Biden Formally Designates Kenya ‘Major Nato Ally’

United States President Joe Biden has officially designated Kenya as a Major Non-NATO Ally, a move that brings with it massive security and defence benefits to the country.

In a proclamation issued on Monday, Biden said: “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.).”

The deal was reached during President William Ruto’s state visit to the US and makes Kenya the first country in Africa to gain such status.

The status provides foreign partners with certain benefits in the areas of defense trade and security cooperation.

“The Major Non-NATO Ally designation is a powerful symbol of the close relationship the United States shares with those countries and demonstrates our deep respect for the friendship for the countries to which it is extended. While MNNA status provides military and economic privileges, it does not entail any security commitments to the designated country,” the US State Department states.

However, Kenya is now eligible for loans of material, supplies, or equipment for cooperative research, development, testing, or evaluation purposes.

It is also eligible as a location for US-owned War Reserve Stockpiles to be placed on its territory outside of US military facilities and can enter into agreements with the United States for the cooperative furnishing of training on a bilateral or multilateral basis, if the financial arrangements are reciprocal and provide for reimbursement of all US direct costs.

Further, the move makes the country eligible, to the maximum extent feasible, for priority delivery of  Excess Defence Articles transferred under section 516 of the Foreign Assistance Act (if located on the southern or south-eastern flank of NATO) and  for consideration to purchase depleted uranium ammunition.

However, Kenya will not benefit rivileges resulting from MNNA designation under 10 U.S.C. 2350a which would  have made her eligible to enter into an MOU or other formal agreement with the US Department of Defence for the purpose of conducting cooperative research and development projects on defense equipment and munitions.

A designation under the section would have also allowed Kenyan firms, as with NATO countries, to bid on contracts for maintenance, repair or overhaul of US Department of Defense equipment outside the United States.

It was allowed for funding to procure explosives detection devices and other counter-terrorism research and development projects under the auspices of the Department of State’s Technical Working Group.

Before Kenya’s designation, there were 18 countries with such a status, namely  Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, South Korea, Thailand, and Tunisia.