Three Kenya Navy officers have been sacked after they allegedly attended a CORD Rally at Tononoka grounds in Mombasa two weeks ago.
A senior navy officer claimed that the three navy officers, Senior Sergeant John Apollo, Corporal Ben Nyambuk and Corporal George Ongo’nyi, had been positively identified at the rally which was led by CORD Principal, Raila Odinga and attended by many other leaders.
Two of the officers have served the navy for more than ten years and one had served for seven and half years.
The officers were summoned by acting fleet commander Lieutenant Colonel Wambua at the Mtongwe Navy Barrack on July 20 where they were accused of contravening the code of conduct of the military defence force.
Col. Wambua claimed that he had video footage of them attending the rally after which the accused officers were allegedly put to task to explain their whereabouts between 1pm and 5pm on July 15.
They were then served with discharge letters and given matching orders to leave the barracks under tight security.
Speaking on phone, one of the officers said they had been ordered to vacate the houses with their families for allegedly violating the Code of Conduct.
“We were summarily dismissed and ordered to leave. We had no option other than to vacate. They claimed that we attended a political rally contrary to the code of ethics,” the officer said.
A source within the Navy said that most of the officers at the barracks were aggrieved by the decision and expressed fear that the sacking targeted certain individuals within the force.
“They never went there to participate. That does not contravene the military code of discipline,” the source explained.
The article on disciple in the forces state that officers will not express a political opinion in public or support any political party.
The Star
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