And btw even as I say this I am not blind to the complication that Israel has introduced to Nairobi's security planning. With the recognition of Somaliland, ostensibly as a forward base for anti-Yemen operations, it introduces Somalia proper to the Mid-East mess.

https://twitter.com/Jasiri_Tengu/status/2005269249133281778

The Houthis no doubt won't stand idly by. In addition to directly striking Somaliland, they'll definitely work with anti-Somaliland groups within Somalia. That introduces a level of sophistication to the muck that's the Somalia theatre that Nairobi must prepare for.

I am watching a documentary on Huawei and a huge realisation just hit me. The whole "privatisation" plan is so insidiously diabolical that we (me at least) haven't been able to see it for this long! Now, we call ourselves "a capitalist society" but the structure we had where state owned enterprises played a huge role in stabilising prices, developing markets and keeping things generally affordable had us playing in the realm of socialism.

On this special day, let's remember a legend. KNS Jamuhuri, a Madaraka Class Missile boat.

📸copyright Coastfarmer1 Comissioned in 1976, she was part of a 3 ship flotilla built by the now defunct Brooke Marine of UK. In many ways, she and her sisters Madaraka (which the class got named after) and Harambee, were a sign of the changing times.

Mzee is smart but not very wise, see it from it his point of view . . .
2007, an election is held in Kenya and Uganda ends up with invisible hands around its neck.
No worries, he goes to the drawing board and decides to hedge. He re-routes some through Tanzania, including

https://twitter.com/andrewbagala/status/1987837751421464996

the all important EACOP line.
2025, Samia does de ting and another invisible set of hands lands on Uganda's neck. This time, when Mzee runs a risk assessment of another disruption in '27 Kenya he can see Uganda's life flashing before his eyes.

The Ranger regiment and SF battalion has turned out to be one of the most potent things out of our NGO in recent times. However as lethal, hardened and efficient as they are, they are still a long ways from being a true airborne formation as envisioned. For starters, they have no organic lift capacity. The grand idea of amalgamating units under JHC turned out to be a poor decision in the long run. The autonomy the Army had in heli CAS was lost and there hasn't been any improvement in overall lift capacity and battlefield support

Evolution.

Antonov 8 Antonov 10

Here's something interesting about African logistics network.
It is much easier for Chad to import fuel via Mombasa than via Egypt.
There's no continental shipping line that connects African ports in fact Maersk does more African transshipment volumes than probably any African shipping line.
There's no dependable link between East and West Africa for cargo.
The Eastern Seaboard of Africa is not connected to the Western Seaboard (Atlantic) of Africa.
It costs just as much to fly to Kinshasa from Nairobi as it does to Dubai from Nairobi.

Kenya's, or rather Ruto's, support to RSF (an org whose leaders have been sanctioned) isn't just limited to innocent gestures like venues for meetings.
Over the past two or so years, Mombasa International Airport has served as an important refuelling point for aircraft suspected

https://twitter.com/MwangiMaina_/status/1891401217781473734

to be carrying munitions of war to resupply the RSF. These flights are suspected to originate from the UAE with their route typically being a refuelling stop in Mombasa, crossing into Tanzanian airspace at Taveta/Moshi then over Uganda, CAR/South Sudan and into Eastern Chad.

Since the war in Ukraine broke out, we kept having robust conversations with @IanECox and I kept telling him "nothing good ever came out of listening to the US, particularly with war". Once again, the US is living up to its reputation.

https://twitter.com/GLandsbergis/status/1890824579775336590

2. This confirms the rumours that Ukraine and Russia could have settled this through talks in Belarus and Istanbul were it not for European interference in both cases. I mean, why is an election in Ukraine that bad?

https://x.com/GLandsbergis/status/1890824595449528346?t=5HSE54vxaIrvb277AGZXlg&s=19

Let's correct a few misconceptions with these online prices.
Wikipedia prices are what we call "Flyaway price/cost". This is basically the production cost of the aircraft.

https://twitter.com/Shad_khalif/status/1818294569169043583

Then there's the "Acquisition cost" which is the ‘Fly Away Cost+initial spares+induction cost (training of pilots, mechanics and base handling)’.
Then there's the “Total Ownership/Life Cycle Cost” which is the ‘Fly Away Cost+Acquisition Cost+Operations & logistics support costs’

