11/16/2023 0 Comments Sas kenya“The rigging of these elections was, it seems, the most comprehensive and most flagrant in Kenya’s history,” Pearce said. The British diplomat felt Kenya’s cabinet and parliament “tend now to be ignored” and the KANU elections marked “another clear step in the process of establishing Moi’s autocratic control of political activity in Kenya.” He looks more and more like a typical African dictator, even if rather more benign than most”. Reflecting on the results of a rigged KANU poll in 1985, Pearce wrote: “As widely anticipated, Moi got what he wanted. Unexploded bombs: The British army’s deadly legacy in Kenya READ MORE One-party stateĪs well as bolstering the police, Moi consolidated his control of the Kenya African National Union (KANU), the country’s only permitted political party. He added: “There are also regular allegations and rumours, though never substantiated, of police brutality and their habit of shooting first and asking questions later is not something a purist on human rights would overlook.”īritish aid was complicit in some of these abuses, having gifted Kenya £1.5m in 1983 to buy 90 Land Rovers and communication gear for police intelligence and GSU riot control teams. “Nor, if potential coup leaders were looking for excuses, is Moi failing to provide them.” “To take this as far as Moi has is good for neither morale nor for Kenya’s continued stability,” Tauwhare wrote. Pearce’s colleague, fellow diplomat Richard Tauwhare, commented similarly: “The change in the tribal balance, particularly in the paramilitary General Service Unit, has been marked with Kalenjin recruitment and promotion running well beyond their relative tribal share.” He noted: “This massive bias clearly reflects Moi’s keenness to create a GSU tribally loyal to himself”. Previous to that they had been trained by the Israelis.”Īnother British diplomat stationed in Kenya, Howard Pearce, observed that same year how members of Moi’s tribe were being recruited to the GSU “out of all proportion” to their actual number. In 1985 they received continuation training from 22 SAS. To avert further unrest, Moi stacked the GSU with members of his own minority tribe, the Kalenjin, and called in SAS instructors.Ĭolonel Roger Southerst, a British military attaché in Nairobi, wrote in a confidential memo that the President’s Personal Escort was “responsible for guarding the President both in Kenya and abroad. African presidents were particularly keen to receive expertise from the SAS on internal security.įormerly classified British government files show Moi grew increasingly paranoid after a coup attempt against him was foiled in 1982. The elite regiment was in demand from foreign governments following their televised rescue of hostages at the Iranian Embassy in London. Labour, if elected, plans to review SAS advice given to Indian troops shortly before a massacre of Sikh pilgrims in 1984. The revelations will add to pressure for an inquiry into SAS assistance for repressive regimes during Margaret Thatcher’s premiership. Moi’s minders were drawn from Kenya’s General Service Unit (GSU), a paramilitary police force long accused of torture and executions. It came as President Moi entrenched a one-party state by rigging elections and arresting opponents.Īlthough UK diplomats knew Moi was subverting Kenya’s democracy, British special forces from the elite 22 SAS were allowed to coach his personal escort team. Includes Heads of State, Prime Ministers, Foreign, Trade and Aid Ministers.Bodyguards for Kenya’s president Daniel arap Moi were trained by the SAS in 1985 amid a crackdown on dissent, Declassified has found. For how we can help Australians overseas, see the Consular services charter.Economic, trade and political information Wheat and minerals are Australia's main exports to Kenya, while coffee and vegetables make up the bulk of imports.Īustralia maintains a High Commission in Nairobi and Kenya is represented in Australia by a High Commission in Canberra. Our two-way trade was nearly $500 million in 2021. Mombasa Port, located on the south coast, is a gateway to East African trade. Kenya is the second largest economy in East Africa, with significant mineral and energy resources. The capital Nairobi is one of the fastest-growing cities in Africa and serves as a major regional hub for the United Nations, multilateral organisations and diplomatic missions. Since gaining independence in 1963, Kenya has played a major role in humanitarian, maritime and regional security issues in the Horn of Africa. The official languages are Kiswahili and English. It has an Indian Ocean coastline and the Rift Valley runs through the country. Kenya is situated on the equator in East Africa.
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