Defence Cabinet Secretary Hon. Aden Duale has affirmed the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) commitment to discharge their core mandate of defending and protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic.
He reiterated that plans are at an advanced stage to devolve the military and bring the soldiers closer to the people for immediate response to security threats in every part of the country. The CS made the remarks this evening at a Nairobi hotel when he appeared before the Senate Standing Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations.
The meeting aimed at apprising the Senators on the roles, functions and various programs the military is currently involved in. Hon. Duale told the Committee, chaired by Baringo Senator William Cheptumo that the Ministry continues to upscale efforts of expansion and modernization to enhance force posture as well as it’s capacity and capability to deal with modern-day security challenges.
“We continue to rebuild capacity to respond to human security challenges, strengthen capacity for the military industrialization and innovation as well as increasing training facilities. We want to be sufficiently equipped to combat threats from the land, airspace, territorial waters and the cyber space,” said CS.
In his presentation, Hon. Duale said that the troops welfare remains at the core of the Ministry by enhancing their health care and education needs for their children.
“We want to ensure that the families of our soldiers to access the best heath care in our medical facilities. Additionally, we want their children to access robust KDF-sponsored schools so that the soldiers can perform well in operation areas,” the CS maintained.
He informed the Senators that the Ministry through KDF is in the process of building new schools and rehabilitating dilapidated ones in the banditry-prone North Rift region to enable children access education.
Hon. Duale pointed out the decline in budgetary allocation over the years that was not commensurate with the expansion efforts of the Ministry as well as the encroachment of military land as key challenges the military was facing.
The Chief of Legal Services Brigadier Yvonne Kerubo emphasized that KDF recruitment is corruption-free adding that those culpable of recruitment malpractices were subjected to court martial and dismissed if found culpable.
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