Kenya Navy

The Kenya Navy is the naval branch of the Kenya Defence Forces. It is headquartered in Mombasa.

Kenya Navy has two major bases for its fleet with it being headquartered in Mtongwe Naval Base, Mombasa and Manda Bay (part of Lamu Archipelago) being the second naval base. The navy also operates naval stations in Shimoni, Msambweni, Malindi and Kilifi. The Kenya Navy fleet is organized into two fighting squadrons and a logistical support squadron, namely the pioneer 66 Squadron, the 76 Squadron and the 86 Squadron all supported by a Special Operations Squadron, the Fleet Maintenance Unit and a newly formed elite Marine Ranger Regiment.

History

As Great Britain wound down her colonial control in East Africa, the Royal East African Navy (REAN) was established in 1953, covering Kenya Colony, Tanganyika and Zanzibar. Following the disbanding of the REAN in 1962, the East African Railways and Harbours Corporation assumed control of naval operations in the former colonies until the independent states were ready to establish their own navies.^[3] The Kenyan Navy was established on 12 December 1964, exactly one year after Kenya gained independence.

In 1976, the Second Squadron, made up of the missile boats KNS Madaraka, KNS Jamhuri and KNS Harambee left Portsmouth to sail to Kenya, arriving later that year. In late August 1976, during the delivery voyage, the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi was approached to request assistance for two of the patrol boats, off the Somali coast and not having “enough fuel to reach Mombasa.”

In 1972, Major JCJ Kimaro was promoted to lieutenant colonel by President Jomo Kenyatta and appointed as the first commander of the Kenyan Navy. He died in a road accident in 1978 and Major General Eliud Mbilu took over command until his retirement in 1988 when Brigadier Joseph Kibwana was promoted to major general.

In 2010 it was reported that the United States Navy Naval Special Warfare Group 4 was assisting the creation of a new Kenyan Special Boat Unit within the Kenya Navy.

On 4 September 2012 the Kenyan Navy shelled the Somali city of Kismayo. This was part of an African Union offensive to capture the city from al-Shabab fighters during the War in Somalia. The harbour was shelled twice and the airport three times. According to a UN report the export of charcoal through Kismayo is a major source of income for al-Shabab.

Commanders of the Kenya Navy

No.	Name	Term of office			Ref.
No.	Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref.
1	Commander E. M. C. Walker	10 Dec 1964	31 Jul 1967	2 years, 233 days
2	Commander Anthony Allen Pearse	1 Aug 1967	1 Oct 1969	2 years, 61 days
3	Commander W. A. E. Hall	2 Oct 1969	31 Oct 1972	3 years, 29 days
4	Lieutenant colonel James C. J. Kimaro	1 Nov 1972	11 Feb 1978	5 years, 102 days
5	Major General Eliud Mbilu	12 Feb 1978	1 Apr 1988	10 years, 49 days
6	Major General Joseph Raymond Edward Kibwana	2 Apr 1988	1 May 1998	10 years, 29 days
7	Major General Aboud Abdalla Rafrouf	2 May 1998	30 Nov 2001	3 years, 212 days
8	Major General Pastor Omudho Awitta, MGH, EBS	1 Dec 2001	26 Jul 2006	4 years, 237 days
9	Major General Samson Jefwa Mwathethe, EGH, MBS, DCO, ‘ndc’ (K) ‘psc’ (UK)	27 Jul 2006	12 Jul 2011	4 years, 350 days
10	Major General Ngewa Mukala, MGH,EBS,DCO ‘ndc’ (K), ‘psc'(K)	13 Jul 2011	10 Aug 2015	4 years, 28 days
11	Major General Levi Franklin Mghalu, MGH,MBS, ‘ndc’ (K), ‘psn’ (RSA)	11 Aug 2015	11 May 2020	4 years, 268 days
12	Major General Jimson Longiro Mutai, MGH, MBS ‘ndc'(K) ‘psc'(K)	12 May 2020	Incumbent	3 years, 150 days