President Uhuru Kenyatta has dismissed claims that he is militarizing the country through deployment of the Kenya Defense Forces in civilian agencies.
The President explained KDF's involvement in service delivery was informed by their professionalism and commitment in serving the country.
The Head of State spoke on Tuesday at the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) garage in industrial area when he flagged off 83 vehicles that were rehabilitated by the state agency.
"I am not militarizing anything. I am using reliable Kenyan citizens to fulfill my agenda for this Republic. And the KDF are part of us and are also part of our citizens," the President said.
"I have no such intention (militarizing the nation). But it is only a fool who would not use those who can perform to help him achieve his intended goals," he added.
The President also urged Kenyans working in different sectors of the economy to emulate the efficiency exhibited by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), saying that would ensure effective and timely delivery of services.
"If all of us in Kenya operated and behaved; and loved and served their country in the manner in which our Kenya Defence Forces does, Kenya would today be a great country. And we all have a big lesson to learn," President Kenyatta said.
NMS restored the vehicles, which had been lying at the facility as scrap metal for years, at a cost of sh 22 million in a span of two months following the handover of the running of the garage to NMS by the Nairobi City County.
The automobiles included 21 tipper trucks, 24 fire engines, six ambulances, three hydraulic street lighting platforms, two scrub street sweepers and two graders among other equipment that had been grounded for eight years.
President Kenyatta expressed optimism that the remaining 80 grounded vehicles at the garage will be repaired in the next two months and be ready to serve Nairobi residents.
The Head of State cited several infrastructure projects including rehabilitation of railway lines, the port of Kisumu and restoration of ships as some of KDF's recent achievements.
Chief of Defence Forces Gen Robert Kibochi and NMS Director General Major General Mohammed Badi also spoke at the event and assured the President of KDF's commitment to continue serving the nation.
This article was published by Capital FM.