WORLD> Africa
UN says Kenya secretly ships arms
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-10-05 20:12

Kenya has insisted that the shipment is destined for its military.  But regional maritime official, including a US navy spokesman, said it was bound for the autonomous government of south Sudan, in possible contravention of a peace accord.

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Since 1993 when the register was first compiled, Kenya has been reporting that it made no imports and no exports of arms.

The purchases represent a significant rearming of Kenya's military. As a sovereign nation, Kenya has a right to buy and sell arms.

Kenya treats virtually all information about its military as classified, though a lot of information about its strength and armaments can be gleaned from officials and academic sources.

The report by the Stockholm Institute shows that Ukraine inherited millions of small arms and light weapons after the collapse of the Soviet Union, ending up with over 7 million small arms and light weapons which it has over the years exported to different countries.

The top five importers were the United States, Britain, Libya, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

"Ukraine has made significant progress in improving transparency and controlling exports in recent years," wrote Paul Holtom of the institute.

According to the latest report released by the Ukrainian government, Kenya imported 40,000 automatic rifles and submachine guns and 405 grenade launchers last year.

"Although Kenyan officials made it clear that the 33 T-72 tanks, grenade launchers and ammunition aboard the hijacked Ukrainian ship MV Faina were part of a larger deal under which tanks, artillery and small arms and light weapons were delivered by Ukraine in 2007, these weapons did not appear in Kenya's recent submission to UNROCA for 2007," Holtom said.