Military spend falls Sh2bn for first time in five years

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration cut back spending on the military by Sh2 billion for the first time in five years as the effects of a cash crunch took a toll on Kenya’s defence bill, according to a newly released global report.

Nairobi’s military expenditure reached Sh117.1 billion ($1.095 billion) last year, a 1.7 percent drop from Sh119.1 billion ($1.114 billion) in 2018, according to the Sweden based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) an independent global security think tank.

The government, which has recorded a yearly rise in spending on the military since Mr Kenyatta came to power in 2013 did not buy as many military equipment last year, according to Nan Tian, a researcher on arms and military expenditure programme at SIPRI.

“In the last year Kenya didn’t buy that many weapons,” Dr Nan told the Business Daily in an interview. “(It bought) a few light helicopters from the US (MD-500) and 2 Italian AW139.”

Kenya does not make public its military purchases and only Parliament is mandated to scrutinise expenditure by key security organs. SIPRI military expenditure data is based on open sources only.

Efforts to get a breakdown of Kenya’s military spending last year yesterday were unsuccessful.

“Unfortunately we do not know the financial value for these imports,” said Dr Nan.

Some of Kenya’s largest expenditure items are, however, known having been revealed through other international sources.

The drop in spending last year came as the Treasury implemented an austerity plan to free up cash for development and essential services such as security, health and education.