Kenya and U.S. Sign New Military Training Partnership

Kenya, August 21, 2026 - The National Defence University of Kenya (NDU-K) and Central Georgia Technical College (CGTC) in Georgia, USA, have signed a new Training Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, as Kenya and the United States continue to strengthen their longstanding defence partnership.

 The new partnership is aimed at advancing cooperation in defence education, technical and vocational training, professional development, institutional capacity building and knowledge exchange.

Officials from both sides maintained that such partnerships will be core in ensuring that the two countries nurture and develop high-skilled defence personnel as well as strengthen resilient Defence Institutions which are capable of effectively responding to the evolving security challenges.

“The Agreement was signed by Lt. Gen. D.K.C. Tarus, Vice Chancellor of NDU-K, and Dr. Ivan H. Allen, President of CGTC. The signing was witnessed by Col. Christopher Mbutu, Defence Attaché at the Embassy of the Republic of Kenya in Washington, D.C., alongside Mr. Jeff Scruggs, Executive Vice President of CGTC, and Brig. Gen. I.G. Noor, Commandant of the Defence Forces Technical College (DEFTEC), a constituent college of NDU-K,” The Kenyan Embassy in Washington, D.C noted.

“The Embassy welcomes this important milestone, which further strengthens the Kenya–U.S. strategic and defence partnership and advances the two countries’ shared objectives in peace, security, capacity building and professional military development,” it added.

For years, Kenya and the U.S have maintained a military partnership, marked by joint training programmes, military exercises, professional development initiatives and cooperation in counterterrorism and regional security.
The  U.S has also played a core role in strengthening the capacity of Kenya’s defence forces through training, technical assistance and knowledge exchange in response to evolving security threats in the region.

Recently, Kenya was among three East African Nations, including Djibouti and Tanzania, that hosted the Exercise Justified Accord, a major U.S. Africa Command-led multinational military exercise held annually in East Africa, that took place from February 2 to March 13.

Kenya has hosted parts of the exercise, providing an avenue for Kenyan and U.S. forces to train together in areas including peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, and response to complex security threats.