KENYA DEFENSE FORCES DISPLAY A MILITARY DETTERENCE WHILE MARKING THE 59TH MADARAKA DAY CELEBRATIONS.

 Today , Kenya has marked the 59th Madaraka day celebrations at Uhuru gardens. Kenyans from all walks of life turned in large numbers to join President Uhuru Kenyatta in leading this CELEBRATIONS , the final one as the sitting Head of State and Government and the commander-in-chief of the Kenya Defense Forces ( KDF). It was also a rare show where the KDF displayed their Military firepower by displaying its Military hardware. The kind of artilleries on display has shocked Kenyans. This is a show in military referred as the DETTERENCE.   Then , what is detterence that am speaking about? 

Since President Uhuru Kenyatta took over as the 4th president of Kenya , there has never been any National holiday that is solely a prerogative of the military to conduct it where it has ever displayed it's Military hardware from various regimental units of KDF , that is , Kenya Army , Kenya Airforce and Kenya Navy. Kenya isn't at War with any sovereign State. There are those who perceive Kenyans military incursion in Somalia was a war with Somalia as a State. No. Kenya sent its Military force in Somalia to annihilate and neutralize the militia group called Al shabab which has been wrecking havoc to KENYA'S security through their surprise terrorist attacks. We can vividly remember the Westgate mall attacks , the three rivers and the Garissa university attacks.

What's DETTERENCE? It is the threat of force inorder to discourage an opponent from taking an unwelcome action. This can be achieved through the threat of retaliation ( detterence by punishment) or by denying the opponent's war aims ( detterence by denial). In short , all it takes to deter is to put enough force on display. As long as States act "rationally" , that is , according to cost benefit calculus , States keep on putting each other Military potentials in check. Just the other day , Uganda upscaled its Military spending in an arms race to go at par with Kenya defense spending. So, the display of Military artilleries and other hardwares wasn't just for entertainment but in military terms and international relations , it was sending a warning to our Country's adversaries both known , real and perceived.

Detterence is mostly likely to be successful when a prospective attacker believes that the probability of success is low and the costs of attack are high. Last Saturday , during the Kenya Airforce event of airshow , it was also a form of military detterence in as entertaining the civilians was concerned. In that event , president Uhuru Kenyatta was present and came with him Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The military drills which were staged leads to a poignant point that , KDF is among the most disciplined defense forces in thr region and Africa as a general. The tactical drills which were staged with utmost precision showed that , thr KDF are very ready and we'll capable of neutralizing and adversary who may think it is easy to poke our noses.

States in the international regime though they relate well by giving diplomacy a chance to be their yardstick , they treat each other with suspicion. That is why , a State must have a standing Army. However small small , uncivilized or poor it maybe , for it to be qualified to defend itself from m external aggression , it must have an army to defend itself. Kenya as I have stated isn't at War with any of its neighbors or any other State both in the region or internationally.  But the element of detterence is very important for the well being of any State. They say that war is a continuation of political intercourse by other means. It is not the general who dictates whether a State will go to war with one another but the civilian president who the constitution bestow him as the commander in chief of the defense forces.

In today's show , it was just a general detterence one. Infact it is termed successful when an actor who might otherwise take action refrains from doing so due to the consequences that the detterer is perceived likely to take. Infact , President Uhuru Kenyatta , who is the commander in chief of the KDF was communicating. Yes!!! In international politics , a head of State must communicate though not to an intended recipients bit it is necessary to do it. Since he took over power back in 2013 , he has never publicly did it though our soldiers are part of the contingent hunting down Al shabab in Somalia and recently , they were dispatched in DRC eastern flank. 

In both international and regional security , a policy of detterence generally refers to threats of military retaliation directed by the leaders of one State to the leaders of another in an attempt to prevent the other State from resorting to the use of military force in pursuit of its foreign policy goals. Kenya is a democracy andit has never rooted for the use of force to advance its foreign policy. Diplomacy has been a card which has always been on our table.  So far , there are simmering tensions between Kenya and Somalia because of the protracted maritime dispute which the international court of justice ( ICJ) ruled in Somalia's favour but President Uhuru Kenyatta vowed he won't cede even an inch of KENYA'S territory. 

I don't believe Somalia Government can result to the use of force to effect the ruling of the ICJ on the disputed maritime border but it is not good to operate on the power of assumption. So , the display of Military detterence by KDF today in marking the Madaraka day celebrations was very crucial and vital. That's undisputable. Tuko imara.