Kenya
Kenya voted in favour of adopting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) at the UN negotiating conference in 2017 and has consistently voted in favour of the annual UN General Assembly resolutions on the Treaty, including in 2024. It has also voiced its support for the Treaty.1 It maintains policies and practices that are compatible with all of the prohibitions in Article 1 of the TPNW, and can therefore sign and ratify or accede to the Treaty without the need for a change in conduct.
TPNW Status
| Key weapons of mass destruction treaties | ||
|---|---|---|
| NUCLEAR WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the TPNW | No | |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Ratified 1970) | |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2000) | |
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 2001, Pelindaba) | |
| CSA with the IAEA | Yes (In force 2009) | |
| AP with the IAEA | Yes (In force 2009) | |
| BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Acceded 1976) | |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1997) | |
| TPNW Art. 1(1) prohibitions: Compatibility in 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compatible |
| Possess or stockpile | Compatible | |
| Test | Compatible | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compatible |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compatible |
| (d) | Use | Compatible |
| Threaten to use | Compatible | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compatible |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compatible |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compatible |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted yes (2024) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | No |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | No |
| Average MSP delegation size (% women) | N/A |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Voted yes |
| Fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Nuclear facilities | No |
| Fissile material production | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
| SQP with the IAEA | Yes (Modified) |
Latest developments
During the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly in September 2024, the President of Kenya, William Ruto, lamented that the ‘vision of a world free from nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction is dying incrementally’ amid a renewed nuclear arms race and ‘intensifying geopolitical rivalries and tensions’. He warned of the real possibility of ‘catastrophic nuclear warfare’.2
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2024, Kenya said that the ‘only absolute guarantee against the use of nuclear weapons lies in their complete elimination’, and the ‘road to this end is constructive engagement, political will and the full implementation of multilateral obligations’.3
At the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) Preparatory Committee session in July 2024, Kenya called on nuclear-weapon states to ‘abandon the false promise of nuclear deterrence’ and criticised the practices of deploying nuclear weapons on foreign territory and supplying non-nuclear-weapon states with highly enriched uranium for military purposes.4
Kenya participated in the African Conference on the Universalisation and Implementation of the TPNW in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in September 2024.5
Recommendations
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Kenya should urgently adhere to the TPNW.