Kenya Military - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

Kenya Defense Forces (KDF): Kenya Army, Kenya Navy, Kenya Air Force (2022)

note 1: the National Police Service maintains internal security and reports to the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government; it includes a paramilitary General Service Unit and Rapid Deployment Unit

note 2: the Kenya Coast Guard Service (established 2018) is under the Ministry of Interior but led by a military officer and comprised of personnel from the military, as well as the National Police Service, intelligence services, and other government agencies

Military expenditures

1.2% of GDP (2021 est.)

1.2% of GDP (2020)

1.2% of GDP (2019) (approximately $1.21 billion)

1.3% of GDP (2018) (approximately $1.24 billion)

1.4% of GDP (2017) (approximately $1.19 billion)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 24,000 personnel (20,000 Army; 1,500 Navy; 2,500 Air Force) (2022)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the KDF's inventory traditionally carried mostly older or second-hand Western weapons systems, particularly from France, the UK, and the US; however, since the 2000s it has sought to modernize and diversify its imports, and suppliers have included more than a dozen countries including China, Italy, Jordan, and the US (2022)

Military service age and obligation

no conscription; 18-26 years of age for male and female voluntary service (under 18 with parental consent; upper limit 30 years of age for specialists, tradesmen, or women with a diploma; 39 years of age for chaplains/imams); 9-year service obligation (7 years for Kenyan Navy) and subsequent 3-year re-enlistments; applicants must be Kenyan citizens (2022)

Military deployments

260 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 3,650 Somalia (ATMIS) (2022)

note: in November 2022, Kenya sent approximately 900 troops to the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as part of a newly formed East Africa Community Regional Force (EACRF) to assist the DRC military against the rebel group M23; the force is led by Kenya

Military - note

Kenyan military forces intervened in Somalia in October 2011 to combat the al Qaida-affiliated al-Shabaab terrorist group, which had conducted numerous cross-border attacks into Kenya; in November 2011, the UN and the African Union invited Kenya to incorporate its forces into the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM); Kenyan forces were formally integrated into AMISOM in February 2012; as of 2022, they consisted of approximately 3,600 troops and were responsible for AMISOM’s Sector 2 comprising Lower and Middle Jubba (see Appendix T for additional details on al-Shabaab; note - as of May 2022, AMISOM was renamed the AU Transition Mission in Somalia or ATMIS)

the Kenya Military Forces were created following independence in 1963; the current Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) were established, and its composition laid out, in the 2010 constitution; the KDF is governed by the Kenya Defense Forces Act of 2012; the Kenya Army traces its origins back to the Kings African Rifles (KAR); the KAR was a British colonial regiment raised from Britain's various possessions in East Africa from 1902 until independence in the 1960s; it conducted both military and internal security functions within the colonial territories, and served outside the territories during the World Wars (2022)

Maritime threats

the International Maritime Bureau reports that shipping in territorial and offshore waters in the Indian Ocean remain at risk for piracy and armed robbery against ships

NOTE: The information regarding Kenya on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Kenya 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Kenya 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.