Military Changes Uhuru Made in 2021

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President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) and military officials with hammock seat canes during a multi-agency join operational training in Boni Forest, Lamu County on July 21, 2021
PSCU

President Uhuru Kenyatta has appointed more military men and women to sit on boards and head government offices in his second term in office. 

He opined that officials drawn from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and NIS are disciplined, uphold integrity and are anti-graft crusaders. 

“I have no such intention (militarising the nation). But it is only a fool who would not use those who can perform to help him achieve his intended goals.

“I am not militarising anything. I am using reliable Kenyan citizens to fulfil my agenda for this Republic. And the KDF are part of us and are also part of our citizens,” the President stated. 

John Kibaso Warioba in Office After Being Appointed to Head Prisons Service on Wednesday November 17, 2021
John Kibaso Warioba in office after he was appointed to Head Prisons Service on Wednesday, November 17, 2021.
KBC

Changes at Kenya Prison Services

President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed Brigadier (Rtd) John Kibaso Warioba to Kenya Prison Service to restore sanity. 

Kenyatta sacked former Commissioner General of Prisons Service, Wycliffe Ogalo, following the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison break and he immediately replaced Ogalo with Brigadier (Rtd.) Warioba. 

The appointment was made after the Head of State held a crisis meeting to discuss the security breaches at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison. This was after three inmates escaped. 

The three fugitives drilled a hole in the prison and improvised blankets to scale the walls of the highly-guarded facility.

Their escape triggered national interest and the need to entrench accountability in the ranks of the leadership of all security organs. Uhuru was compelled to pick Kibaso to clean up the system.

KEMSA Take Over

The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and the National Youth Service (NYS) took over operations at the troubled Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) on a caretaker basis in November 2021. 

KEMSA’s chairperson Mary Chao Mwadime advised all non-core staff to proceed on a 30-day leave to allow the agency to undergo restructuring.

She further announced that all employees would be evaluated and appraised within the notice period.

KDF officers were tasked with managing KEMSA’s Medical Commodities Programme (MCP), funded by USAID. They also took over the management of the Commercial Services Directorate, which includes strategic programmes, sales and marketing, funded through the Global Fund and Government of Kenya.

The Kenya Medical Supplies Agencies headquarters in Industrial Area Nairobi.
The Kenya Medical Supplies Agencies headquarters in Industrial Area Nairobi.
File

FKF Caretaker Committee

General (Rtd) Moses Oyugi, became the latest military figure to cross over into a State boardroom, when the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) caretaker committee was unveiled in November 2021.  

On Thursday, November 11, Sports Cabinet Secretary, Amina Mohamed, disbanded the federation led by former president Nick Mwendwa. Mwendwa was accused of fraud and embezzlement of funds. 

Assets Recovery Agency (ARA)

In April 2021, Uhuru appointed Col Alice Mate as the director of the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA), a key institution in the fight against corruption and money laundering.

Col Alice Mate, a trained lawyer, replaced Muthoni Kimani, a long-term senior Solicitor General in the office of the Attorney General. Kimani was the agency’s director for nearly six years. 

Ethics Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC)

Uhuru picked retired KDF Colonel Alfred Mshimba to replace EACC commissioners who resigned.

President Uhuru Kenyatta nominated retired KDF Colonel Alfred Mshimba to fill a position at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission that fell vacant upon the resignation of ex-commissioners.

This was after Dabar Abdi Malim and his colleague Rose Macharia tendered their resignation letters to the President on September 1, 2021. 

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Comission (EACC) Offices at Integrity centre Building in Nairobi. ‎Monday, ‎18 ‎November ‎2019.
A photo of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) Offices at Integrity Centre in Nairobi taken on ‎November 18, ‎2019.
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