Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces
Standard of the Kenya Defence Forces
Incumbent Francis Ogolla since 28 April 2023
National Security Council
Abbreviation	CDF
Member of	Kenya Defence Forces
Reports to	President of Kenya
Residence	Ulinzi House
Seat	Ulinzi House
Nominator	Defence Council
Appointer	President of Kenya
Term length	Serve a single term of four (4) years or retire upon the attaining of the mandatory retirement age
Constituting instrument	Article 241 of the Constitution of Kenya
First holder	Bernard Penfold
Deputy	Vice Chief of the Defence Forces
Website	Official website

The Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) is the highest-ranking military officer in the Kenya Defence Forces and the principal military adviser to the President of Kenya and the National Security Council. The CDF outranks all respective heads of each service branch and has operational command authority over the service branches. He leads the meetings and coordinates the efforts of the Service Commander, comprising the CDF, the Commander of the Kenya Army and Kenya Air Force, Kenya Navy and the Commandant of Military Intelligence. The CDF has offices in Ulinzi House. Following the 2010 Constitution, the Chief of the General Staff was replaced with the Chief of the Defence Forces.^[1]

Duties

The office is considered very important and highly prestigious, because the CDF has command authority over the Armed Forces. The chain of command is from the President (as the Commander in Chief), directly to the CDF. The CDF, as a Principal Adviser, does have authority over personnel assignments and oversight over resources and personnel allocated to the commands within the respective services. The Chairman may also transmit communications to the service commanders from the President. He also performs all other functions as assigned from time to time by the President. The CDF may also allocate those duties and responsibilities to other officers under his name.

List of chiefs

Chief of the General Staff

No.	Portrait	Chief of the General Staff	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Defence branch	Ref.
1		Penfold, RobertMajor General Robert Bernard Penfold (1916–2015)	30 November 1966	31 May 1969	2 years, 182 days	Kenya Army	[2][3]
2		Ndolo, JosephMajor General Joseph Musyimi Lele Ndolo	1 June 1969	24 June 1971	2 years, 23 days	Kenya Army	[4]
3		Mulinge, JacksonGeneral Jackson Kimeu Mulinge (1924–2014)	25 June 1971	1986	14–15 years	Kenya Army	[5][6]
4		Mohamed, MahamoudGeneral Mohamud Haji Barrow Mohamed	1986	1996	9–10 years	Kenya Air Force	[7][6]
5		Tonje, DaudiGeneral Daudi Rerimoi Chepkong'a Tonje	1996	30 November 2000	3–4 years	Kenya Army	[7][6][8]
6		Kibwana, JosephGeneral Joseph Raymond Edward Kibwana	1 December 2000	31 August 2005	4 years, 273 days	Kenya Navy	[6]
7		Kianga, JeremiahGeneral Jeremiah Mutinda Kianga	1 September 2005	12 July 2011	5 years, 314 days	Kenya Army	[6]

Chief of the Defence Forces

No.	Portrait	Chief of the Defence Forces	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Defence branch	Ref.
1		Penfold, BernardGeneral Julius Waweru Karangi	13 July 2011	4 May 2015	3 years, 295 days	Kenya Air Force	[6]
2		Mwathethe, SamsonGeneral Samson Jefwa Mwathethe	5 May 2015	10 May 2020	5 years, 4 days	Kenya Navy	[6][9]
3		Kibochi, RobertGeneral Robert Kariuki Kibochi	11 May 2020	30 April 2023	2 years, 355 days	Kenya Army	[10]
4		Penfold, BernardGeneral Francis Omondi Ogolla	29 April 2023	Incumbent	272 days	Kenya Air Force	[11]