The Kenya Defence Forces officers are anxious about the government’s plan to cut their lunch subsidy.
According to the Ministry of Defence’s Major General Mohammed Nur Hassan through a memo, the lunch subsidy that has been in place for years will end beginning the first of July this year.
The memo moreover indicated that the change to the ‘pay as you eat’ plan had been necessitated by the subsidy programme’s inefficiencies and ineffectiveness.
Government scraps lunch subsidy for KDF. Photo: Courtesy.
”The transition from the existing exchequer-funded lunch programme to the pay-as-you-eat system, necessitated by the inefficiencies and ineffectiveness of the former system,” the memo read in part.The system will be deployed no later than March 31, 2025, to facilitate meal bookings and payments, ensuring accountability and efficiency. Note that the PAYE system is scheduled to be operational on July 1, 2025.’’
The memo further directed service commanders to prepare cost-effective cashless payment systems including mobile money paybill services to pay for the soldiers’ meals.
It is believed that decision was made after the Ministry of Defence formed a committee to examine the subsidy programme’s advantages and disadvantages.
The committee included representatives from the Kenya Army, Kenya Air Force, and Kenya Navy Service Commanders.
This decision has sparked anxiety among junior officers, who fear they will have to dig deeper into their pockets to cover meal costs.
