Kenya renews military training agreement with UK

By Andrew Ross

NAIROBI, Kenya

Kenya and the U.K. have renewed a bilateral arrangement that will allow British military soldiers to train in the country for five more years.

Nicolas Hailey, on his first day in office as the U.K. High Commissioner to Kenya, and the Kenyan Defense Cabinet Secretary, Raychelle Omamo, signed the deal at the Kenyan Defense Ministry in capital Nairobi.

Annually, over 10,000 British soldiers train in Kenya's arid Laikipia and Samburu plains, which are known to have extreme weather conditions.

Earlier this year, Kenya declined to renew its training agreement which had been in place since colonial times following negative travel advisories issued by the U.K. to the east African country.

Kenya has witnessed a spate of terrorist attacks from the Somali-based al-Shabab terrorist group since 2012; western countries, including the U.K. have issued numerous travel advisories warning its citizens against visiting Kenya.

Britain has in the past trained Kenyan security officers on how to combat terrorism; it has also funded numerous counter-terrorism projects in the east African country.

Kenyan Defense Ministry also cautioned the visiting British soldiers against breaking the country’s laws. "Soldiers committing crimes in Kenya will be dealt with and subject to Kenyan law and constitution unless those that take place on official duty which will be handled by the United Kingdom," the ministry said.

By Andrew Ross

NAIROBI, Kenya

Kenya and the U.K. have renewed a bilateral arrangement that will allow British military soldiers to train in the country for five more years.

Annually, over 10,000 British soldiers train in Kenya's arid Laikipia and Samburu plains, which are known to have extreme weather conditions.

Earlier this year, Kenya declined to renew its training agreement which had been in place since colonial times following negative travel advisories issued by the U.K. to the east African country.

Britain has in the past trained Kenyan security officers on how to combat terrorism; it has also funded numerous counter-terrorism projects in the east African country.