Race for top job narrows down to two generals

By Ben Agina and Juma Kwayera
The race to succeed Chief of General Staff General Jeremiah Kianga, who retires next month, has narrowed down to two lieutenant generals.
The succession battle is between the front-runner Vice Chief of General Staff Lt General Julius Karangi and Army Commander Lt General Njuki Mwaniki.
General Kianga presided what was seen as his last official function in Nakuru last week when he accompanied President Kibaki to the commissioning of the officer cadets at the Kenya Military Academy in Lanet.
Kianga, 61, is also expected to convene a Board One meeting - the highest decision making organ - on July 7 to appoint, promote, and post senior officers from the rank of major to lieutenants general.
The meeting will also be attended by the Defence Minister Yusuf Haji and service commanders Lt Gen Njuki Mwaniki (Army), Maj-Gen Harold Tangai (Air Force) and Maj-Gen Samson Mwathethe (Navy).
The board routinely holds its meetings twice a year, but succession fears among the top brass had inhibited the prospects of them meeting as required.
Four-year termPresident Kibaki’ had extended Kianga’s term for another two-and-a-half years despite the fact that the terms of service for a CGS stipulate that he serves for only four years.
Karangi and Mwaniki both hail from Mt Kenya region and its inevitable that one of them will either be retired or elevated to the top position.
Karangi is due for retirement in November this year but the President may decide to extend his term, which could see him become the next CGS. He is currently the most senior military officer after General Kianga in terms of years served.
Karangi joined Kenya Air Force in 1973 and after cadet training in UK, he was commissioned as an officer in 1974. After qualifying as a flight navigator in October 1975 in the Royal Air Force in England, he was posted to Flying Wing Kenya Air Force where he worked as a navigator.
He was appointed commandant Defence Staff College , Karen where he worked between Dec 2000 and Nov 2003 in the rank of major general , after which he was appointed commander Kenya Air Force and served from Nov 2003 to 10th Aug 2005. On 10th August 2005, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and appointed vice chief of the General Staff Defence Headquarters, his current position.
If Karangi becomes the CGS then Lt General Mwaniki will have to be retired or transferred to the National Defence College (NDC) in Karen as the commandant to take over from Lt General Kasoan.
Lt General Mwaniki is an ardent infantry general who has held various appointments both in command and staff duties such as, assistant chief of general staff in charge of personnel and logistics at Defence Headquarters, general officer commanding Eastern Command, brigade commander, deputy brigade commander, directing staff at Defence Staff College - Kenya and Army Staff College - Camberly in United Kingdom, among others.
He was also the chairman of the Joint Military Commission of the Ceasefire Agreement of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from 1999-2003
Kasaon may in turn become Karangi’s deputy while Major General Maurice Oyugi, who hails from Ndhiwa in South Nyanza, may be promoted to a Lt General to take up the post of army commander.
However sources in the military informed The Standard On Sunday that Karangi has endeared himself to the soldiers, who see him as the most favourite candidate for the position.
Transform force Interestingly, since independence no officer from Central Province has risen to the position of a Chief of General Staff.
Additionally, there has been no Air Force officer who has become a CGS. The position has all along been held by army generals and only once through General Jared Kibwana did the navy enjoy the trappings of this office.
Former CGS General (Rtd) Muhamud Mohammed only adorned Air Force uniform but his unit was the Kenya Army.
He served as deputy army commander just before the aborted 1982 coup.
Other changes expected are those in the Navy and Air Force.
Both Major General Tangai and Major General Mwathethe are due for retirement after serving their four-year terms as commanders.
The next CGS will be charged with transforming the armed forces from its current outfit to the Kenya Defence Forces in line with the Constitution.
The CGS title has now been changed to Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces.
The Constitution explicitly states that the composition of the command of the defence forces shall reflect regional and ethnic diversity of the people of Kenya.
The National Cohesion and Integrity Commission had earlier raised questions about ethnic composition in various Government departments, including the military.
Defence Assistant Minister David Musila acknowledges that ethnicity threat is serious enough "but it’s being addressed at the highest level."
Musila, who said he was unaware of the Defence Council meeting slated for this week, blames the ethnic imbalance in the military top command on past recruitment, which he says gave certain communities undue advantages over the others.
"Even before the question was raised in Parliament, it had become a apparent the issue needed to be addressed urgently. It is now at an advanced stage and the new Constitution has given impetus to a desire to have a military that reflects the ethnic composition of the country," says the assistant minister.