I'm surprised (actually not) that you guys seemed to be impressed by the military. I was rather unimpressed... the soldiers are like in their forties, the equipment is composed of small, outdated castoffs from a wildly different array of nations, and poorly intergrated. The main battle tanks are 40 tons rather than the 70 ton ones, artillery they had can barely fire beyond 4 miles. If that was Kenya's best, then this country is a joke. What I've seen so far reaffirms that Kenya is a smalltime hopelessly third world country.. trust me al-shabbab are not moved!

Mwafrika is a vuvuzela, kelele kwa wingi. Si u tell ua brothers to come, tuonane!

I was rather unimpressed... the soldiers are like in their forties,

FACT: Our military,like any other, has a wide range of ages from 20s upwards,what you saw was only a part of them!

the equipment is composed of small, outdated castoffs from a wildly different array of nations, and poorly intergrated.

FACT: The country has been modernising its forces and a lot has not been paraded in public for obvious reasons. You do not have to procure your equipment from just one source like we did during the Cold War but can procure each of your military supplies from the best provider of that particular equipment. Tomo. you will also get a closer glimpse of the Z-9WA advanced assault choppers procured in Jan 10 to boost our rotary wing - the 50th Air Calvary. Additional F-5s with advanced avionics have been procured. Some of the equipment will be too heavy to move to Uhuru Park.

The main battle tanks are 40 tons rather than the 70 ton ones,
FACT: It is not the weight that counts, rather the lethality & versatility of a tank's firepower. Heavier tanks like the U.S. Abrams MBT are slower, have limited movt. and are expensive to maintain as they are fuel guzzlers. They take time and lots of transport logistics to deploy,unlike smaller ones which can actually even have better armour. Besides Kenya has T-72s (will be in the parade)and Vickers MK3.

artillery they had can barely fire beyond 4 miles.

FACT: The army has advanced artillery pieces with long ranges. The PION can fire artillery shells upto 55km, i.e from Nbi past Thika. Confirm this at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2S7_Pion[/b]I there's also the NORA

the Nbi Chronicle has a better and more informed discussion on kenya's armed forces.
the katiba display has nothing to do with tz or ethiopians, if Ug to a very ltd extent, bt it can have a pyscological deterrent value against al shabaab & co.

That response by @Intel.. to @Mwafrika is very professional.

I wish @Intel..works in our PMO - we are lacking such factual and clear 'balls' there.

It is said, that one who has not left home thinks his mother is the best cook. The fact that most of you seem impressed by Kenya's geriatric ragtag armed forces, is an indication of your poverty of experience.

@intelligensia
You miss the point entirely (this was expected). Armed forces are graded by several things which Kenya lacks entirely. These include but not limited to, production & procurement of weapons and ammunition and trained manpower, etc.

As you know Kenyan armed forces do not manufacture any weapons or supplies at all, they do not have an R&D budget at all. They let the British train in-country without protest. They are partly trained by the Americans who have'nt won a war since the pacific campaign. This is a fourth grade army serving in a sixth grade third world nation.