The Department of Defence has notified members of the Kenya Defence Forces that any unused lunch money deducted from their salaries will be converted into savings.
The directive, which has stirred growing resentment within the ranks, comes amid growing discontent over the government’s Pay-As-You-Eat (PAYE) policy, a move that junior officers say exposes their commanders’ failure to shield them from the burden of Kenya Kwanza’s austerity reforms.
In a directive seen by The Standard, Brigadier Eric Nzioka Kitusya referred to the withheld funds as “seed capital” for a revolving mess fund to be managed by PAYE committees at every unit, base and formation. He said the fund aims to make military kitchens self-reliant and independent of state support.
“Please note that it is envisaged the proceeds of the seed capital will form a self-sustaining revolving fund,” Kitusya wrote. “It will be administered by PAYE management committees established at FMN/Base/Unit levels to oversee operation of the messing facilities.”
But to those on the receiving end, it feels like a trap disguised as reform, a scheme where KDF personnel are being forced by the President William Ruto administration to save.
Across barracks in Eldoret, Lang’ata and Laikipia, KDF soldiers say the policy has been imposed without consultation and enforced with near-military rigidity. The directive, which follows an earlier one, now requires that starting August, all lunch allowances—Sh2,260 monthly for those in barracks, Sh2,760 for those in the field—be processed through the Defence Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisation (DESACCO). Half of that money is locked into the meal app and cannot be accessed until the end of the month.
A separate internal communication, also seen by The Standard, reads: “Meal cash allowance: Be paid through DESACCO to deter personnel from committing on loans. Half of the allowance is to be locked to the KDF Booking Meal app, which can be released at the end of the month.” To many soldiers, it feels like a paycheck turned into a prison. “Unfortunately, we are given directives and no room for argument. Some of us have loans,” an officer told the Standard.
Since July 1, lunch money is deducted directly from salaries—regardless of whether a soldier eats or not—and meals must now be booked through the KDF Booking Meal app. “It’s no longer a choice,” said a junior officer in Eldoret. “They’ve decided to force-feed us through deductions. It’s coercion, plain and simple.”
Mess halls that once buzzed with conversation now stand half-empty. Some troops pack food from home. Others skip meals altogether, unwilling to be part of a system they say humiliates them.
