The Cabinet Secretary for Defence Hon. Aden Duale has reiterated Kenya’s efforts to leverage the presence of the Malindi Space Centre to build her own capacity as an emerging and space fairing nation by utilizing space capabilities for socioeconomic development.
He reported that as a developing nation, Kenya contends with various challenges on agriculture and food security, national security, disaster management and natural resources management which can be adequately addressed by leveraging space technologies.
Hon. Duale made the sentiments today when he appeared before the Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations to report on the status of implementation of the Kenya-Italy Bilateral Agreement on the Luigi Broglio-Malindi Space Centre.
Under the agreement, the CS told the Committee chaired by Belgut Member of Parliament Hon. Nelson Koech that the two countries through the Kenya Space Agency (KSA) and Italian Space Agency (ASI) ought to have mutual access to earth observation data and fair share of profits that accrue.
However, this hasn’t been the case since the agreement was ratified by the National Assembly on 15th October 2020.
The space facility sits on a parcel of land belonging to the Ministry of Defence strategically placed along the equator which makes it ideal for earth observation and other space related activities.
He called upon the Members of Parliament to support the efforts by KSA to have the Agreement fully implemented to enable Kenya reap from space related activities.
KSA is a State Corporation domiciled in the Ministry of Defence mandated to promote, coordinate and regulate space related activities in the country. The CS was accompanied by KSA Director General Brigadier Hilary Kipkosgey.
Add Comment