President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday defended the involvement of military personnel in his efforts to revive collapsed parastatals and stalled projects.

In his Madaraka Day speech at Uhuru Gardens yesterday, the President said the military had helped to clean up rotten institutions.

He said it would have been impossible for him to initiate development projects in a contaminated environment.

“When we took over in 2013, some of the State corporations were rotten to the core. We had to drain the swamp from the inside out. But we had to balance this ‘clean-up’ exercise with accelerated performance. That is why we turned to the disciplined forces and summoned them to the course of nation-building,” he said.

Uhuru, who was presiding over his last national day celebrations before he leaves State House, has been accused of militarising the government.

Critics have questioned his decision to deploy Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) officers in State agencies, terming it dangerous.

Uhuru cited Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) as one of the institutions that the military had succeeded in turning around.

Said Uhuru: “The record must reflect that they have not disappointed us. When we gave them the Kenya Meat Commission to manage, they turned it into a profit-making enterprise in record time.”

The president transferred KMC operations to the Ministry of Defence in September 2020.

In November 2020, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i revealed that after the transfer of the institution to the military, it had paid the bulk of debts owed to livestock suppliers.

Uhuru also mentioned Kenya Shipyard Limited which, he said, had been turned around since the military took over its operations.

“This institution had collapsed due to mismanagement and corruption. Then last year, we handed it over to the disciplined forces.  Today, this Corporation is poised to be the largest shipyard in sub-Saharan Africa,” he added.

 He  also mentioned Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) which was taken over by Major General Mohammed Badi after the then Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko transferred most of his administrations’s functions to the National Government.