KDF soldiers // Photo courtesy
Kenyan-born, US-based human rights activist Dr Isaac Newton Kinity has criticised the Kenyan government for neglecting the welfare of its defence forces, calling the situation a national shame hidden behind medals and uniforms.
In a letter dated 20 June 2025 and addressed to Liz Shuler, President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations AFL-CIO and copied to the Clerk of the National Assembly of Kenya and COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli. Dr Kinity raised concerns over the conditions facing Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) personnel.
Kinity, who also serves as the Chairman of the Kikimo Foundation for Corruption and Poverty Eradication (USA), stated that many KDF soldiers live in quiet desperation, earning less than casual workers and struggling to provide for their families.
“Their minimum salary is 55 dollars per month. They are paid less than car washers, less than watchmen, less than construction labourers. Their wives and children live like beggars. They are fed with unbalanced poor diets at the barracks.” said Dr Kinity.
He noted that new recruits earn only Kshs 7,172 per month. According to him, even senior enlisted officers such as corporals and captains earn significantly less than their counterparts in neighbouring countries. Tanzanian soldiers earn approximately 413 US dollars per month, while Rwanda and Burundi pay more than three times Kenya’s minimum rate.
“These men and women defend the nation. They fight Al-Shabaab in Somalia. They protect our borders. And yet, their own government cannot protect them from starvation,” he said.
Dr Kinity said there is no structured platform for soldiers to demand better living conditions. He called for labour unions and rights groups to urgently engage the government.
He also recalled his 2002 appeal to AFL-CIO, which pressured then-President Daniel arap Moi to lift a long-standing ban on civil servant unions. He now hopes for similar international engagement to advocate for KDF welfare.Please do the corrections.
Dr Kinity said he has written to Parliament, to COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli, and to several Kenyan media outlets, but no action has followed.
“The Central Organization of Trade Unions in Kenya is in bed with the Executive. They will not speak up. Parliament is compromised. The soldiers have no voice, no representation, and no channel for protest. Their loyalty has been turned into a weapon against them,” he said.
He described Kenya’s political leadership as a system of recycling, where individuals with questionable records are rebranded as experienced leaders.
“Each regime starts with joy and ends in tears. The people suffer. The soldiers starve. And the cycle continues,” he said.
Dr Kinity called on AFL-CIO and other international labour organisations to speak up for the country’s disciplined forces, whom he described as voiceless and forgotten.
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