LIEUTENANT GENERAL WALTER RARIA KOIPATON
MGH CBS OGW ‘ndc’ (K) ‘psc’ (TZ)
COMMANDER KENYA ARMY
Lieutenant General Walter Raria Koipatonis the Commander of the Kenya Army following his promotion and appointment on 13 July 2018. He was enlisted into the Kenya Defence Forces as an Officer Cadet on 14 May 1982 and Commissioned as an Officer on 14 April 1983. After completion of his Cadet training, he was posted to 3rd Kenya Rifles as a Platoon Commander and served in various appointments including Officer Commanding and later as Commanding Officer.
During his illustrious career in the Kenya Defence Forces, Lieutenant General Koipaton has held a raft of Command, Staff and Instructional related appointments in various Kenya Defence Forces establishments. He served as Officer Commanding Cadet Wing between 1994 -1995. In Staff, he has served as Staff Officer at Headquarters Kenya Army, Military Assistant to Army Commander, Military Assistant to Chief of General Staff and later as the Provost Marshall.
He was the Commander 6 Brigade in 2012 and was instrumental in the formative stage of the Brigade which later deployed in Somalia between 2013 and 2014. On successful completion of his deployment in Somalia, Lieutenant General Koipaton was appointed General Officer Commanding Western Command on 16 April 2015, an appointment he held until 28 July 2016 when he was appointed as the Deputy Army Commander.
During his career spanning more than three decades, Lieutenant General Koipaton has attended 22 Military courses relevant to the various appointments he has held. Key among them include; Command and Staff Course (Tanzania), Senior Command Course (Joint Warfare Centre), Combat Group Command Course (India), Intelligence and Counter Terrorism (USA)andNational Defence Course (Kenya).
Lieutenant General Raria Koipaton holdsa Diploma in International Relations from the University of Nairobi, a Bachelor of Sciencein Peace and Conflict Studies from the African Nazerene Universityand is a graduate oftheNational Defence University,Washington, USA.
He has also served in United Nations and African Union Peacekeeping missions in various parts of the world which includes the United Nations mission in Yugoslavia as adjutant, Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) where he was the Commanding Officer of the Kenyan Battalion. Equally important, in efforts towards the stabilization of Somalia, between 2013 -2014 he served as Sector Commander.
In recognition for his distinguished and exemplary service, on separate occasions, H.E the President and Commander in Chief of the Defence Forces has awarded him the medals of Chiefof the Order of the Burning Spear (CBS) and Order of the Grand Warrior (OGW) and the Moran of the Order of the Golden Heart (MGH).Lieutenant General Walter Raria was born on 01 July 1961 in Kajiado County.
He is married to Susan and are blessed with four children.
