Kenya gets Sh60m airport security kit
What you need to know:
- The equipment worth US$ 700,000 (Sh60.9 million) includes 20 desktop explosive trace detector machines and one year’s supply of consumables.
The Kenya Airports Authority has received security equipment worth Sh60 million from the US government in efforts to step up the war against terror and global airport insecurity.
The equipment worth US$ 700,000 (Sh60.9 million) includes 20 desktop explosive trace detector machines and one year’s supply of consumables.
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport will receive 10 machines while the remaining will be distributed to other airports. The US Transport Security Administration has trained 57 airport personnel on how to handle the equipment, already in use at the JKIA.
The donation was handed over by Isaiah Parnell, the Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy and USAid Kenya Mission Director Karen Freeman on behalf of the US government.
Speaking at the JKIA during the handing over, Transport Cabinet Secretary Michael Kamau said the donation demonstrated the cooperation between Kenya and the US.
“The gesture is in line with the global security updates being undertaken elsewhere in the world,” he said.
The equipment and training raises security at the JKIA to the level of other terrorism high risk airports in the world, he said. KAA boss Lucy Mbugua said a directive requiring 20 per cent of passengers flying to the US be selected randomly and taken through the machines was already effective.
