GENERAL (Rtd) DAUDI RERIMOI CHEPKONGA TONJE
“An Officer And a Gentleman” Few individuals in Kenya are often remembered with awe and respect a quarter a century since they retired.
One Kenyan soldier who fits this bill well is General (Rtd) Daudi Rerimooi Tonje.
In 1996, the appointment of General Daudi Tonje as Chief Of General Staff, was met with the usual Kenyan whispers. After all, he was a Tugen, just like Moi, and was said to have married the President’s sister. Also, he had been promoted four times to become General in just under three years. That Moi was preparing to hand over power to the military.
When he retired four years later, all this whisphers were silenced.
His professionalism was unquestionable, his patriotism was unparalleled.
Kenya’s post-colonial military experience is mostly British in training and aptitude. In the transition period from colonialism to independence, Britain helped to identify potential African officers.
At independence Britain prepared officers for the new Kenyan military by identifying and training them.
First, it selected soldiers in the Kings African Rifles (KAR) and commissioned them as officers. These KAR men included Idi Amin Dada, Joseph Ndolo, Jackson Mulinge, James Lenges and Mahmood Mohamed Barrow.
Second, Britain started recruiting bright high school graduates for direct entry officer cadet training.
Daudi Tonje, a top 1961 high school graduate, joined the military in April 1962, trained at Lanet and Mons, England, and received accelerated promotion.
Britain also seconded officers to mentor Kenya’s new military. Britons identified Ndolo as the first African Army Commander and then Chief of General Staff (CGS) in 1966 and 1969.
Ndolo ended ethnic food discrimination by ordering all soldiers to eat the same food. Second, he unified military ranks by discarding naval and air force titles like midshipmen, flight lieutenants, commodores, admirals or air marshals.
Ndolo then blundered into June 1971 coup plot. Disappointed Kenyatta sent Ndolo, and his co-suspect Chief Justice Kitili Mwendwa, into inglorious retirement and kept the CGS position vacant.
Following Kenyatta’s death in 1978, President Moi revived the CGS post and appointed Jackson Mulinge who served until 1986 when Mohamud Mohamed took over.
Mohamed, the last CGS from the KAR group, had crushed the August 1982 coup attempt by the air force. He was CGS for 10 years, up to 1996. His departure freed the military from the KAR mind-frame and opened the way for post-colonial officers, bubbling with ideas.
Tonje, full of fresh thinking, was team leader. The Tonje years begun.
Tonje had vision that many officers lacked. He also had political goodwill, being from the backyard of President Moi.
Though many read political motives because Moi was set to retire in 2002, the appointment set the tone for building the most professional army in Africa.
Few soldiers make lasting and memorable impact. They often do things for the common good because those things need doing. They care for the ‘commons’ rather than for individual advancement but, in so doing, they inadvertently advance their interests in terms of positive legacies.
Daudi Tonjes legacy is unparalleled. The smooth military command transition, senior officers pulling outgoing Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) vehicle out of Baracks, and the new General staying put, is evidence of institutional entrenchment of the Tonje vision.
In reforming the military, he introduced gender equality, abolished wage payments, started health insurance for the military and struggled to cater for veterans’ interests.
In addition, Tonje, the “grand strategist”, dreamt of building critical policy-making masses. He persuaded Moi to establish the National Defence College (NDC) as a top multi-sector regional military and civilian training organ for safeguarding national interests.
He made Lt Gen Opande, with peace-keeping experience in Namibia, Mozambique, and West Africa, the first Commandant.
Tonje retired in 2000, after four years as per his rules and Joseph Kibwana took over as CGS. All the subsequent CGSs, and most of the service commanders, have had NDC association and know the “Tonje rules” of military etiquette and governance
He has cult status in the Kenyan military to this day. Whenever a conversation around remarkable reforms within the Kenya military service comes up, one name usually dominates the discussion.
General (Rtd) Daudi Rerimoi Chepkonga Araap Tonje remains one of the reform-oriented retired generals.
Tonje introduced measures that he aimed at profesionilising the force while at the same time ensuring integrity was upheld both inside and outside the barracks.
Perhaps, the most celebrated achievements to date during his tenure was the disbandment of the Women Service Corps which eventually led to the inclusion of women in the mainstream military ranks.
This was followed by allowing women soldiers to marry and ensuring that promotions in the force were pegged on academic performance.
Until 1999, female soldiers were not allowed to marry, the thinking then was married women could not juggle between work and family.
Tonje established the Defence Staff College and the Defence Forces Medical Insurance Scheme (DEFMIS). DEFMIS is one of the best managed medical insurance schemes, catering for retired KDF personell.
He took it upon himself to push for change that would see senior officers have university education. The Kenya Military Academy cadets nowadays graduate with a degree in military science.
Besides that, he also institutionalised retirement age at 62 and a four-year term limits for commanders as well as introducing service rotation in the chief of general of defence office among the three services.
As a result of Tonje’s rotational pattern, Moi picked his successor Gen. Joseph Kibwana from the Kenya Navy). Kibwana was later on replaced by Jeremiah Kianga from Kenya Army, Gen Karangi ( Airforce), General Mwathethe ( Navy) and current General Kibochi (Army).
Tonje was born in Pemwai village, Baringo County. He was commissioned as an officer to the army in 1962 and got military training at Lanet barracks.
He was then posted to the 11th Kings’ African Rifles battalion that was later on disbanded in 1964 when a section of African soldiers staged staged a mutiny over poor pay.
Tonje Introduced payment of soldiers through bank accounts, ending the queuing model of salaries, a process that used to be called “pay parade” in the military.
The least appreciated and probably the most significant is retiring in 2000 despite President Moi wanting to extend his term. This paved way for Moi’s own retirement and for the smooth transition in 2002.
Courtesy Baringo News
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