President Biden Officially Approves Kenya A Major Non-NATO Ally
President Joe Biden officially designates Kenya as a major non-NATO ally, making it the first sub-Saharan country and the fourth on the continent to receive the designation.
Kenya’s designation as a major non-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally by the United States strengthens its position in regional and international security.
Memorandum on the Designation of Kenya as a Major Non-NATO Ally – @WhiteHouse https://t.co/CWl1agu3i8
— Harun Maruf (@HarunMaruf) June 24, 2024
“By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 517 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (22 U.S.C. 2321k) (the “Act”), I hereby designate Kenya as a Major Non-NATO Ally of the United States for the purposes of the Act and the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2751 et seq.),” read the statement.
This comes as 400 of its 1,000 police officers are preparing to leave for Haiti’s besieged capital, Port-au-Prince.
The announcement first came as Kenyan President William Ruto arrived in the United States for a historic state visit to discuss the much-anticipated deployment to the Caribbean nation, as well as other bilateral issues.
Kenya becomes only the fourth African country to achieve this status, and the first in Sub-Saharan Africa, cementing Kenya’s position as one of the United States’ closest allies on the continent.
Washington pledged $200 million (£157 million) to Nairobi for the UN-backed Haiti mission, citing Kenya’s track record of supporting regional peace initiatives with relative success.
Kenya is currently overseeing a peace agreement that ended Ethiopia’s two-year civil war in northern Tigray.
Mr. Ruto has also been mediating between countries in the Great Lakes region that are deeply divided by the ongoing rebel insurgency in eastern DR Congo.
Since 2011, Kenyan forces have been fighting the al-Shabab Islamist group in neighboring Somalia. A US military base in Kenya’s coastal county of Lamu has served as the backbone of counterinsurgency operations.
This dependability is critical for the United States, which is being outpaced by Russia and China.
President Biden Officially Approves Kenya A Major Non-NATO Ally
