A section of Kenyan military officers on Monday underwent intense training exercises overseen by the United Kingdom's Royal Marines.
About 42 Royal Marine officers were involved in the training program where they taught the Kenyan Navy practical demonstrations on how to deal with piracy and smuggling.
The Kenyan navy officers from the Kenya Marine Commando Unit (KMCU) took on the challenge of completing visit, board, search, and seizure exercises as part of the new anti-terrorism tactics.
The training according to British High Commissioner to Kenya, Neil Wigan, was a display of the two countries' continued commitment to build a strong, capable, and adaptable military.
“It’s fantastic to see that the UK and Kenya have taken advantage of this opportunity to add serious value to the Kenyan Marines training programme,” Commented Neil Wigan.
“A great example of how our security partnership is making a real difference to Kenya’s military capacity and capability,” he added.
The creation of the KMCU is a five-year partnership between the UK and Kenya to establish a self-sustaining training cycle in which the Kenyan Navy will be able to train its officers.
Kenya military's first training session was in May 2023, when the first-ever cohort of Kenyan Marines completed a rigorous training programme which largely mirrored steps taken by the Royal Marine in curbing piracy.
While commenting on the partnership, Commander Chris Sharp of the Royal Navy noted his team's visit to Kenya was a fantastic opportunity for the Royal Marines to train and exercise boarding operations with the Kenyan Navy.
The UK-Kenya military partnership comes hardly two months after President William Ruto announced Kenya's partnership with the United States for the construction of a defence college.
On May 30, the Head of State disclosed the facility would help address the needs of students in the future. Ruto thanked the US government for the partnership.
"I'm delighted to announce that the Ministry of Defence in collaboration with the United States government is building a new tuition facility for the college in response to the growing demand of national defence college esteemed courses," Ruto announced.
