UK strengthens defence relations with Kenya

The Ministry of Defence has claimed that the UK’s defence relationship with Kenya has been strengthened following a successful visit and meeting between Armed Forces Minister Penny Mordaunt and Raychelle Omamo, Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Defence.

Mordaunt and Omamo met to discuss the UK and Kenya’s defence relationship and to increase the UK’s support to Somalia.

The Minister also met with personnel from the High Commission Defence Section, British Army Training Unit Kenya (BAUK) and British Peace Support Team East Africa to witness the scope and scale of UK military activity in Kenya.

Mordaunt said: “I am pleased to visit Kenya where the UK carries out important capacity building work with both Kenyan and regional forces, critical operational readiness training for our own Armed Forces and is committed to support local communities in the areas in which it trains.

“The UK shares a long-standing and mutually beneficial defence relationship with Kenya, we are bound together by a wide range of shared interests and this is more important now than ever given Kenya’s commitment to the AMISOM mission in Somalia and its fight against terrorism in the region."

During the visit, Mordaunt announced that the government will pledge an additional package of £3 million to the UN Somali National Army (SNA) Trust Fund, which will help pay for resources such as rations, fuel and medical supplies.

Commenting on the UK’s additional funding, she said: “I am delighted to announce the UK’s further donation of over £3 million to the Trust Fund, which will support the SNA in its fight to defeat Al Shabaab. This demonstrates our commitment to the SNA, and to building the foundations of lasting security in Somalia more widely.”