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MOKOWE, Kenya—Kenya is asking the U.S. to pay for the expansion of a joint counterterrorism base, raising concerns in Washington that the East African country could turn to China if the Americans balk, according to U.S. officials…
The Kenyan military has drawn up plans for a new runway long enough to handle jet fighters at Manda Bay Airfield, a hub for U.S. and Kenyan operations against al-Shabaab, al Qaeda’s affiliate in neighboring Somalia, the U.S. officials said.
American officials left talks with the Kenyans worried that they might bring a state-owned Chinese construction firm into a U.S. special-operations base if the Pentagon opts out of the project, which could cost roughly $50 million, including support buildings.
“Will they be watching what we do?” a senior U.S. military official said of the Chinese workers. “It poses a strategic dilemma for us.” The Biden administration has so far resisted Kenya’s request that the U.S. pick up the bill for the upgrade, but the issue isn’t settled.
Kenya is a key U.S. ally in one of the longest wars in American history, the 16-year, low-visibility campaign against al-Shabaab, which the U.S. military considers al Qaeda’s most-active franchise worldwide. Some 3,000 Kenyan troops are part of an 18,500-strong African Union force fighting al-Shabaab in Somalia.
