NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – Kenyan troops in Somalia are heavily involved in the smuggling of about 150,000 tons of sugar a year into Kenya, a local watchdog group said Thursday.
Kenyan soldiers and a pro-government militia based in Somalia’s port city of Kismayo make $13 million a year from taxing the illegal sugar shipments which are smuggled to Kenya, Journalists for Justice said in a report. It didn’t break down the share of profits that each party allegedly makes.
Kenyan Defense Minister Raychelle Omamo denied the allegations, saying that they are meant to create hostility for Kenyan troops in Somalia. She said the report is a smear campaign.
According to the report, members of the Kenya military are also illegally exporting charcoal from Somalia.
Sugar smuggling is also financing activities of Islamic extremist group al-Shabab that the Kenya military went to Somalia to fight in in 2011. According to the report, al-Shabab makes $12.2 million a year from levying taxes on sugar trucks.