When @NjeriBt says she's surprised by my "anti-state rhetoric" it is because of things like these. This country is being broken down and sold off in small portions. The energy grid has been sold off, the airport would have been gone.. and you haven't heard about the port yet.

https://twitter.com/LizQueenB_/status/1815394717498007606

Ten years of Ruto and I promise we will be in an inextricable mess! Forests gone, JKIA on its way out, roads being sold off one by one, the port is already being compromised by his patrons, unextracted minerals already auctioned, citizens pawned off.
Hatuna kiongozi, ni msaliti.

The more you think about this Kware shit job the more comical it becomes.
So
1. Dude dumped his first body, his wife, in 2022 and no one saw him. Was the wife reported missing?
2. Emboldened by that, he subsequently dumped 13 more (with the latest 14 body count) bodies. All this time no one saw him.

This country gets fed a lot of rubbish by State officers but no Ministry tops the Ministry of Defence in this.
Earlier this week, @pmariru, @HonAdenDuale and other Defence heavyweights were in Parliament to appear before the Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Affairs Committee.
This annual exercise is all about creating an impression of a Ministry that is subordinate to civilian control but as history has shown, it answers only to itself. The ministry never answers questions, choosing instead to hide under "confidential'. Tuesday was no different.

Last week has had a lot of Kenya Navy content on my TL, from the floating of Shupavu, the navex on Jasiri and the whole fiasco surrounding KNS Jasiri's delivery. One of the concerns on the @johngithongo anglo leasing report was that Astilleros Gondan, the shipyard contracted to build the KNS Jasiri had no experience on naval ship building and had sub contracted the work. In fact the report went ahead to claim the OPV was actually a repurposed fishing vessel!... 😂😂😂. Anyway, here's a break down of Kenya Navy's relationship with Astilleros Gondan.

There are two subspecies of pilots in Kenya and one entirely different species. The first two are the Aviatus Jomukus and Aviatus Wilsonicus.
The Aviatus Jomukus is a fascinating breed. The older members of this species have perfected the art of lying and PR. They have crafted a public image so carefully and throughly that sometimes they have a problem recognizing their true self. The younger members of this sub species communicate in multiple repetitions of "you guy my guy" and can neither form a complete English nor KiSwahili sentence. You'll often

1. KDF has just deployed to the Congo, our experience in DRC spans well over 25 years. For some you may just be discovering Eastern DRC but for the DoD they know the smell of the soil. 2. Congo in some respects will not be like Somalia. Tighter regional mandate and length of the resupply corridors means things we've grown accustomed to (and love) like airstrikes from our fighter-bombers won't happen, at least in the near term.

Even as we talk about @WilliamsRuto's deployment of KDF to DRC, an even more monumental action on KDF awaits him. Whether he likes it or not, whether we like it or not, this administration is going to embark on the most expensive military armament program in our nation's history. Under @HonAdenDuale, the @kdfinfo has an onerous task of replacing almost every single weapons system in its inventory due to old age. Entire fighter fleet, armoured fleet, IFV fleet, Utility helicopter fleet, air defence systems, surveillance radars, OPV/IPV landing ship fleet..

Thread Alert!
On the 28th of June 2018, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority @CAA_Kenya quietly sent a letter to the Cabinet secretary in charge of interior, Dr @FredMatiangi .
In this letter, KCAA notified the NPS Air Wing through the CS that it was de registering Mi 17 helicopter type from the Kenyan Civil Aircraft Registry.

Dear Kenyans,
I know we are oblivious to what goes on in our region and how this affects our economy. I know our TV stations (@KBCChannel1 @KTNNews @NTVnewsroom @K24Tv @citizentvkenya ) would rather report what Chiloba had for breakfast than tell us what's going on in our.. #KoT Neighborhood. So kindly allow me to take this opportunity to bring you up to speed on something that potentially has serious ramifications for our region.
Earlier this month, Somalia Government confiscated $9million in cash at Aden Abdulle airport in Mogadishu. The cash was #KOT