A Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) officer was convicted of engaging in recruitment malpractices for five and a half years imprisonment by a Court Martial sitting at Lang’ata Barracks.
Corporal (Cpl) Gilbert Kipya Biwott of Kenya Military Academy was earlier this week, arraigned before a Court Martial at Moi Air Base (MAB) to answer various charges of recruitment malpractices where he was accused of fraud and obtaining money by false pretence during the 2021 Kenya Defence Forces nationwide recruitment exercise.
Appearing before Principal Magistrate Gilbert Shikwe of Nairobi Milimani Law Courts, Biwott was charged with conduct in prejudice of good order and service discipline contrary to section 121 of the Kenya Defence Forces act.
Back in November 2021, a Kenya Defence Forces soldier Colonel Lucas Teimuge and Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Bernard Ochoi found Corporal Fred Kiptum Kiplagat guilty of obtaining money by false pretence, desertion from duty and issuing a fake KDF recruitment calling letter.
“Corporal Kiptum was sentenced to two years in jail for obtaining Sh300,000 from Charles Kipkorir by pretending that he was in a position to help recruit his son Brian Kipkemoi into the military,” KDF said.
Kiptum was convicted to two years in prison for obtaining Ksh102,500 from Brian Kipkemoi on the same day that he posed to be in a position to influence the recruitment process into the military.
According to KDF Corporal Kiptum was sentenced to a year in jail for issuing a fake calling letter to the complainant, an act he ought to have known constitutes a criminal offence and additional six months in prison for deserting his place of work for 90 days without official leave until his arrest on 3rd May 2021.
The Magistrate directed that all the charges run concurrently and granted the accused 14 days to lodge an appeal if dissatisfied with the decision of the court.