Kenya is a signatory to the Ottawa Treaty on Anti-Personnel Landmines. However the process of the ratification of the treaty has to go through the requisite administrative, legislative and legal formalities in the country before the implementation of further action.

We are indeed fortunate that Kenya unlike other countries in the region, has no known minefields. This is mainly clue to its past and present stability. We are however concerned by the presence of heavily mined areas within the territories of some of our regional neighbors. We are confident that as a signatory to the Ottawa Treaty, Kenya will continue to work together bilaterally and multilaterally with our neighbors and other members of the international community towards making the region a safer area.

In the previous consultative forums held in the country between NGOs and other interest groups, the problem of unexploded ordinance has featured prominently. I want to reassure this forum that the government is duty bound to ensure the safety of its citizens by reacting promptly in the destruction of the unexploded ordnance. In this regard, the government is working in collaboration with the local communities whenever such dangerous items are spotted.

The problem of unexploded ordnance dates bark to activities of various military groups in the region during world war 11 and cannot be attributed to any particular army. In the post World War Two period, military training has continued in specific designated training areas. In the recent past, the growth in Kenya's population has exerted pressure on land and other natural resources resulting in the movement of pastoralists and farmers into designated military training areas. Many of these groups are not aware of the dangers of traversing such terrain, which may still harbour unexploded ordnance. Periodically, reports are received to the effect that herd boys have either been killed or maimed by unexploded ordnance. These however, are very isolated incidents. All military troop training institutions in Kenya are under obligation to ensure that no unexploded ordnance is left behind after each training activity.

As far as the regional efforts on de-mining programs are concerned, we feel that there is need for the programs to be supported by programmed training assistance to individual troops in the affected countries and this should include provision of equipment. Peacekeeping activities now taking place in the Horn of Africa region will be heavily dependent upon the availability of de-mining equipment and trained personnel in order to achieve their objectives. This will require goodwill and cooperation among all parties involved in the past and current conflicts.

We therefore urge those partners that have shown willingness to assist in the provision of training and equipment for demining teams to continue doing so in order to make this goal attainable. This is due to the enormous cost of both equipment and training.

Finally, we want to emphasize that it is evident from the recent trends that foreign troops from outside the continent of Africa are gradually declining in their participation in the resolution of African conflicts. They state that the onus is on the African troops themselves to participate in the restoration of peace. Such participation includes de-mining activities in certain regions. The Africans laid the mines and have an obligation to do the demining.