| No. | Name | Term of office | Ref. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||
| 1 | Group captain I S Stockwell, CBE,DFC,AFC |
1 June 1964 | 22 Feb 1967 | 2 years, 266 days | |
| 2 | Group captain Fred Rothwell, DFC,TD |
23 Feb 1967 | 09 Aug 1971 | 4 years, 167 days | |
| 3 | Group captain David John Edwards, CBE,AFC |
10 Aug 1971 | 16 Apr 1973 | 1 year, 249 days | |
| 4 | Colonel Dedan Njuguna Gichuru, EBS, ‘awc’ (USA) |
17 Apr 1973 | 26 Jun 1980 | 7 years, 70 days | |
| 5 | Major general Patrick Mwagiru Kariuki, ‘psc’ (UK) |
27 Jun 1980 | 11 Aug 1982 | 2 years, 45 days | |
| 6 | Lieutenant general Mohamed Haji Barrow Mohamud, EGH,CBS,UM,DCO |
12 Aug 1982 | 13 Mar 1986 | 3 years, 213 days | |
| 7 | Major general Dedan Njuguna Gichuru, CBS,EBS ‘awc’ (USA) |
14 Feb 1986 | 9 May 1989 | 3 years, 84 days | |
| 8 | Major general Duncan Kireri Wachira, CBS,’awc’ (USA), ‘acsc'(USA) |
10 May 1989 | 28 June 1994 | 5 years, 49 days | |
| 9 | Major general Nick Letoluo Leshan, MGH,CBS,DCO ‘awc’ (USA), ‘acsc'(USA) |
29 June 1994 | 30 Nov 2000 | 6 years, 154 days | |
| 10 | Major general Simon Kiplimo Muttai, MGH,CBS,’awc’ (USA), ‘psc'(UK) |
01 Dec 2000 | 26 Nov 2003 | 2 years, 360 days | |
| 11 | Major general Julius Waweru Karangi, MGH,CBS,’ndc’ (K), ‘psc'(K) |
27 Nov 2003 | 09 Aug 2005 | 1 year, 255 days | |
| 12 | Major general Harold M. Tangai, MGH,EBS,DCO ‘ndc’ (K), ‘psc'(K) |
10 Aug 2005 | 12 Jul 2011 | 5 years, 336 days | |
| 13 | Major general Joff Otieno, MGH,EBS,DCO,OGW ‘awc’ (USA), ‘psc'(K) |
13 Jul 2011 | 30 Jul 2014 | 3 years, 17 days | |
| 14 | Major general Samuel Nganga Thuita, MGH,EBS,OGW ‘ndc’ (K), ‘psc'(K) |
31 July 2014 | 13 July 2018 | 3 years, 347 days | |
| 15 | Major general Francis Omondi Ogolla, MGH,EBS,HSC ‘ndc’ (K) ‘psc’ (FRA) |
14 July 2018 | 22 July 2021 | 3 years, 8 days | |
| 16 | Major general John Mugaravai Omenda, EBS,SS,OGW ‘rcds’ (UK) ‘psc’ (K) |
23 July 2021 | Incumbent | 163 days | |
Close