Kenya is advancing a new legal framework aimed at tightening control over the trade, movement, and handling of sensitive goods and technologies that could be diverted into the production of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons, in a move designed to strengthen national security and regulate cross-border flows of dual-use items.
The Strategic Goods Control Bill, 2026, was introduced in the National Assembly by Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah on April 7, 2026, marking a renewed push to establish a structured system for monitoring strategic goods and related services.
The proposed law provides for the creation of a central control committee that will oversee licensing, maintain a national control list, and regulate the import, export, storage, and transit of strategic goods. The committee will also have the authority to issue, suspend, or revoke licences and conduct compliance inspections to ensure proper use of approved items.
Strategic goods under the Bill refer to military equipment and dual-use technologies that can be repurposed for harmful use, including the development of weapons of mass destruction.
The Interior Cabinet Secretary will issue a national control list that will define the items subject to regulation. The framework also aligns with international standards, including a United Nations list that covers items such as ammunition, tanks, military aircraft, imaging devices, lasers, and autonomous flying vehicles.
The legislation has been in development since 2015, following a government review triggered by security concerns after a series of terror attacks that exposed gaps in the monitoring of sensitive materials and technologies.
“The principal object of the Bill is to provide for the control of trade in strategic goods and related services, to prevent the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons and their means of delivery,” reads a memorandum on the Bill in part.
“The Bill establishes the Strategic Goods Control Committee...whose functions include oversight of the control of trade in strategic goods and related services, formulation and review of the National Control List, issuance, suspension, and revocation of licences or certificates issued under the Act, and establishment and operation of end-use controls and compliance checks.”
The committee will be chaired by the Internal Security Principal Secretary and will include Principal Secretaries from the Defence, Finance, Health, ICT, and Trade ministries. Other members will include the Solicitor General, Chief of Defence Forces, Director of the National Intelligence Service, Inspector General of Police, and Commissioner General of the Kenya Revenue Authority.
All members, except the Interior Principal Secretary, may nominate representatives to sit on the committee on their behalf. The Kenya Private Sector Alliance and the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce will also each nominate one representative to participate in the process.
The Bill introduces strict penalties for non-compliance. Individuals who trade in strategic goods without authorisation, breach licence conditions, or facilitate illegal transactions will face fines ranging from Sh3 million to Sh50 million, or imprisonment of up to 10 years, or both.
The Interior Ministry has also stated that the controls will extend beyond physical goods to include software and digital systems that could be used in the development of weapons of mass destruction or advanced military technologies.
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