Ministry of State for Defence Denies Kenya Military Media Allegations

REPUBLIC OF KENYA

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT MINISTRY OF STATE FOR DEFENCE

Telegrams: "DEFENCE" Nairobi
Tel: + 254-020-2721100
Fax No.: +254-020-2725854

Defence Headquarters
Ulinzi House
P.O. Box 40668 Nairobi-00100

PRESS RELEASE

1.Attention of the Ministry of State for Defence has been drawn to reports in sections of the media regarding retirement and extensions of service of certain senior military officers. We wish therefore to clarify to the public that decision making in the military regarding military personnel is made through a set legal process of Boards which make recommendations to the appropriate levels including the Defence Council and ultimately to the Commander in Chief. This due process ensures collective and sober considerations of all factors before decisions are made. In the case of the last Defence Council, this process, as in the past was followed to the letter. Extension of service for senior officers, including Major Generals Opiyo and Mutwii, were considered and outcomes communicated. The current media hype on this matter is therefore merely speculative.

2. The post of Commandant AFTC Lanet was rightsized from Major General to Brigadier after decentralisation developments made the rank of Major General professionally untenable. This is to be expected in a dynamic institution like the military. It also happened to several other posts and affected other officers as well. There being no other vacant post for re-deploying Major General Okanga, he was retired from the military and re-assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The law allows for this and it has happened many times in the past. Brigadier Haji was moved to the post of Commandant, Kenya Military Academy (formerly AFTC Lanet) on normal transfer.

3. Regarding the operations in Mt Elgon, the military has time and again appealed to the public to formerly and empirically report any case(s) of torture to enable us investigate and take appropriate action. To date we have not received any such report other than unauthenticated utterances. We have not and will not condone torture and our soldiers are well schooled and experienced in the application of the law of Armed conflict in and outside Kenya.

4. We respect the central role of the media in Kenya's democratization process, however, we expect the media to recognize the role of other institutions in the same process. It is therefore fitting to appeal to the media to avoid stirring negative emotions through speculative reporting on military matters.