Phoebe Okall | NATION Former military chief Gen (rtd) Jeremiah Kianga (left) and his successor Gen Julius Karangi aboard the official Land Rover as it was being towed out of DoD by senior officers on August 12, 2011 during the formal hand-over ceremony.
By NYAMBEGA GISESA engisesa@yahoo.com
Posted Sunday, August 14 2011 at 22:00
Posted Sunday, August 14 2011 at 22:00
IN SUMMARY
- Top officers shower retiring Gen Kianga with gifts including cows, goats, sheep and wooden stool ‘to sit on under his mango tree’
When the hour of his retirement came, soldiers presented gifts to the retiring number one man in uniform.
There was a massage chair, a solar hut, a portrait, animal feed mixer and photographs in appreciation to the general who defended his motherland for 40 years.
“A massage chair and solar hut,” was the answer Gen Jeremiah Mutinda Kianga gave when asked for the nature of gift he would love to take home.
“We thought of a dinner set, double-decker bed, sofa set and all kinds of presents. With 40 years of service, he must be having all these,” Gen Kianga’s successor, Gen J. W. Karangi, said, so a team from DoD approached Gen Kianga.
“When we spoke to him, he said that he was no longer a young man, so he wanted something dear to him in retirement,” he added.
For a man who served the military with dedication, a massage chair and solar hut wasn’t much to ask.
“Today we present him with what he requested,” Gen Karangi said during the formal hand-over ceremony when he took the command of the forces from Gen Kianga last Friday.
Recognising members retiring from a career of long, faithful, and distinguished service is one of the oldest traditions of military, and hundreds of top military officers honoured Gen Kianga’s contribution to the armed forces during the function held at the DoD headquarters.
Massage chair
The techno-massage chair that is custom-made is on its way from the UK and comes with sensors and can massage any part of the body.
“It’s for him to choose where he needs the massage,” Gen Karangi said, drawing guffaws from the audience of about 700.
His other wish was a solar hut that consists of rechargeable batteries, inverters and water-heaters. Gen Kianga said the solar hut would be useful in his rural Makueni home, a place that is “naturally gifted with sunlight”.
“We say goodbye to a valued leader who has served with honour and distinction throughout a long and successful military career and we honour him with a portrait of his image,” an air force officer presenting the gift said. “This painting also reflects the tremendous growth of the air force during his watch.”
The Kenya Navy presented him with two heifers and a Lamu chair crafted without nails to “sit on in the evenings below his mango trees.”
The soldiers also presented him with goats, sheep, an animal feed mixer and photographs from his visits to their bases.
Gen Karangi described as a close friend, the retiring general, who moves over to Kenya Railways Corporation in a business suit as its chairman.
“I thank God that I entered this office in good health and I leave so,” Gen Kianga recalled before soldiers pulled him out of office, as is the tradition in the military.
The ceremony took two weeks to prepare. The vehicle in which he rode was spotlessly clean.
On the morning of his retirement, in one of his last acts as a general, he went around the Kenya Army and DoD headquarters recalling the moment he first came to report as a cadet.
“They want me to be a farmer but I know that my wife will assist me to take care of the cows and goats,” he said as he accepted the gifts.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment