Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has launched the country’s first coastguard to protect and monitor its territorial waters. The new government service will guard against illegal fishing, which according to President Kenyatta, costs Kenya $100 million every year. trafficking.
At the event, Mr. Kenyatta said foreign vessels trawling Kenyan waters were a major concern. He later tweeted about the need to guard against foreign vessels who “steal our fish”.
Many African countries complain that foreign trawlers come into their waters and steal their fish.
President Uhuru Kenyatta commissioned marine craft MV KSGS Doria in Mombasa. During the launch and commissioning, he said the new vessel was a fulfillment of his administration in recovering Kenya’s lost dream in protecting its vast resource potential in its ocean waters.
Until now, Kenya’s maritime security depended solely on the Navy. Authorities say it will now be free to focus on security and military affairs.
The Kenyan Navy has often undertaken joint anti-drug operations with other security forces in the coastal city of Mombasa. In 2014 on President Kenyatta’s orders, it destroyed a ship alleged to have been carrying illegal drugs worth $12.6m (£9.8m).
The coast guard will also patrol and secure territorial waters against drug smuggling and piracy.
Piracy off the coast of Somalia, usually for ransom, reached its peak in 2011 but has reduced significantly in recent years, in part because of extensive international military patrols as well as support for local fishing communities.
Some Somali fishermen turned to piracy after their livelihoods were destroyed by illegal fishing from foreign trawlers, who benefited from the lack of a functioning coastguard in Somalia following years of conflict.
This new force launches with plenty of optimism, but just one boat. That’s hardly enough to patrol Kenya’s coastline which stretches over 621 miles (1,000km).
And there’s Lake Victoria, where Kenyan fishermen have long complained of harassment from Ugandan forces on contested waters.
To succeed where the maritime police failed, the Kenya Coast Guard will need political backing and resources.
