Chief of the General Staff (Kenya)

The Chief of The General staff (CGS) is the highest ranking military officer in the Kenya Armed forces and the principal military adviser to the President of the Republic of Kenya and the National Security Council. The CGS outranks all respective heads of each service branch and has operational command authority over the service branches. He leads the meetings and coordinates the efforts of the Service Commander, comprising the CGS, the Commander of the Kenya Army and Kenya Air Force, Kenya Navy and the Commandant of Military Intelligence. The CGS has offices in Ulinzi House.

The Office of Chief of The General staff is considered very important and highly prestigious, because the CGS as a body has command authority over the Armed Forces. The chain of command is from the President (as the Commander in Chief), directly to the CGS. The CGS, as a Principal Adviser, does have authority over personnel assignments and oversight over resources and personnel allocated to the commands within the respective services. The Chairman may also transmit communications to the service commanders from the President. He also performs all other functions as assigned from time to time by the President. The CGS may also allocate those duties and responsibilities to other officers under his name.

The Defence Headquarters has two principal advisers: one military, the CGS; and one civilian, the Permanent Secretary. Neither of these is subordinate to the other. They share responsibility for much of the Military's business, reflecting the input that both military and civilian personnel make to policy, financial, administrative and operational matters.

The Current Chief of the General Staff

General Karangi 'EGH' 'CBS' 'ndc' (K) 'cgsc'(USA), was born on 26 April 1950 in Makueni District. He went to Machakos Secondary School which he completed in 1970. He joined the military in April 1971 and after two years cadet training at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, he was commissioned and posted to the 5th Kenya Rifles as a Platoon Commander in 1973 where he did regimental duty up to 1975. General Kianga has been trained in Kenya, the United Kingdom (UK), India and the United States of America, where he obtained a Masters degree in Military Arts and Science from Kansas University.

He served on the Directing Staff at the Army Staff College, UK and Defence Staff College Kenya. He also served as Defence Advisor in Uganda and Chief of Military Intelligence at Defence headquarters. In December 1999, as a Major General, he was appointed General Officer Commanding Eastern Command then Deputy Army Commander and thereafter served as Assistant Chief of General Staff-in-charge of Personnel and Logistics at Defence Heaquarters.

On March 2003 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and appointed Commander, Kenya Army from where he has been promoted to General and appointed CGS, taking over from General (Retired) J R E Kibwana.