KDF remains tightlipped on amount of much-needed compensation for injuries

By Standard Reporter

KDF has remained tight lipped on the amount of compensation the families are supposed to receive. Despite frequently seeking feedback from the military on the care of injured soldiers and compensation for injuries to the next of kin for fatalities, the military has not given a clear response.

“We have received your email and request for information regarding compensation of our injured soldiers. Although you have given us a short notice, we will try our best and will respond to you as soon as we can,” says an email response we received from the military spokesperson, Colonel Willi Wesonga, last week.

Early this week, Col Wesonga said he was still consulting with his seniors about our request. By the time of going to press, we were still waiting for a detailed response on the issue of compensation.

Some families have confided to The Standard on Sunday that they do not know the amount of money they are supposed to receive. “After I complained (about compensation), I was able to get some amount but I did not receive a similar amount that fellow widows received,” Ms Bernice Washo, the widow of Captain Willy Njoroge of 1st Kenya Rifles, says. Bernice is unemployed and has three young children. The eldest is in class six.

Most of the countries contributing to the African Union Mission to Somalia (Amisom) do not spell out the compensation figures.

The rules for reimbursement to states providing equipment, personnel or support services to a UN peacekeeping operation are provided in the 2011 Contingent Owned Equipment (COE) Manual adopted by the UN General Assembly. According to the United Nations, the “dissemination of exact casualty statistics is solely the responsibility of the African Union and the individual troop contributing countries”. When we requested for specific compensation details, Amisom officials referred us to the Kenya Ministry of Defence or Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).

“Issues of deaths and injuries are left to the contributing countries,” Elo Yao, an Amisom spokesperson, told The Standard on Sunday. “While it is our duty to pay compensation for deaths and disability suffered by soldiers serving under Amisom, we are not in a position to make public the numbers. Under the Memorandum of Understanding between the AU and troop and police contributing countries, it is the prerogative of the contributing country to make such information public,” an email sent to us from the Amisom Media Centre reads. Amisom says: “The standard death and disability compensation which is the UN standard and applied by the AU is $50,000 (approximately Sh4.25 million). In 2012, Ghana’s former President and African Union High Representative for Somalia, Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings, told The Standard on Sunday that he was pushing for a review of the compensation package for injured Amisom troops.

“They should have a compensation package that motivates and one that matches internationally acceptable standards,” he said in an interview. In March 2012, the then military spokesperson Col Cyrus Oguna announced that troops would be compensated. The following month, Col Oguna, who is now a diplomat, announced that compensation for troops in Somalia would be backdated to January 5 2012, the date when the UN voted to increase the number of Amisom troops in the war-torn country.

In March 2012, Chief of Defence Forces General Julius Karangi said soldiers serving in Amisom would receive a monthly allowance of Sh84,296, ($1,028) on top of their salaries, comprehensive medical cover and access to advanced equipment. Yet in a strange twist of irony, many of his men who were injured in Somalia complain about lack of comprehensive medical cover and compensation for injuries. One of them is Corporal David (name changed since he is not allowed to speak to the Press), who resides in Nairobi. He once strangled a cat and has on several occasions contemplated suicide. He is battling the demons of post-traumatic stress disorder, which makes him violent and aggressive. He is not only a danger to himself but also to those close to him. The war veteran nurses a bullet wound. He has now joined the list of soldiers who have committed or attempted to commit suicide after serving in Somalia.

“I am very disappointed with the army,” he told The Standard on Sunday. “I do not have a psychologist or counsellor to assist me overcome my nightmares and post-war trauma.”

Corporal David’s personal tragedy is part of the challenges that KDF has to deal with: handling cases of those physically and emotionally injured during Operation Linda Nchi.

“A number of the widows and those close to the fallen heroes seem to be traumatised and possibly in need of psychotherapy,” Julius Mungai, a psychotherapist based in Nairobi, says.

Currently, there exists no Act of Parliament that recognises the contribution of retired military personnel to the stability, security and defence of Kenya.

The US military honours its injured and fallen soldiers with medals recognition like the purple heart, a full parade in their home towns and lifetime medical care at prestigious veterans affairs medical centres.

In addition, Kenya has not had a legal framework for recognising and honouring military veterans in life and remembering them in death for their sacrifices for the nation.