David Okwembah
20 July 2008
Nairobi — A Nakuru-based Army general who was responsible for the part of country worst hit by post-election violence has taken early retirement.
Maj-Gen Jeff Okang'a, who was in charge of the Western Command, is among senior officers affected by a military shake-up ahead of the scheduled retirement of the top three generals in Kenya next year.
The military, along with other security services, has come under sharp scrutiny over its apparent failure to stop the killings, widespread destruction of property and general breakdown of law and order following the announcement of disputed results of last December's presidential election.
Two generals
The head of the military, General Jeremiah Kianga, is scheduled to retire in August next year. The two generals in line to succeed him - Vice Chief of General Staff Lt-Gen J.W. Karangi and Army commander Lt-Gen Njoroge - are also up for retirement according to military rules.
The President can extend the Chief of General Staff's term but under military tradition set by Gen (rtd) Daudi Tonje, a respected reformer, the offer can be declined. However, Gen Kianga's predecessor, Gen (rtd) Joseph Kibwana, accepted and served an extra two years.
A National Defence Council meeting on July 11 chaired by Defence minister Yusuf Haji retired Maj-Gen Okang'a. An officer identified only as Col Nyambok, who worked in the planning section at the Department of Defence, was stripped of his ranks and retired at the same meeting.
Maj-Gen Okang'a's deputy, Brigadier S. Karanja, was promoted to major-general and given leadership of the Western Command. Eight colonels, mainly from the Army, were promoted to brigadier.
Lt-Gen Karangi is due to retire next April while Maj-Gen Njoroge and the CGS are due to follow four months later.
Commissioned officers
The retirements are in keeping with reforms introduced by Gen Tonje in which commissioned officers who have not moved to the next rank within a stipulated period are automatically retired.
Maj-Gen Jones Mutuku Mutwii, the 56-year-old the Army deputy commander, has had his term extended twice. Should Lt-Gen Njoroge retire before Maj-Gen Mutwii's extension ends, it would put him in line for the key position of Army Commander and a step closer to the position of CGS.
If things remain constant and the three top military officers retire by August next year, then Lt-Gen Tuwei, who heads the National Defence College (NDC), could become the new leader of the military. Lt-Gen Tuwei, Vice CGS Karangi and Lt-Gen Njoroge are all three-star generals.
However, the President as commander-in-chief may extend Gen Kianga's tenure as he did with his predecessor, Gen Kibwana.
Others who may be considered in contention for the CGS job but are a rank lower include the head of the Defence Staff College (DSC) Maj Gen Mwanzia, Air Force commander Maj-Gen Harold Tangai, the Navy boss Maj-Gen Mwathethe, recently promoted Maj-Gen Karanja and the head of the Eastern Command Maj-Gen Kasaon.
Maj-Gen Walugho has also been mentioned by various sources but is reported to be in poor health.
Rotational system
Promotion to CGS is decided by the National Defence Council and sometimes follows a rotational system among the three services. If the rotational method is used, then it could be the turn of the Air Force to lead the military, as Gen Kianga was from the Army while his predecessor was from the Navy.
A source who spoke to the Sunday Nation in confidence because of military discipline did not seem to think that the council is obliged to follow a rotation.
At the July 11 meeting eight colonels from the Kenya Army were promoted to brigadier, prompting what sources termed complaints from the Air Force and the Navy.
The sources said military promotions follow a 7-2-1 formula: Seven for the Army, two for the Air Force and one for the Navy.
While the full list of those promoted to brigadier was not immediately available, one source recalled that those promoted included a Col Mohammed (Engineers Brigade), Col Gituai (Operations) and Col Kimanzi (School of Combat).
It is not clear why Col Nyambok was sacked, but one source claimed that relations between him and the Navy commander - for whom he had worked under before a short stint in Arusha before ending up at the planning section at headquarters in Nairobi - were not good.
Maj-Gen Okang'a, who has served in the military for 25 years, was once looked at as a potential Air Force commander after serving as the Director of Military Intelligence (DMI) during Gen Joseph Kibwana's tenure as CGS. Though retired he is expected to get a foreign posting.
DoD spokesman Bogita Ongeri confirmed the changes made at the July 11 meeting, which have not previously been made public. But he said he had yet to get a full list of the officers involved as he was on official duty in Nakuru.
Same rank
Sources told the Sunday Nation that many middle-level officers who have been in the same rank longer than the stipulated period were also retired during the council meeting. They also said the idea of creating the rank of Field Marshall was toyed with and discarded.
Gen Kianga is said to have pushed through a new system with which all commissioned officers from the rank of major are expected to conform within the next three months so that their age, height and rank are in line with a certain category.
"Those who fail to meet these standards are to be axed from the military," the source added.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
