Your Services Are No Longer Needed! The Tragic Tale of a Soldier’s Battle Beyond the Battlefield

News that bandits had raided Katilomwo village in Arabal Baringo County in 2016 and made away with livestock unsettled Richard Koech.

This was the second time the bandits had raided the village and driven away a herd of livestock, including Koech.

The former KDF soldier, then based in Nairobi, said he could not hold it anymore and wanted to come home to trace his livestock.

Koech revealed that he had lost over 400 goats, and not even one was recovered. He said he received the news from a neighbor who called, informing him all his animals had been driven away.

He said all he wanted was to go home and trace the goats, which he said were his source of livelihood. Little did he know this marked his exit from the military job he joined in 1997.

The incident, he said, marked the beginning of his troubles, as in 2017, he was relieved of his duties. A dismissal letter sent to him dated August 3, 2021, indicated that his last day of paid service was August 16, 2021.

A Soldier’s Plea: Between Duty and Family

Koech, a trained officer with skills in combat medic, counter-IED, and jungle warfare, said his bosses were reluctant to allow him to proceed home and had asked him to talk to the area chief and security personnel to help in tracing the lost goats, but he insisted.

“My family had also been displaced, and all I wanted was to go check on them; my wife and children were separated during the attack,” he said.

The former soldier said he extended his one week off duty by two days, though he had been allowed one extension as he was still tracing his children and wanted to ensure he relocated them to a safe place.

He said he had to struggle with the poor network coverage in the area and couldn’t inform his bosses of the challenges he was facing in good time. His phone, he said, was off most of the time as the nearby center connected with electricity was almost 20 kilometers away.

He reported back to work and, a week later, applied for leave. It was then that he got the unexpected.

“I was told it was better they relieve me so that I can go home and stay with my children,” he said.

Life, he said, took a new twist as he had to survive on menial jobs and charcoal burning to fend for his family. The charcoal business, he said, earns him Sh. 2,000 on a good week

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