How Much is KDF Cadet Salary?

One of the questions that people who are considering applying for KDF cadet positions tend to ask themselves is as to how much money they would be earning. In other words, such people want to know how much the KDF cadet salary is. It is difficult to find reliable figures online on how much money KDF officer cadets earn. But it is important to understand that as a KDF cadet, you would still be under training. So you will need to be grateful for whatever you are paid – knowing that the Kenya Defense Forces would be paying you to learn! Just imagine that – being paid to learn. So they are giving you three things: money/a salary, military training (which can come in handy later in life) and an education (like, for instance, KDF’s Bachelor of Science degree in Military Science and Security Studies).

KDF cadets are paid a somewhat decent five-figure salary. On top of the salary, you get free food, free accommodation and many other free or subsidized perks at the Kenya Military Academy in Lanet. But what you should focus on is really not what you will be earning as a KDF cadet (that is, the KDF cadet salary). Instead, what you should focus on is what you will be earning after completing the KDF cadetship program – once you are commissioned as a second lieutenant in the KDF. That is the real deal. You tend to find that once you are commissioned as a second lieutenant in the KDF (upon completing the cadetship program), your salary would easily be in the six-figure range. And that on top of free food (either in the officers mess or through one of those food vehicles that move around barracks distributing food), free accommodation and lots of other goodies. And if you persevere in the KDF for quite some time, you can rise through the ranks, to a point where within 10 years, you could be a KDF major, earning a comfortable six figure salary with lots of other perks and prestige. And if you manage to go beyond the Major rank into the rank of Colonel and eventually into General ranks (Brigadier, Major General, Lieutenant General and eventually the four star full General), you would be a truly senior military officer with a say on things like defense contracts and other such potentially useful deals.

If you want to know that the KDF cadetship is a big deal, you just have to look at the huge numbers of people who apply for it each year. These in spite of the stringent KDF cadet requirements. You also tend to see folks who are willing to go to any lengths to get admitted into the KDF cadetship program.

But then again, your motivation for joining the KDF cadet program shouldn’t (ideally) be purely financial. You shouldn’t just be driven by the question on how much you will be earning as a KDF cadet, and later as a KDF commissioned officer once you complete the three-year KDF cadetship program. Instead, you should be driven by the desire to serve and defend your motherland. If you are driven by just the money, you will easily get disillusioned, especially once you come to understand the sort of lifestyle you would be expected to live as a soldier, and once you understand the sorts of sacrifices you may be expected to make. So the KDF cadet question is important, but it should by no means be the only question determining whether or not you make an application for the KDF cadetship program.