Defence ministry awaits sh255.967b allocation for Somalia peacekeeping
“Sh255.967 billion for UPDF peace operations in Somalia (AUSSOM) is an externally financed undertaking whose funding and projections are determined by African Union (AU) and included in the budget usually in the final stages of budgeting process,” Byengoma explained.
Uganda was the first country to deploy 1,600 troops in the Horn of Africa nation under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on March 6, 2007, at a time when Somalia had largely been written off. That was before they were joined by Burundian troops.
KAMPALA - Funding for the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) serving under African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia is yet to be formally allocated in the 2026/27 Financial Year (FY) budget.
Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs (MODVA) Permanent Secretary Rosette Byengoma disclosed this on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, during an interaction with the Parliament committee on Defense and Internal Affairs.
“Sh255.967 billion for UPDF peace operations in Somalia (AUSSOM) is an externally financed undertaking whose funding and projections are determined by African Union (AU) and included in the budget usually in the final stages of budgeting process,” Byengoma explained.
“By the issuance of the second budget call circular (15th February 2026), these projections will have been communicated,” she told the committee chaired by Nyabushozi County lawmaker Wilson Kajwengye (NRM).
Somalia deployment
Uganda was the first country to deploy 1,600 troops in the Horn of Africa nation under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on March 6, 2007, at a time when Somalia had largely been written off. That was before they were joined by Burundian troops.
Bolstered by increased capacity, along with Somali security forces, the mission began scoring major military successes against the group.
AMISOM would later be replaced by the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) and AUSSOM.
Currently, five countries, namely Uganda, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, and Egypt, are operating under the new African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), whose mandate took effect on January 1, 2025.
The mission is expected to have 11,900 civil-military personnel tasked with supporting the Somali National Army (SNA) as it gradually assumes full security responsibilities.
The ultimate goal is to hand over security to the country’s armed forces by December 2029.
Security fears
However, according to an August 2025 paper by Partha Moman of the London School of Economics (LSE) titled “What Next for African Union Peace Operations in Somalia?”, there are fears that if AUSSOM is forced to fully or partially withdraw due to funding constraints, the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) might come under significant military pressure.
“AUSSOM’s annual budget is currently estimated at $166.5 million (Sh649.3 billion), although the exact figure has been a point of contention. The UNSOS budget is substantially larger; from June 2024 to July 2025, it was estimated at $499.8 million (United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), 2025a),” Moman cited.
Further pointing out that negotiations over troop-contributing countries (TCC) stipends have been contentious, with the European Union (EU) as the main donor since 2007, investing over €2.7 billion (equivalent to Sh10.8 trillion) and covering most of ATMIS’s 2024 budget.
Adding that “The 2022 Ukraine war further diverted EU attention from Sub-Saharan Africa. Since ATMIS’s transition in 2022, EU support has been reduced, delays in the drawdown schedule have persisted, and the AU has accumulated arrears to TCCs as mission costs exceeded the EU’s budget.”