Comments on: Kenya, The Pirates and those Rather Embarrassing Tanks

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:07:35 +0000

"heading north out of Nairobi" is hardly evidence that the vehicles were going to South Sudan. 85% of Kenya's land area is north of Nairobi, and several of it's major Army bases are "north of Nairobi" as well.

Kenyan links to the UK for military equipment were purchases from the UK in the late 70's to early 80's. Hardly cause to claim that Kenay only buys fromt he UK.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:14:46 +0000

I guess it’s not impossible the tanks are needed by the Kenyan army. But military analysts here are certain that at least one previous shipment was last seen heading north out of Nairobi. And press officers issuing hysterical denials is always a giveaway.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 06:16:06 +0000

Interesting. I note in the Wikipedia (not the ideal source, I admit, but the Kenyan ministry of defense site is off line...) that there was a huge order of T-72 tanks in 2007 for the Kenyan army, more than doubling the number of xisitng British built tanks. There is also another 105 or so armoured personel carriers bought from the Ukraine, in 2007. The total purchase would represent a massive increase in the amount of armor the Kenya forces have and a large change in supplier. Given the Kenyan links to the UK, as noted by several permament military bases in the country, this seems odd.

In short, yes, the idea these tanks are going elsewhere seems quite reasonable.