On April 17, 2015, President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed Chief of Defence Forces General Samson Mwathethe and further extended his time of service on May 6, 2019, for one year.
Mwathethe, who is the highest-ranking military officer, has been tasked to protect the country both internally and externally.
He also advises the president on matters concerning security before the president makes the final decision.
Mwathethe has held various command appointments including; vice chief of the defence forces, commander Kenya Navy, deputy commander Kenya Navy, Kenya Navy logistics commander, base commander in Mtongwe and fleet commander.
"He also attended the Defence Resource Management Course in Monterey, US in 1998, and the National Defence College in Nairobi, Kenya in 2000," an excerpt from the Ministry of Defence read.
The Malindi-born general has also served as a military observer in Iraq and Yugoslavia.
He went to school at Shimo La Tewa and Sacred Heart High Schools in Mombasa.
In April 1978, Mwathethe joined the Navy and was commissioned in 1980 as a seaman officer after attending the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.
His decorations include Distinguished Conduct Order (DCO), Moran of the Burning Spear (MBS), among others.
He has published a book, The Kenya Navy: A 50-year Voyage after being appointed CDF in 2015.
In his memoirs, he admitted that he didn't want to join the Navy at first, but was convinced by General (Rtd) Daniel Opande.
“So, I knew telling her that I had now joined the Navy was going to cause her a lot of stress. That is why I wanted to join the Army. I also gave a thought to joining the Air Force. But General Opande convinced me that it would be a good idea for me to join the Navy. And I was lucky to be one of those eventually chosen as a cadet,” he recalls in the book.
