Barely a year after Kenya became the first sub-Saharan African country to be designated a major non-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) United States ally (MNNA), President Donald Trump’s administration is now taking steps to reassess Nairobi’s standing.
Kenya secured the MNNA status during President William Ruto‘s state visit to Washington in May 2024, the first such visit by an African head of state in 15 years, during former President Joe Biden’s final year.
The designation was viewed as Washington’s way of rewarding Nairobi’s counterterrorism cooperation and its support for Western positions, including its sharp condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
However, a congressional directive embedded in an August congressional amendment tasks U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio with reviewing Kenya’s MNNA status within 90 days.
The development, spearheaded by U.S. Senator James Risch, comes amid mounting concern in Washington over Kenya’s deepening ties with China, Russia, and Iran.
The reassessment directive was quietly introduced in an amendment to bill S. 2296 — the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 — and ordered to lie on the table in the Senate.
Details of the amendment bill on the review of Kenya’s major non-NATO U.S. ally status
The amendment instructs Secretary Rubio, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Director of National Intelligence, to initiate a review of Kenya’s MNNA status, which was granted on June 24, 2024.
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According to the amendment, the review must begin within 90 days of the date of the enactment of the Act.
A classified report will then be submitted to the relevant congressional committees within 180 days. The report is expected to present findings on several critical areas concerning Kenya’s foreign and domestic policies.
Specifically, the report will evaluate Kenya’s strategic alignment with the United States, including its cooperation in countering violent extremism, its peacekeeping contributions in Sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti, and its overall role as a U.S. economic partner.
Focus on Foreign Alignments and Internal Risks
The review will also scrutinize Kenya’s military and security engagements with the People’s Republic of China, Russia, and Iran. It mandates a detailed description of any agreements, joint activities, or political and financial links that Kenyan political actors and institutions may have with those nations.
In addition, the review will assess Kenya’s ties to nonstate armed groups and violent extremist organizations, including al-Shabaab and the Rapid Support Forces.
“An assessment of the relationships of the Government of Kenya and key officials of Kenya with nonstate armed groups and violent extremist organizations, including the Rapid Support Forces and al-Shabaab,” reads part of the amendment.
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It will also examine the country’s participation in China’s Belt and Road Initiative and evaluate Kenya’s bilateral debt and commercial relationships with Beijing.
Another key concern highlighted in the amendment is whether Kenya is acting as a financial safe haven for individuals or entities listed by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals, or for foreign terrorist organizations.
This includes those operating from neighboring countries such as South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, and Somalia.
Use of U.S. Security Assistance Under Scrutiny
Finally, the report is expected to assess how the Government of Kenya is utilizing U.S. security and intelligence support. This includes examining any links to alleged abuses such as abductions, torture, renditions, and violence against civilians by either state or non-state actors.
The amendment defines “appropriate committees of Congress” as the Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations, Committee on Armed Services, and Select Committee on Intelligence, along with the House’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Committee on Armed Services, and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
This legislative move signals a significant shift in how Washington may recalibrate its relationship with Nairobi.
Designation of Kenya as a MNNA
The reassessment comes at a moment when Kenya’s foreign policy under President William Ruto is increasingly seen as drifting away from traditional Western alliances — a shift that Senator Risch has called “alarming.”
When Kenya was designated a major non-NATO U.S. ally, the State Department said that some of the privileges that come with MNNA designation include eligibility for loans of material, supplies, or equipment for cooperative research, development, testing, or evaluation purposes.
Other privileges include:
- Eligibility to enter into an MOU or other formal agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense for the purpose of conducting cooperative research and development projects on defense equipment and munitions.
- Allowing firms of a MNNA, as with NATO countries, to bid on contracts for maintenance, repair or overhaul of U.S. Department of Defense equipment outside the United States.
- Allowing funding to procure explosives detection devices and other counter-terrorism research and development projects under the auspices of the Department of State’s Technical Support Working Group.
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