The Chief of Defence Forces General Julius Karangi on 14th May 2012 presided over rehearsals for Officer Cadet Commissioning parade to be held next week at the Kenya Military Academy (KMA) in Lanet, Nakuru.

The Officer Cadets have been undergoing intensive military and academic training in the academy for the past 20 months. They include Officer Cadets from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in the spirit of the East African Community.

The academy is affiliated to Egerton University and was established in 1941. This is the last cohort of the Officer Cadets to be awarded Diploma in Military Science from the University. As a policy, it is now mandatory that future cohorts be awarded a degree in Military Science upon graduation.

The emergence of KMA represents a significant chapter in the final evolution of Officer training in the Kenya Defence Forces and will give all future Cadets degree level education. This will be an addition to professional military training. The new program is aimed at bringing Officer training in Kenya to be at par with other advanced countries.

Affiliating KMA and other military training institutions to institutions of higher learning in the country is a series of complementary steps designed to make the Defence Forces an attractive professional career option.