The African Union (AU) Peace and Security Department and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) are seeking ways of enhancing the management of compensation of personnel from Troop and Police Contributing countries to AMISOM.
A four-day meeting to review the AU’s memorandum of understanding with countries which contribute military and police personnel to AMISOM, opened in Nairobi today to discuss bottlenecks hindering timely compensation for death and disability.
Mr. Selidji Gbaguidi, the Head of the Peace Support Fund at the African Union Commission emphasized the need for effective internal control systems that will guarantee reliable data for personnel serving under the AU mission in Somalia. “It will help to have the accurate data and reliable data from our side and the TCC side to compensate those beneficiaries on time. We should also put in place really a sustainable system to avoid in future, the backlog,†Mr. Gbaguidi said.
He recommended the strengthening of the Board of Inquiry (BoI), which evaluates casualty cases for compensation in the event of death or injury.
Mr. Adebayo Kareem, the AMISOM Acting Chief of Staff noted that AMISOM had ensured financial diligence and transparency in its operations. He attributed the efficiency to judicious input of the AU Peace Support Division (PSD). “And I am happy to note that over the last few years, the finance office at the PSD and AMISOM have been able to ensure that even if you have issues with the European Union, management of the finances 
is not one of those critical issues,†he explained. “We have handled the financial element of the funds they give us, in a very transparent manner.â€
