The purpose of that comment is , its not like Alshabaab was declared a terrorist group by the UN and now the UN has decided that its not a terrorist group anymore...
This did not stop Kenya from going to Somalia... Kenya can cry about UN decision not to declare Alshabaab a terrorist group but we should also be careful on what it would have meant if Alshabaab was officially designated as an independent terrorist group (and not an offshoot of Al-Qaeda). UN does not fund peace enforcement mission (The only UN funded peace enforcement mission is the one in DRC and it was only approved because things had completely gotten out of hand after more than 30 years of UN peacekeeping in DRC the situation was still getting worse).. UN only funds peace-Keeping missions which follow different rules of engagement.
Countries that officially recognize Alshabaab as terrorist organization are Australia, Canada,New Zealand, UAE,Norway, Singerpore, UK and believe it or not the USA also officially recognize alshabaab as a terrorist organization.
Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) are foreign organizations that are designated by the Secretary of State in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended. FTO designations play a critical role in our fight against terrorism and are an effective means...
www.state.gov
If the UN had declared Alshabaab as an independent terrorist organization, that would have meant officially changing AMISOM from a peace-keeping mission (Protect civilians) to a peace-enforcement mission (only peruse alshabaab).. The later is what Kenya wants, its what we did the first year we entered Somalia when we had not officially joined AMISOM, thats why we were able do to so much in such a little time while Uganda had been there for years but only still occupied just the airport, stadium and presidential palace. But when we joined AMISOM, we officially became a peace-keeping force.
So back to my earlier point, The UNSC decision not to designate alshabaab as a terrorist organisation changes nothing on the ground. Alshabaab not being designated a terrorist group did not prevent Kenya from going to Somalia , it did not stop Kenya from delaring alshabaab a terrorist organization,it does not stop KDF from conduting
airstrikes of Alshabaab it does not change what KDF and AMISOM are doing... As it goes, the status quo remains the same!