US Says Kenya’s War on Terror Effective

Kenya has been effectively fighting terrorism, the United States of America said in a new global report on terror.

“Despite Somali refugee issues, preparation for 2013 national elections, the threat of al-Shabaab, and ethnic, political, and economic tensions, the Kenyan government demonstrated persistent political will to secure its borders, apprehend terrorists, and cooperate in regional and international counter-terrorism efforts,” says the US global report on terrorism, issued on Thursday.

{{The U.S. State Department cites Kenya’s success in disrupting “several large-scale terrorist plots.” Positive mention is also made of Kenyan military operations inside Somalia, which resulted in “capture of the key port city of Kismaayo, al-Shabaab’s last major stronghold.”}}

The report hails “the long-awaited passage of Kenya’s Prevention of Terrorism Act.” Kenya also made “significant progress” in correcting deficiencies in its apparatus for preventing money-laundering on the part of terrorism financiers, the State Department says.

But Kenya “still has much work to do” in implementing the Prevention of Terrorism Act and in developing the capacity to “track, seize, and confiscate the assets of al-Shabaab and other terrorist groups,” the report adds.

It goes on to describe Kenya as “an active law-enforcement partner” in the State Department’s anti-terrorism assistance programme.