By Guy Faulconbridge
MOSCOW, March 16 (Reuters) – Kenya said on Monday that it had agreed with Russia that Kenyans would no longer be eligible for signing up to fight in the war with Ukraine after the scale of Russian recruitment triggered anger in some African countries.
Kenya says that more than 1,000 Kenyans have been recruited to fight, attracted by monthly salaries of several thousand dollars and bonuses of more than $6,000 for contract soldiers.
After meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Kenyan Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi praised the relationship with Moscow, including Soviet recognition of Kenyan independence from Britain in 1963.
On the issue of Kenyans fighting in what the Kremlin calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, Mudavadi said agreement had been reached to no longer allow Kenyans to sign up to fight.
“His excellency has conversed with us on the issue of the welfare of Kenyans who are in Russia and more specifically those who are involved in the special operation,” Mudavadi said at a joint news briefing with Lavrov.
“And I want to make it clear that we have now agreed that Kenyans shall not be enlisted through the (Russian) Ministry of Defence – they will no longer be eligible to be enlisted,” he said. “There will no further enlisting.”
He added that consular services would be organised through proper diplomatic channels for those Kenyans who had already signed up and required assistance.
Lavrov said that Kenyan citizens had voluntarily signed contracts to fight alongside the Russian army.
It is unclear exactly how many Africans have gone to fight in Ukraine but Kyiv says over 1,700 Africans fighting on the Russian side. The Russian defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
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Before the trip to Moscow, Mudavadi told Reuters that he hoped to stop Kenyans enlisting to fight.
“We want Kenyans stopped – they should not be enlisted at all,” Mudavadi said. “We are getting a lot of pressure from some of the affected families who are now gathering more courage to come forward and speak to the issue.”
A Kenyan intelligence report presented to lawmakers in February said that more than 1,000 Kenyans had been recruited to fight on Russia’s side in the war in Ukraine, five times more than authorities had previously estimated.
Kenyan politicians have described what they say is a network of rogue state officials who have colluded with human trafficking syndicates to recruit Kenyans to fight for Russia in Ukraine.
Mudavadi said Kenya and Russia could boost cooperation in energy, tourism, and agriculture.
“We do not want for any reason our partnership with Russia to be defined from the lenses of the special operation (in Ukraine) agenda only,” he said. “The relationship between Kenya and Russia is much more broad than that.”
(Reporting by ReutersEditing by Andrew Osborn and Aidan Lewis)
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