The governments of Kenya and Mozambique agreed in Maputo last week to exchange information and cooperate on defence matters and in the fight against terrorism, which affects both countries.
“One of the steps is exactly this agreement that was signed today, which did not exist. It creates concrete guidelines on how things should legally work,” said Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi at a joint press conference with Kenyan counterpart William Ruto, who is on a state visit to Mozambique.
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“It is not a problem limited to our two countries. It is a global challenge for the whole continent, and we are proud of the cooperation with our partners in Mozambique,” said the Kenyan head of state.
The governments of the two countries today signed four memoranda of understanding in areas such as agriculture, fisheries, energy and capacity building in the public sector, as well as four other cooperation agreements in terms of mutual recognition and exchange of driving licences, transfer of convicted persons, mutual legal assistance in criminal matters and cooperation in the field of Defence.
After signing these legal instruments, Mozambique’s president recalled that the Kenyan security forces have supported from the outset the training of Mozambican military units that have been fighting terrorists in the north of the country for more than five years, associated with the extremist group Al-Shabaab and the Islamic State, something that both countries intend to “extend”, based on the lines now defined.
Filipe Nyusi stressed that Mozambique has to share with Kenya information on the way the terrorist group that carried out attacks in Cabo Delgado province acts through this new legal mechanism.
“There is in this agreement the exchange of information. And this information is fundamental. To know what force is acting in Mozambique, where it comes from, if we can find it, who supports them. Successively we will collaborate and work together. The problem of terrorism is global, not just Mozambique and Kenya,” Nyusi said.
Ruto said Kenya was “pleased” to “contribute to the fight against terrorism in Mozambique”, which it intends to maintain in the future: “You can count on Kenya’s support in training, in the exchange of information and capacity”.
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The two heads of state, who met after the second session of the Joint Cooperation Commission between the two countries, which took place between Monday and Wednesday in Maputo, said that relations between the two countries are now entering a positive phase, particularly in economic terms.
The Kenyan president announced the provision of 100,000 scholarships for Mozambican trainees in Kenya in the field of tourism.
