Kenya’s first four-star general, Jackson Mulinge, ended up in the army because of a chicken.

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According to sources, at age 18 in 1942, the late Mulinge went to Machakos town to sell a chicken and use the money to buy a pair of shorts. 

A recruiting officer in the process grabbed him, and he ended up staying in the military for the rest of his life.

He then served in Ethiopia and Malaysia Forces. 

Unlike most of his colleagues, he stayed on after the war ended.

The late Mulinge was a Warrant Officer Class One by 1956 before being commissioned as an officer in 1961, a Major General in 1971 and seven years later, General. 

The interlude between those last two is important, because Kenya didn’t have a Chief of General Staff at the time after the last one, Joseph Ndolo, was fired after a failed coup.

Mulinge then held the position until 1986. 

The premise of this story isn’t unusual for its time. 

Conscription was common at the onset of the war, with vague contracts that would be terminated “after the cessation of hostilities” whenever that may be.

But what’s different with Mulinge is that he ended up staying in the military and climbing all the way up.

#historynow