Cameron warms to Uhuru in push for better ties with Kenya

Mr Cameron addresses the UN General Assembly in New York on Sunday. PHOTO | AFP 

By NEVILLE OTUKI

UK Prime Minister David Cameron is lobbying for British troops to continue training in Kenya beyond the October deadline as London seeks to strengthen ties with Nairobi.

The military pact, which has run for 40 years, expired in April but was extended by six months to October for further talks after the two countries failed to reach a deal on a number of issues.

The British premier on Monday held talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York in a bid to strengthen security, economic and diplomatic ties.

Relationship between Nairobi and London came under focus following threats by the former colonial master to cut ties with Kenya should then ICC indictee, Mr Kenyatta, be elected president in the 2013 polls.

“It is time for us to reset our relationship and put the past behind us,” Mr Cameron was quoted in a statement sent from State House. Mr Cameron is expected to visit Kenya early next year.

Mr Kenyatta is yet to visit London on official engagement.

His visit to the UK in 2013 was to attend a conference on Somalia while last year he went to cheer on his wife who was participating in the London Marathon.

READ: Britain imports down by Sh2bn as Kenya looks East

The UK parliament had in 2013 urged the British government to deepen its ties with Kenya despite the election of Mr Kenyatta, describing the country as a crucial business partner.

Kenya’s imports from Britain dropped last year for the first time in seven years to Sh47 billion from Sh49 billion in 2013, official data shows.
The drop saw UK slip two positions in the rank of Kenya’s top sellers, behind Germany and Saudi Arabia.

The Kenyan government had also threatened to tear up its military co-operation deal with the UK that is currently valued at about £58 million (Sh9.2 billion) a year, up from about Sh2.5 billion three years ago.

Foreign Affairs secretary Amina Mohamed told Parliament in June that Kenya and UK were yet to agree on whether British soldiers who commit crimes while in Kenya would be prosecuted in local courts.

British troops who commit crimes in Kenya while training are seen to fall under the jurisdiction of UK military law. Kenya wants them to be tried locally