Kenya, June 30 -- Starting Tuesday, July 1, members of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) will no longer get free lunch. The government is changing to a new system where soldiers will pay for their meals as they eat, instead of getting free meals from government funds.
Under this new plan, soldiers will have to either pay cash for meals in military kitchens or have the meal costs taken out of their monthly salaries.
A letter from the Kenya Army headquarters, dated June 23 and signed by Brigadier Eric Nzioki Kitusya, explained the new system. It is called the "Pay-as-you-eat (PAYE) Programme."
The letter said that the new program will start on July 1, 2025, and it asked military units to request food supplies for the first 14 days of the program by June 25, 2025. These supplies will help set up a fund to support the new lunch system.
The letter also said that the money collected from this food supply will help create a fund that will pay for meals in the future. The military kitchens will continue to be used for this new plan.
The Ministry of Defence supports this change, saying it will help make the system more efficient and is better for the military.
They explained that the old lunch system cost too much and was not flexible. Soldiers often had to wait in long lines, wasting their time, and there were issues when soldiers were at different camps.
Some lower-ranked officers are worried about this change because they are concerned that their smaller paycheques will not be enough to pay for meals.
Previous attempts to start a pay system like this were stopped because many soldiers disagreed with it. However, the Ministry of Defence brought it back up in January 2025, telling KDF officers to get ready for the change.
Before this new plan, soldiers received a cash allowance for lunch, which started in 2000 when the government stopped giving breakfast and dinner. This allowance has been updated over time to help soldiers with rising costs.
With the new Pay-as-you-eat system coming, all KDF officers will need to adapt to paying for their daily meals, which means free lunches will no longer be available.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Bana Kenya.