Military procurement bosses resign

The top military general in charge of procurement has resigned.

Major General E.M. Sasia was Assistant Chief of the General Staff in Charge of Personnel and Logistics in the Armed Forces and was in charge of the department that oversees all major procurement transactions in the military. His deputy, Arthur Awuor has also quit.

Daily Nation sources said up to four officers left the Department of Defence on Wednesday, just a day before military top brass, led by vice chief of staff, Lieutenant General Julius Karangi, were scheduled to appear before a parliamentary committee to answer questions on suspect arms purchases worth billions of shillings.

Their departure comes at a time when the military is facing an unprecedented level of scrutiny over allegations of corruption in the purchase of materiel for the Armed Forces. The timing of their departure is especially awkward for the defence brass.

They left their posts only a day before the appearance of key generals before Parliament’s Defence and Foreign Relations committee to explain a number of questionable deals.

They face questioning over buying of F-5 fighter jets from Jordan and the procurement of armoured personnel carriers from South Africa.

Multiple reports have indicated that the F-5 jets were outdated and were the wrong choice for Kenya at a time when it is modernising its fleet.

Investigations into several procurements were expected to lead to courts-martial for a number of top armed forces personnel.

Defence spokesman Bogita Ongeri, said that the decision to promote, appoint, deploy or dismiss Armed Forces personnel is arrived at during the Defence Council meeting, which has not been held.

Resigning is one way of forestalling appearance at a court-martial although the Nation could not establish whether that was what prompted the resignations.

But the military top brass could not confirm or deny the departures.