President Uhuru Kenyatta will on Saturday lead the country in marking the Kenya Defence Forces Day with a planned commissioning of a new hospital in Nairobi.
The president had been away in the US for a week during which he chaired a UN Security Council meeting in New York and became the first African president to meet President Joe Biden in White House on October 14.
Uhuru jetted back on Friday afternoon ahead of the planned marking of the KDF Day at Kahawa Baracks. The event was earlier pushed from October 14 to October 16 because the president was away, officials said.
At Kahawa Baracks, the president will open a new hospital for the military to be known as Nairobi Region Hospital.
This will be part of his planned activities on Saturday, officials said.
October 14 marks the day in 2011 when Kenyan troops went to Somalia under Operation Linda Nchi to pursue al Shabaab terrorists who had staged abductions in Kenya and launched attacks.
The government saw the attacks as a threat to the country’s sovereignty as it targeted tourism, which is an economic lifeline.
KDF Day is observed annually to commemorate and celebrate the acts of valor and gallantry by KDF heroes and heroines.
Officials say the day is a solemn occasion to honour fallen heroes and heroines who have died defending their motherland Kenya and a day to recognise and honour the good work by men and women in uniform.
Dozens of soldiers have been killed and injured since the operation started. KDF says they are not ready to leave Somalia even though some of the regions have been liberated from the militants.
Chief of Defence Forces Gen Robert Kibochi said in an earlier interview the Kenyan troops have already had a huge impact in Somalia by opening up 14 major areas initially under al Shabaab control.
“We have opened up roads, hospitals and made towns bustling. Kismayu, Dobley and other towns are now bustling. We have degraded al Shabaab in a major way,” he said.
The defence chief said unlike between 2011 and 2012 when dozens of grenades and other weapons were being smuggled from Somalia, the trend had significantly dropped.
The opening of a new hospital in Nairobi will add to more facilities to help the troops and their families in many ways.
Uhuru revealed in September the facility will be a Level Four one.
"Once Kahawa is done, we will begin works to upgrade the Forces Memorial Hospital to a level five hospital as well as develop facilities in Garissa, Eldoret, Manda and Lamu among other areas so as to ensure that all those who are on the front-line are able to access healthcare close to where they are," the president said.
Kenyatta said efforts to complement existing health facilities across the country are also ongoing with the planned upgrade of Kenyatta National Hospital and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.