The US will expand the runway of Kenya’s Manda Bay airbase in Lamu County, a project that both countries say will significantly enhance counter-terrorism operations and regional stability at a time of rising transnational security threats.
The runway expansion, whose groundbreaking coincided with the official visit of US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau on Thursday, is being framed by both governments as a strategic investment in security infrastructure critical to countering terrorism along Kenya’s coastline and the wider Horn of Africa region.
President William Ruto with Hon Christopher Landua, the US Deputy Secretary of State after a meeting in State House, Nairobi.
Photo credit: PSC
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi said the project showed the strength of Kenya–US security and development cooperation, noting that security remains the foundation upon which economic growth and job creation depend.
“This week is also marked by the groundbreaking of the expansion of Manda Bay runway. A landmark step that underscores security and development cooperation between Kenya and the US,
“If you want to create jobs, the country and the region must be secure, stable and productive. Security is the anchor that ensures jobs are created for Kenyans and the wider region,” PCS Mudavadi, also the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, said at a joint press briefing.
Manda Bay airbase is a Kenya Defence Forces site, located near the Kenya–Somalia border and close to key maritime routes, has long been a strategic hub in the fight against Somali militant group Al-Shabaab and other extremist groups operating across East Africa.
And it has been a victim too. On January 5, 2020, al-Shabaab militants launched mortar rounds at the Kenyan and US forces inside the base and simultaneously fired rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) at the adjacent Manda Bay airbase. Two US Department of Defence contractors were killed when their military aircraft was hit by RPGs on the tarmac.
A third contractor survived the explosion with serious injuries. A US Army specialist acting as an air traffic controller was killed in the ensuing firefight. The US later put up a reward of up to $10 million for information on Shabaab agents behind the attack.
The expanded runway is expected to improve operational readiness, surveillance, logistics, and rapid response capabilities for both Kenyan and allied forces.
PCS Mudavadi said the Government of Kenya appreciates continued US support in strengthening critical infrastructure that enhances shared efforts to promote regional peace and security. He added that the project sends a clear signal of Kenya’s commitment to working with international partners to address cross-border security threats.
For his part, Deputy Secretary of State Landau emphasised that security cooperation between the two countries is not abstract but rooted in shared sacrifice and real-world consequences.
“These are not abstract questions. They are matters that affect life and death for Kenyans and Americans,” he said, referencing the August 7, 1998 terror attack in Nairobi.
He said Kenya has done “a great job” in addressing domestic security challenges, noting that many of the remaining threats are external and regional in nature.
“We want to work with Kenya to make sure the region as a whole is more secure. It is not good for East Africa to be known as a part of the world with a lot of conflict. Stability in the region is good for Kenya and its neighbours,” Mr Landau said.
Beyond counter-terrorism in East Africa, Kenya and the US are also working closely to confront organised criminal gangs thousands of kilometres away in Haiti — cooperation both governments describe as a model of international security partnership.
Kenya currently leads the UN-backed Gang Supression Force (GSF)- that recently replaced the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission- in Haiti, deployed to help stabilise the Caribbean nation amid a surge in gang violence that overwhelmed local law enforcement.
Landau credited Kenya’s leadership with preventing Haiti from falling entirely under the control of criminal gangs.
“The government of Haiti would not have survived the onslaught of these gangs without your presence. Kenya has been an indispensable partner,” Landau said, addressing Kenyan officers who served in the mission at Embakasi Police College in Nairobi later during the day.
PCS Mudavadi said Kenya’s contribution to the Haiti mission reflects the country’s growing role as a global security partner, adding that collaboration with the US was critical given the logistical complexity of operating more than 12,000 kilometres from home.
“Working with the United States was absolutely essential in terms of logistics, funding and international coordination,” Mudavadi said, noting that such cooperation demonstrates how global partnerships can restore stability when national systems collapse.
The MSS mission is expected to transition in the coming months, with Kenya and the US already coordinating plans for a new gang suppression force to take over security operations.
Officials on both sides said the Manda Bay expansion and the Haiti mission illustrate the same principle: that economic growth, regional stability and global security are inseparable.
“No company will invest or create jobs if security is uncertain. Strong security cooperation is the foundation of lasting economic and social progress,” Mr Landau said.
