Kenya Army Infantry

The units of the Kenya Army Infantry are the principal fighting arms of the Kenya Army. The primary mission of the Infantry formations is to fight and win land battles within area of operational responsibilities in the defence of the nation against land – based aggression, while the secondary mission is the provision of aid and support to civil authorities in the maintenance of order. The Kenyan School of Infantry (SOI) is located in Isiolo County.
In the early 1960s 3rd, 5th, and 11th Battalions of the King's African Rifles (KAR) were based at Nanyuki, Gilgil (in the same town as 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, which was at Alanbrooke Barracks) and Nairobi (Langata) in rotation.
Timothy Parsons writes:
During the Mau Mau rebellion, "B" Company of the KAR's 5th Battalion perpetrated the Chuka massacre in June 1953, killing a number of Kenyan civilians. The massacre was ordered by the company's commanding officer, Major Gerald Selby Lewis Griffiths. After news of the massacre became public, Griffiths was cashiered and sentenced to five years' imprisonment by the British authorities.
Three KAR battalions were transferred to Kenya upon independence (at midnight on 12 December 1963). Thus 3 KAR, 5 KAR, and 11 KAR became 3 Kenya Rifles, 5 Kenya Rifles, and 11 Kenya Rifles. Their middle and senior ranks were filled almost entirely by regular British officers.
Army mutinies in Tanganyika and Uganda in January 1964 set the stage for the unrest that took place within the Kenya Rifles. Faced with many of the same problems that confronted Kenyan soldiers, Tanganyika Rifles and Ugandan soldiers won improved pay and the dismissal of expatriate British officers by threatening their newly sovereign politicians with violence. On the evening of 24 January 1964, the failure of the Kenyan Prime Minister to appear on television, where 11th Kenya Rifles junior soldiers had been expecting a televised speech and hoping for a pay rise announcement, caused the men to mutiny. Parsons says it is possible that the speech was only broadcast on the radio in the Nakuru area where Lanet Barracks, home of the battalion, was located. Kenyatta's government held two separate courts-martial for 43 soldiers.
In the aftermath of the mutiny and following courts-martial, the 11th Kenya Rifles was disbanded. A new battalion, 1st Kenya Rifles, was created entirely from 340 Lanet soldiers who had been cleared of participation in the mutiny by the Kenyan Criminal Investigations Division (CID).
7 Kenya Rifles was formed in 1969, and 9 Kenya Rifles was formed in 1979. 15 Kenya Rifles was formed in 1989, and, afterwards, 17 and 19 Kenya Rifles.
Raymond Kirui, attached to 7 Kenya Rifles, who joined the Kenya Defence Forces on 25 October 2010, died on 24 November, last year when the vehicle he and 13 other soldiers were travelling in drove over an improvised explosive device in Bulla Garaay area near Mandera. Lance Corporal Willie Njoroge attached to the 1st Kenya Rifles died during a confrontation between his unit and al Shabaab fighters in Somalia on 29 December last year. His unit had raided the al Qaeda linked insurgents base south of Beles Qooqani when he was killed. Five al Shabaab fighters were killed and many others injured during the incident. He joined the Kenya Defence Forces on 3 August 2002.
Others who have been killed are Yusuf Abdullah Korio, a private in the 15th Kenya Rifles. Korio joined the military in 1992 and died during combat on 22 December last year when during fighting between Tabda and Dhobley. Ronald Kipkemboi Kiptui, who joined the army on 29 October 2007 and was attached to the 7th Kenya Rifles, died on 3 December, last year.
There are three other infantry units in the Kenya Army that are not necessarily part of the Kenya Rifles; 20 Parachute Battalion, and the two special operations units, 30 Special Forces Battalion and 40 Ranger Strike Force Battalion. These units make up the Army Special Operations Brigade (Kenya).
In addition, 50th Air Cavalry Battalion was a unique unit flying Hughes 500s which may have some airmobile infantry capability.