Truth about the presence of the US warship at the East African Coastline

By Our Correspondent 

Last Monday the US Navy expeditionary sea base USS Hershel ” Woody Williams” arrived at the Mombasa Port as part of its 2021 African Coast deployment.

This is the first U.S naval ship in over a decade to dock at the port after USS porter’s visit in 2007.  The United States of America in Kenya’s largest bilateral benefactor, especially when it comes to enhancing the maritime security capabilities of the Kenya Navy and the Coast Guard.

“Our visit to Mombasa confirms our resolve and commitment to the preservation of security and stability in Kenya and Africa,” said Captain Michael Concannon, the commanding officer of the USS Hershel “Woody Williams.”

The vessel is deployed to the eastern Coast of Africa to advance American interests in maritime security and stability in Africa. She also supports the growing strategic partnerships between the U.S and African countries through training and security for freedom of navigation.  With a rotational crew swap, Williams conducts U.S Africa Command’s missions in the Mediterranean Sea, East, West and South Africa.

The visit comes at a period when there is debate about the increasing Chinese naval influence in Africa, but the United States’ capacity building efforts- especially in the maritime security-remain phenomenal.

Since 2003, the U.S Department of Defence has provided the Kenya Navy with over $161 millions of hardware assistance and equipment training ; $3 over $1 million of  maintenance upgrades for naval equipment, according to the U.S Embassy in Nairobi.

In 2018, the United States completed its largest maritime security cooperation program in Sub-Saharan Africa by donating 10 Metal Shark boats, reinforcing awareness capability and support the Kenyan blue economy.

Xi Jinping’s control over the China Coast Guard, together with a new law that authorizes the coast guard to use force against foreign ships in places China defines as in its own, is a big change that has so far attracted far less attention than it deserves.

Maybe that’s because Xi has acted on several fronts to assert Chinese power and take risks in the dying weeks of Donald Trump’s term as US president and in the early days of Joe Biden’s tenure. Some moves—like the one to put sanctions on senior Trump officials, their families and companies that employ them—have rightly attracted attention as vindictive measures. Others, like the People’s Liberation Army’s incursions into Taiwanese airspace, are about furthering Beijing’s campaign to isolate and intimidate Taiwan and test US and international resolve.