Parliament has asked the Defence Ministry to provide the status of the implementation of a new deal between Kenya and Italy on the use of the multi-billion dollar rocket launching facility in Malindi.
The Ministry of Defence is required to provide details of the implementation of the agreement between Kenya and Italy on the Luigi Broglio-Malindi Space Centre.
The National Assembly in 2020 approved the signing of a new five-year pact that allows Kenya to earn Sh25 million annually from Italy for the use of the land hosting the San Marco Space Centre, now renamed Broglio Space Centre.
Kenya had been negotiating for the new deal since 2012 when the previous pact ended.
The MPs retired a 1995 deal that gave Italy an upper hand in the use of the facility.
The Sh25 million will be reviewed every five years, with a $50,000 (Sh5 million) increment.
Under the new deal, Kenya is expected to pocket 50 percent of the profits of contracts with third parties for commercial services provided by the facility, including launching services, satellite tracking and telemetry, communication, data acquisition, surveillance and navigation.
Italy is also required to remit to Kenya an annual authorisation fee of Sh5 million ($50,000) from each third party for the use of the facility.
The authorisation fee will be reviewed every five years.
The deal also provides 15 scholarships for Kenyans each at a cost of Sh2.6 million annually compared to the 1995 agreement.
Kilifi North MP Owen Baya wants the Committee on Implementation to inquire into the state of the agreement on the enhancement of the capacity of Kenyan public institutions of higher learning in training in space science and technology.
“Could the chairperson also explain the current state of training of Kenyan nationals on aerospace science technology, courses and scholarships in other disciplines as per the agreement?” Mr Baiya said.
He wants the committee to seek answers from the Defence Ministry as to the nature of development support programmes that the Italian government has undertaken for the people of the Ngomeni area in Kilifi County.
The Luigi Broglio- Malindi Space Centre was established about 60 years ago through a public-private partnership between the Aerospace Research Centre at the Sapienza University of Rome, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the US and the government of Kenya.
The centre has been used for several launch activities into space cementing the country’s contribution to the space sector.
Under the agreement, which was ratified by the National Assembly on October 15, 2020, the Italian government agreed to implement certain undertakings which are yet to take effect.
Kenya has hosted the Italian-run San Marco Space Centre since 1962 without benefiting from it due to a pre-Independence agreement.
Rocket launching, satellite tracing and control of orbiting facility are governed under rules of engagement signed between Rome and London and bar any Kenyan from occupying a senior position there.
Under the new deal, a Kenyan will deputise the Italian charged with the overall management of the space facility.
The Malindi-based centre was set up in 1962 and has been used for the launching of sounding rockets, studying the propagation of radio waves and archiving of satellite data.
The space centre was not meant to be an income-generating programme base on the agreements that were renewed in 1975 and 1995.
Only tokens have been channelled to the local Ngomeni community, through the Coast Development Authority, by the Italian government.
