Presented at the Conference on Civil-Military Relations, Nairobi, Kenya. The first duty of a State is the protection of society from violence and invasion by other independent societies. That duty can be performed only by means of military force. Accordingly, the military is that professional group organised by the State for the control of violence.
Military forces prepare for the ever changing threat of war and adopt measures in preparation.
These measures are influenced by inherited traditions about war and political determinations by the government of the State. The soldier is trained to fight and win at any cost, if at all possible. He will therefore cry out against inhibition of effort or any withholding of resources that may diminish this possibility. The civil power, on the other hand, has the right and duty to make the choice for or against war and requires the full compliance of the military to its directives. The Kenyan Armed Forces are a creation of Statute.