just one member of the UN Security Council and that resolution received the endorsement of the council and its entirety therefore one cannot say merely because there is going to be a change of guard in the US, that the MSS will not be supported,” he explained.