(SomaliNet) The African Union (AU) has delayed paying allowances to the Ugandan peacekeepers in volatile Somalia since they deployed two months ago, Xinhua news agency reports. Maj. Felix Kulayigye, the army spokesman, was quoted by the state owned New Vision on Tuesday as saying that the 1,500 troops who were deployed under the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) have not yet received their allowances. "They have not been given the money yet," Kulayigye said but noted that the Ugandan Ministry of Defense had paid the troops their normal salaries. In the deal signed with the AU, every soldier on the African peacekeeping mission would receive an allowance of 400 U.S. dollars on top of their normal salary, while another 100 dollars would go to the Ugandan government. According to the agreement, injured soldiers were to be compensated at a rate of between 100,000 dollars and 150,000 dollars depending on the degree of injuries. In case of death, the family was to receive 100,000 dollars.
Alpha Konare, chairman of the AU Commission, recently said that lack of funds was hampering the deployment of other peacekeepers. "Countries like Burundi, Nigeria, Ghana and others have pledged troops but they cannot deploy due to financial problems. If other countries do not commit troops soon, it will be a total disaster for Africa," Konare said here late last month.
Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, Uganda's Chief of Defense Forces, said that whereas the financial problem exists, the important thing is that the country is now stabilizing. "We are aware of the constraints. But what is more important is that there is no more war in Mogadishu. Our soldiers are participating in humanitarian work. They are doing well as they wait for others to come in," he said.
Maj. Gen. Benon Biraaro, who was recently appointed to the AU Planning Unit in Addis Ababa, confirmed that the peacekeepers in Darfur and in Somalia had not yet been paid allowances. An 8,000-strong AU force is needed to stabilize war-ravaged Somalia but only half of that number has been promised. Uganda is so far the only country that has sent 1,500 peacekeepers to Somalia.