Kenya: Seeking Partners for a New Terror Strategy
| Publisher | Jamestown Foundation |
| Author | Alexander Sehmer |
| Publication Date | 30 September 2016 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 19 |
| Cite as | Jamestown Foundation, Kenya: Seeking Partners for a New Terror Strategy, 30 September 2016, Terrorism Monitor Volume: 14 Issue: 19, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57f3b2f84.html [accessed 3 November 2019] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Link to original story on Jamestown website
Jordan's King Abdullah has promised greater counter terrorism support to Kenya during a meeting with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in Nairobi. The visit has received a good deal of publicity in Kenya, where the two leaders were photographed greeting each other on the tarmac of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, both dressed in military fatigues (The East African, September 26). The two leaders then viewed an anti-terrorism training exercise, with units from both the Kenyan Defense Forces and the Jordanian military simulating a response to an aircraft hijacking and an attack on a village (Daily Nation, September 26).
Kenya is keen to obtain greater international support for its anti-terrorism efforts. Nairobi's recently announced National Strategy to Counter Violent Extremism revises efforts to tackle extremism at home and calls for greater coordination with international partners (see Terrorism Monitor, September 30). The Jordanian visit offers some well-timed publicity for President Kenyatta in this respect.
Nairobi already receives anti-terror support from the West, including from the United States as part of the Partnership for Regional East Africa Counterterrorism, or PREACT. Nevertheless, Kenya's relationship with the West on terrorism issues is not always a comfortable one. Kenyatta has shown himself happy in the past to use the so-called war on terror to put his Western allies under pressure, warning in May that Kenya could scale back its military engagement in Somalia if international partners did not help fund its efforts (Africanews, May 22). That was likely posturing on the Kenyan president's part - al-Shabaab poses a more immediate threat to his country than to the West - but the tactic appears to have had some success, with the European Union recently stepping in to ensure African Union troops in Somalia receive their pay (The Star [Kenya], September 26).
Meanwhile, rights groups accused Kenya's U.S. and UK-trained Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) of rights abuses and extrajudicial killings, and Western security officials privately complain Kenyan security services frequently ignore their recommendations. Despite the tensions, the relationship with the West is crucial for Kenya. For all the fanfare in Kenya, the anti-terror aspect of the Jordanian deal centers on training for Kenyan military pilots, while trade ties were the major focus of the leaders' meeting (Africanews, September 26).
For Jordan, King Abdullah's visit was more an opportunity to open up an African market to Jordan's defense and other industries; certainly that is how the monarch's trip was framed back home (Jordan Times, September 26).
