Defence Cabinet Secretary Hon Soipan Tuya today received the Gender Mainstreaming Award won by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) during the 2025 annual Usawa Awards from the Maj Gen Joyce Sitienei.
Maj Gen Sitienei, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (DVC), Centre for Strategic and Security Studies at the National Defence University – Kenya (NDU-K), represented the Cabinet Secretary at yesterday’s award ceremony organised by the National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) in Nairobi County.
In a speech read by Maj Gen Sitienei at the award ceremony, the Cabinet Secretary noted that the Ministry of Defence (MOD) was progressively institutionalizing gender equality and women empowerment across its agencies including Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).
“I am standing before you today to report that the matter of gender equality and women empowerment has been progressively institutionalized and internalized by the Ministry of Defence (MOD).
“Accordingly, MoD developed and launched the first Gender Policy in 2017. The policy articulates the importance of gender mainstreaming and provides strategic direction and tools to institutionalize gender and increase women’s participation in decision making at all levels of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF),” Hon Tuya said.
She noted that KDF had this month adopted the Prevention against Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (PSEAH) Policy to manage gender relations in the military which she said is “uncommon in many militaries of Africa and the world.”
At the ceremony also used to launch NGEC’s new strategic plan, the Cabinet Secretary mentioned the elevation of female officers to higher ranks in KDF as a key achievement of MOD’s gender policy.
“Let me now revert to the MOD Gender Policy and outline some of the gender equality impacts.
“The first is the promotion, in 2018, of Kenya’s first female Major General, Fatumah Ahmed who went on to become the first female Airforce Commander in Kenya.
“We are also celebrating the elevation of another female military officer to this senior rank, Major General Joyce Sitienei, who was promoted to the rank and appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the National Defence University Kenya (NDU-K),” Hon Tuya said.
The Chief Guest at the Usawa Award ceremony was Cabinet Secretary for Gender, Culture, The Arts and Heritage Ms Hanna Cheptumo was accompanied by Culture and Heritage Principal Secretary Ms Ummi Bashir.
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