Africa and the Omnibus Budget Share This /

On January 16, Congress passed, and President Obama signed into law, the FY2014 Omnibus appropriations bill, also referred to as the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014.  This marks the first budget passed since December 2011 (FY2012) and appropriates approximately $1.1 trillion in federal discretionary spending. By passing the bill, Congress has funded most of the federal government’s activities through September 30, 2014.

The Omnibus includes funding for the State Department and Foreign Operations (SFOPS) appropriations for FY2014. This post highlights the provisions related to security assistance in Africa under the State Department and Foreign Operations division of the bill.

There are a few noteworthy developments in terms of U.S. counterterrorism assistance, military and police assistance to select countries, and the United States’ concern with poaching and peacekeeping on the continent. 

Counterterrorism in Africa – an increase in funds:

• Funds to the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP) program increased to $53 million -- $200,000 more than was requested for 2013 and almost $8 million over the Obama Administration’s request for 2014.
• Similarly, the Partnership for Regional East Africa Counterterrorism (PREACT) received a slight increase from the last appropriations bill. The bill sets funding levels at no less than $24 million, up from the $21,300,000 required in the consolidated appropriations act of 2012.
• $10 million of Economic Support Fund (ESF) programs in Africa are earmarked for countering extremism in the East Africa.
• $8 million in ESF and International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE) programs are to be used for the creation of a pilot program to address security challenges in Africa.

Conditions on security assistance to specific countries:

Congress has the power to attach human rights conditions to aid to specific countries. The 2014 bill does not place restrictions on any countries that did not appear in the 2012 foreign operations bill, but it does change or remove some of the requirements associated with the conditions:

• Somalia was previously barred from receiving any International Military Education and Training (IMET). In the most recent bill, Somalia joins the list of countries, which may receive IMET as long as the training is “related to international peacekeeping operations and expanded IMET.” The other countries are Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Zimbabwe. This leaves Equatorial Guinea as the only country unconditionally blocked from receiving IMET.

The bill also specifies that the U.S. may not provide any “lethal assistance” to Somali security forces.

• South Sudan:  Congress increased the restrictions on assistance to the government of South Sudan. Previously, the U.S. government had to report to Congress on South Sudan’s progress on governance and the accountability of security forces. Recently members of Congress raised pointed questions regarding abuses by the South Sudanese army. The bill reinforces this concern by withholding 15 percent of U.S. assistance to South Sudan until the Secretary of State reports to the Committees on Appropriations that South Sudan is:
  • Implementing policies to support freedom of expression and association, establish democratic institutions including an independent judiciary, parliament, and security forces that are accountable to civilian authority; and
  • Investigating and punishing members of security forces who have violated human rights.

In the explanatory statement accompanying the bill, Congress also requests that the State Department report “on the impact of ongoing violence on United States assistance for South Sudan and plans for such assistance in fiscal year 2014. “

• Rwanda and Uganda: Last year, Congress specified that Foreign Military Financing funds may be withheld if the administration has credible information that either government is “providing political, military or financial support to armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that are involved in the illegal exportation of minerals out of the DRC or have violated human rights.”

This year’s omnibus lifts the specification on Uganda, but keeps it in place for Rwanda. However, in the explanatory statement accompanying the bill, Congress still directs the State Department to inform Congress if they have credible information that the government of Uganda engages in such activity.

In the case of Uganda, Congress also expanded the breadth of assistance under the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act (Public Law 111–172) created in 2010 to include assistance aimed to “improve physical access, telecommunications infrastructure, and early-warning mechanisms and to support the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of former LRA combatants, especially child soldiers. “

• Ethiopia: As in previous bills, assistance for Ethiopian military and police forces is still contingent upon the State Department certifying to Congress that the government of Ethiopia:
  • Protects Judicial independence; freedom of expression, association, assembly, and religion; the right of political opposition parties, civil society organizations, and journalists to operate without harassment or interference; and due process of law
  • And permits human rights and humanitarian organizations access to the Somali region of Ethiopia.

However, IMET is now included on the list of programs exempted from these certification requirements. Other assistance exempted includes “military efforts in support of international peacekeeping operations, countering regional terrorism, border security, and . . . assistance to the Ethiopian Defense Command and Staff College.”

Other security related provisions of interest to Africa:

• Poaching: Perhaps in response to growing U.S. government concerns that wildlife poaching or trafficking is funding terrorist activity in Africa, especially in the Horn of Africa, the bill specifies that no U.S. International Security assistance may be used for:
  • Training or other assistance for any military unit or personnel that the Secretary of State determines has been credibly alleged to have participated in wildlife poaching or trafficking, unless the Secretary reports to the Committees on Appropriations that to do so is in the national security interests of the United States.
• Peacekeeping: The Better World campaign points out that the U.S. underfunded United Nations peacekeeping by 12 percent, and allocated no funds for the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali. According to the explanatory statement, Congress included funds for the UN Operations in Somalia and the Central African Republic.