NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 29- A section of leaders in Kenya have openly expressed their concerns over President Uhuru Kenyatta’s decision to involve the military in civilian activities.
This is despite a remarkable record of excellence in sectors the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) have been deployed…like in the case of the Nairobi Metropolitan Services, rehabilitation of the Kenya Railway, Kisumu port and the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC).
For the first time, Kenya’s Chief of Defence Forces General Robert Kibochi has come out to clear the air about this and he says, the military has the backing of the law.
He was speaking during an interview with the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) on Wednesday night.
“It is important to underscore that security and development are very much inter-related. In fact, I think they are two sides of the same coin. Security can never flourish without development and neither can you have development without security,” General Kibochi said.
He noted that Article 241 of the constitution provides for the mandate of the Kenya Defence Forces, with the ultimate duty being to defend and protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.
“But it goes further to state under part three of that particular Article that we shall assist and cooperate with other government authorities in areas the government would want us to undertake,” he explained.
“This provides us with a legal framework around which we can be able to work with other government agencies.”
CDF Kibochi noted that KDF has a huge reservoir of resources developed through the taxpayers’ money.
“The KDF inherently has a huge reservoir of expertise across the entire spectrum whether you are talking about engineering, medical and marine engineering. These are resources that have been developed by the taxpayers…why shouldn’t they be used to develop activities that will help the Kenyan people,” the CDF explained.
-Securitising Certain Products-
What does the military have to do with the meat?
It is a rhetorical question the Chief of Defence Forces asked and then proceeded to expound on their role in revamping the Kenya Meat Commission, among other projects. He spoke of a happy farmer, the journey to revive KMC and more confident soldiers and police officers.
“We are very happy as the security sector because all the meat that we are eating is coming from the Kenya Meat Commission,” he said.
“This itself is very important. When you think about warfare and the need to securitise certain products…because anyone could use meat products to contaminate the entire force.”
He said KMC is now supplying meat to all security agencies including the police recruits training at the Kenya Police College in Kiganjo, Nyeri County.
One of the major reforms initiated by KDF in the meat commission includes the timely payment of farmers, within 72 hours.
The KDF spent Sh650 million to rehabilitate the facility. A while back, a whooping Sh1.5 billion allocated by the Treasury to the Ministry of Agriculture did little or nothing to revive the commission.
With such a record, he said it is important to utilize the KDF resources to support the country’s economy.
-Lack of Discipline, Selfless Commitment and Integrity in institutions-
Gen Kibochi noted that most institutions have collapsed due to lack of discipline. This has led to the embezzlement of public resources and even collapse of certain areas of the economy.
He said the secret to the success of the KDF in rehabilitating some of these projects is among other things selfless commitment.
“You commit to a process that will not benefit you as an individual but for the larger good,” he said.
“Professionalism is a critical pillar in the military because you cannot be able to develop an institution if you do not develop the people on a regular basis.”
He pointed out that, “training and education in the military is something that we take very seriously because the environment keeps on changing whether you talk about technology, doctrine in war fighting…if you do not train and be ahead of the curve of the changes, then you are behind. And I think we have perfected in those four areas.”
The KDF has also been involved in the rehabilitation of the Kisumu Port and MV Uhuru.
The repair work was carried out in 2019 by Kenya Navy and Kenya railways engineers. Before its grounding in 2007, the 56-year-old MV Uhuru, a Kenya Railways Corporation train ferry operated between Jinja, Mwanza, Musoma and Kisumu.
MV Uhuru and MV Umoja (Tanzania) were built in 1965 by Yarrow Shipbuilders in Scotstoun, Glasgow, Scotland and entered service in 1966.
The government has also revealed it saved more than Sh16 billion by using KDF and the National Youth Service to revamp old railway lines in the country.
The Nairobi- Nanyuki line which is already in use was rehabilitated at a cost of Ksh1.2 billion. The line is used in ferrying cargo and passengers to the central part of Kenya.
Lt Gen Mohammed Badi is the Director General Nairobi Metropolitan Services, which has been credited for major facelift for the city and development and more so in the slum areas.
So far, NMS has constructed 24 new hospitals as part of a broad Government plan to decongest Kenyatta National Hospital, Mama Lucy, Pumwani and Mbagathi hospitals.
At a cost of Sh2 billion, NMS was mandated to set up hospitals in Viwandani, Majengo, Mathare, Kayole, Soweto, Korogocho, Kawangware, Gitare Marigu, Mukuru Kwa Njenga, Mukuru kwa Reuben, Kibera and Githurai 44.
Nineteen out of the 24 health facilities were built from scratch at Sh70 million each while five were being rehabilitated at a cost of Sh300 million.
But the critics of the continued use of the military to undertake civilian duties say there is little oversight on how taxpayers’ money is spent.
Want to send us a story? Contact Shahidi News Tel: +254115512797 (Mobile & WhatsApp)
