Serving as a commander in the army is one of the highest accolades for any soldier to achieve. This dream came to fruition for one, Mawia Kisila, who aspired to enroll in the British army in order to serve in the Queen's majesty forces. But that a dream he had for years.
What's interesting is that Kisila doubles up as a Deejay where he holds a number of shows via his company, Bless Entertainment.
How did the Machakos native get to one of the highest ranks within the British military and still turn his hobby into a money-making fortune?
Kisila's aspirations to enroll in the army dated back to his primary school days when he was at the age of ten.
"When I was in class 4 at around 10 years of age I remember the army commander came to Kahawa Garisson primary school to check up on the school, and I was amazed at his conduct and wanted to join the army thereafter," he told Chams Media TV.
Further, the fact that his father was a senior officer in the army sealed his fate. After finishing high school in 2003, he embarked on joining the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) the following year. However, the road ahead was not smooth sailing as he thought.
"I embarked on joining KDF in 2004, there was a lot of bureaucracy so I didn't make it despite my father being a senior officer. Upon seen how much I struggled, my father asked me to join the British army instead as he had served alongside them during peacekeeping missions," Kisila pointed out.
Unfortunately, he unsuccessfully applied to join the British army on two occasions, due to VISA restrictions. He acknowledged that his third time was the charm after his application was granted, which he says was his last trial as he was giving up.
Upon landing at Catterick Garrison, United Kingdom, he went through the pre-selection and selection trials before heading to the fitness course which was the ultimate test for one's mettle.
"You have to do a 2.4 kilometre run in under 9 minutes and 30 seconds, 50 press-ups and 50 sit-ups under 2 minutes each. I passed the three tests successfully as well as my medical test and I was in the army," he stated, noting that the whole procedure took a total of six months.
In September 2008, he joined the army officially, and embarked on training. A year later, he emerged first in his class and was deployed to Germany in preparation for Afghanistan. In the course of his career, he toured Afghanistan twice and did tours in Canada, France, working alongside Australian, German, Nepalese forces. Because of his hard work and excellence, he rose from a recruit to a full general- climbing up the ranks in his 14-year tenure.
Further, during his tenure he has had rare opportunities to meet with Prince Charles whom he acknowledged spoke about Kenya with much praise.
While he's not busy in the battlefield, conducting military operations on behalf of the Queen, Kisila doubles up as a Deejay- offering entertainment services to locals. The soldier credited the idea to MC Jessy, whom went to church with during his early childhood and teenage days.
He founded his company in 2014 and has since hosted various shows and personalities such as Comedians Eric Omondi, Chipukeezy as well as MC Jessy.
Unveiling his future plans, Kisila noted that he planned to carry on with his military career before settling in Kenya as a government advisor.
