Defence Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo. Some US lawmakers say Kenya's
Sh43 billion US arms deal is overpriced. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA
GROUP
Five members of the US Congress are urging the Kenyan government
to reconsider a proposed sh43 billion purchase of 12 armed aircraft and
related elements intended for use in Somalia against Al-Shabaab.
Four
Republicans, joined by a Democratic member of the Congressional Black
Caucus, suggested on Tuesday in a letter to Nairobi's envoy to
Washington that the potential deal appears to be a bad deal for Kenya.
The lawmakers told Ambassador Robinson Njeru Githae that they “have reason to question the propriety of the acquisition.”
At
the same time, the congressional sceptics are urging their colleagues
to block the proposed transaction. They are also calling on Congress to
investigate the circumstances surrounding Kenya's pending agreement to
buy a dozen armed Air Tractor AT-802 aircraft, two trainer planes and
technical support and programme management services from L3
Technologies.
FAR LOWER PRICE
The
five congressmen said in their letter to Ambassador Githae that L3 “has
no experience converting agricultural aircraft into intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft with precision-strike
capability.”
“One aspect of his process that concerns us,” the US House
members added, “is whether any misrepresentations about capabilities
have been made.”
A different company
with proven experience could provide Kenya with field-tested aircraft
and related elements at a far lower price, the congressmen said.
“Spending
sh43 billion of Kenyan national funds on aircraft that could be
acquired for over sh20 billion less from a company that has years of
past performance and an existing production line is not an optimal
allocation of scarce defence dollars,” Ambassador Githae was told.
The
alternate company, which goes unnamed in the letter, is IOMAX USA. It
is based in a part of the state of North Carolina represented in the US
House by Congressman Ted Budd, the leader of the effort to halt the
proposed deal with L3.
“We believe
Kenya would benefit by exploring its options in regard to this
acquisition,” Mr Budd wrote in a letter also signed by Congressman
Sanford Bishop, an African-American Democrat, and three Republicans:
Walter Jones, Jeff Duncan and Mark Meadows.
ONGOING INVESTIGATION
“We
ask that the government of Kenya take these facts, in particular the
prospect of an ongoing congressional investigation of this sale, under
consideration as it decides whether or not to proceed with this arms
purchase.”
James Braid, a senior aide
to Congressman Budd, said in an interview on Tuesday that the type of
converted agricultural aircraft manufactured by IOMAX has been used to
drop at least 2000 bombs on Islamic State targets in Yemen, Syria and
Libya. Those attacks were carried out by the United Arab Emirates, which
purchased 48 of the planes from IOMAX, Mr Braid noted.
Kenya's
proposed deal with L3 has been approved by the State Department, which
declined to comment on the five Congress members' allegations. The
process for finalising a deal under the US Foreign Military Sales
programme also involves a 30-day review by Congress. That period came to
an end last Sunday without any formal expression of opposition to the
proposed Kenya-L3 agreement.
But Mr
Braid says the deal can still be blocked if Congress supports Mr Budd's
call for an investigation. The US government's executive branch, headed
by President Donald Trump, could also intervene to halt the sale, Mr
Braid noted.
TRANSPARENT BUYING PROCESS
US Ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec has defended the propriety of the process whereby an arms sale to Kenya would be made.
“The
process underway is transparent, open and proper,” the US envoy
declared in a statement issued last Saturday. “This potential military
sale would be carried out wholly in keeping with appropriate laws and
regulations.”
No deal would be
concluded, Ambassador Godec added, until the Kenyan Ministry of Defence
receives “a detailed US government document that will clearly describe
each item to be purchased and service to be provided along with an
estimated cost.”
Kenya can then negotiate a purchase price, he said.
Kenya
will thus have “the opportunity to review the offer line by line and
make a final determination on the Air Tractor aircraft package,”
Ambassador Godec stated.
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