News
Hijacked arms: The mystery deepens
Rescued Spanish boat sails into port Victoria after being released off Somalia where it had been captured by pirates in April. The pirates have hijacked a Ukrainian ship, MV Faina. A US Navy spokesman has stated that the arms were heading to an unknown buyer in Sudan. Photo/FILE
Posted Monday, September 29 2008 at 21:20
Sources within the military also cast doubt on the possibility of the cargo being Kenya’s, arguing that the DoD procedures for acquiring military hardware had not been followed.
“Normally a sample accompanied by the seller is brought in for testing and a Kenyan military team is later sent to the producer country for training on maintenance before any decision is made. There has been no such arrangement between the Department of Defence and the Ukrainian government,” the source said.
Sources added most DoD personnel only got the information about the military hardware supposedly intended for them when the story broke on Friday.
On Monday, Mr Mwangura claimed he was told the hijacking was a Government issue and the fact that he was not the official spokesman disqualified him from speaking to the Press.
Mr Mwangura had the previous day claimed the Ukrainian vessel cargo was destined for Southern Sudan, despite a UN arms embargo.
Shipment
He said the shipment to the country through Kenya was not the first one but the fourth since last year.
However, Mr Munyi denied speaking to Mr Mwangura. “I have not spoken to him and if you insist tell him to prove that I spoke to him,” said Mr Munyi when contacted.
Mr Mwangura had also asked why the Kenyan government was silent about a vessel carrying 17,000 tonnes of salt to Mombasa that was also allegedly hijacked on the same day as the Ukranian vessel.
“The vessel was suspicious because Kenya does not import salt,” Mr Mwangura said.
In the mid 1990s, the Kenya police was forced to retain Ukrainian technicians in the country for over three years to maintain four M-17 helicopters and train pilots because they lacked technical know-how.
The sources further said DoD has been using British made Vicar tanks and another recently acquired Indian-made model.
Kenyan tank battalion officers have been trained in Britain and Kenya while another team is currently undergoing training in India on how to use the newly acquired tanks.
Meanwhile, Kenyan paramilitary officers are scheduled to be flown to the area where the hijacked Ukrainian ship is anchored for a reconnaissance operation.
The Ukrainian ship, mv Faina was seized by Somali pirates who are demanding ransom before releasing the ship and its cargo and the crew.
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Submitted by Wanjiku98Posted September 30, 2008 09:30 PM
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Submitted by lydkar
Talk of military secrets.How would the govt go ahead and purchase 33 T-72 tanks without first getting the armoured crew go to train on repairs and maintenance.Something fishy need to be told here and I will not rule out some big scandle,so watch this space!!
Posted September 30, 2008 06:44 PM -
Submitted by 4dnation1
The AP report by US Nathan Christesen has been miss-quoted,On Al Jazeera English He said clearly that he did not have evidence of shipment going to Sudan but he said he only quoted reports that he hard in the media which indicated that the shipment was destine for Sudan but he could not confirm the report.he just heard the rumours in the media but he is not sure if the claim is true.stephen Juma
Posted September 30, 2008 01:54 AM -
Submitted by abdullamo
Does anyone listen to Dr Alfred Mutua's comments/briefings he gives other than the journalist invited to listen to his vomits/crap. Give us a break Mutua. You are a liar. Even kids at kindergaten will never listen to you.
Posted September 30, 2008 12:10 AM
RSS
Let the hate campaign start. We always read fishy and corruption besides opening our mouth before getting all the facts. It is our world. Some are holier than thou. Listening to them make one think of the short distance betweeen us and the celestial choir.