The African Union on its 608th meeting asked Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia to honour their pledged air assets and deployment of additional force enablers. In February, Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia offered to supply helicopters for troops fighting under the Amisom in the fight against al Shabaab. Reports earlier suggested nine utility helicopters would be supplied between Kenya and Ethiopia, in addition to three attack helicopters. The choppers would be the first major contribution to the Amisom’s airforce since Uganda pulled out of supplying four helicopters in 2012, after three of them crashed in Mt Kenya. The European Union recently reduced the budget to the mission by 20 per cent because of financial constraints and “competing priorities in Africa and the world in general”.

Source: The Star July 07, 2016 14:48 UTC