25 Kenya Defence Force soldiers who had been sentenced to life imprisonment, in February for desertion, have been set free.
The High Court in Mombasa today acquited the officers.
The officers had been accused of deserting the Kenya military to work for US security firms in Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq in 2007 and 2008.
They were first charged before three military courts at the Mtongwe naval base where they denied claims that they deserted the military, during war.
The officers later applied to be released on bail claiming that at the time of their departure from the military, Kenya was not at war.
They also maintained that they were properly discharged from the military.
Appealing their sentences, the officers said they had been tried under the wrong law.
They argued that they were charged under the Kenya Defence Forces Act of 2010, despite leaving the military in 2007 and 2008 meaning, they should have been tried under the Kenya Armed Forces Act.
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