Defence CS pick Duale faults move to give KDF civilian jobs

The MP noted that under the Constitution KDF functions are defence and protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic, assistance and cooperation with other authorities in situations of emergency or disaster, and may be deployed to restore peace in any part of Kenya.

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed Lt Gen Mohammed Badi to head NMS which took over some functions of the Nairobi county government while some senior KDF officers were picked to run KMC.

Duale said for KDF to be deployed to assist civilians and solve unrest or instability within the country this must get the approval of the National Assembly.

He noted that if approved by the National Assembly as the Defence CS apart from guiding policy he will monitor and evaluate all the developments within KDF and assured Kenyans that every coin allocated will be well utilised.

The MP declared that he is worth Sh851 million including his goats and hundreds of camels.

"This is including the assets that I own which include the sheep, and camels. I had to go and value my 231 camels somewhere in Kitui County which brings the total of Sh851 million," he said.

Asked about his take on the Ugandan General Muhoozi Kainerugaba's tweets threatening to takeover Nairobi, Duale said KDF believes in diplomacy and the army does not react to tweets, and therefore the Twitter rants were inconsequential.

"Those who want to know the capability of KDF will see it during the national holidays," he said.

Responding to a question from an MP on why KDF had continued to acquire military hardware despite not being in war for all its years, Duale said the military must continually update its hardware and software to match the moving times.

"We must at all times show the military posture, we have more threats and we must protect the social and economic function of our people. We will invest more because every day we are confronted with newer threats like not cyber-crimes just to name a few," said Duale.

On the issue of KDF presence in Somalia, the MP said Kenya had 700km of land on the Kenya- Somalia boundary to be defended and protect the country from Al Shabaab. "We are in Somalia we want to leave Somalia when they are stable but we don't want to stay long," said Duale.

On women in the military, Duale noted that since 1999 when the late President Daniel arap Moi disbanded the Women's service Corp and ordered that they be incorporated into the forces, there has been the equal treatment of the two genders in the force.

The MPs were particularly concerned with the recruitment of the KDF where some constituents are allegedly coerced to pay bribes to get slots.

They said that seven officers were arrested and were undergoing court-martial over the matter.

"The KDF is dealing with their officers involved in such practices, the role of the other Kenyans was to ensure that they dealt with the brokers who were collecting the bribes during the recruitments," said Duale.

Recruitment of soldiers, the Defense CS nominee said was the elephant in the room because there were cases of unjust practices.

"Some people run the whole day and eventually you get some who were not in the field receive the recruitment letters," said Duale.

He suggested that government could consider mopping up the young people who have some local training as part of the special recruitment criteria in some regions as long as they have Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) in some regions just like it was in the Moi regime but said this was a matter to be decided by the Commander in Chief.

The Defense CS nominee assured Kenyans that KDF personnel who mount roadblocks in the Coast and Northern Kenya region to thwart terrorism will be civil and treat the public with decorum.

"The roadblocks are not only in the Coast region but also in Northern Kenya. The roadblocks are not supposed to be permanent and must only be put there only where there is intelligence," he said.

Belgut MP Nelson Koech asked Duale how he will handle the issue of Lt Gen Francis Ogola's presence during the counting of the presidential votes at the Bomas of Kenya, Nairobi.

The Defense CS nominee said the matter is in the hands of the president who is the commander-in-Chief.

He the officer could have been a victim of influence by those in power because there was no one who could stop the will of the people.

Asked about the promise to name the terrorism financiers, Duale said that he read a statement that was agreed upon by all the leadership of the North Eastern region and their commitment to the security situation was real.

"After Garissa University attracts, I have explained it over 1000 times. That was the lowest moment in my life, losing young lives, I was in the whole leadership of the entire region and I read the statement on their behalf. We urged the community to come out and identify the rogue people in their midst, "he said.

"I have no capacity to know that planners of attacks that is the role of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) and therefore we were asking our people to volunteer every information they have and the media misquoted us," he added.

Duale promised that the government will address cattle rustling once and for all and they will build camps in the most affected areas.

"Under Ruto administration, cattle rustling will be a thing of the past," he said.