Kenya is now officially a major non-NATO ally of the United States, following President Joe Biden’s determination, dated 24 June 2024, as provided in American laws.
This comes exactly one month after Biden hosted his Kenyan counterpart – William Ruto – at the White House.
“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 […], 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,” read the memo by President Biden to the Secretary of State.
“You are authorized and directed to publish this determination in the Federal Register.”
Since the announcement was made in May, Kenya has deployed the first batch of police to a peace-keeping mission in Haiti at the instigation of the US, a move that has left Ruto heavily criticized at home.
It remains unclear what this designation means to Kenya and NATO but the decision has become a subject of serious debate, many questioning the rationale of having Kenya affiliate to the US-Europe security partnership.
Critics of the move have described Ruto as a puppet of the western powers, many concluding that that the designation has no logical nexus.
Renowned playwright and Kenyan literary icon Ngugi wa Thiongo, has castigated Ruto for selling his country to neo-colonialists, saying Kenya can never have anything to do with NATO.
“Ruto thinks we are chicken so that he can sell us out like he used to sell chicken in Sugoi but we say no,” said the celebrated author during an event in his honor at the Georgia State University in Atlanta last week.
