Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa recently shared an old photo of himself from his time in the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), where he served as a Private (PTE) in the Kenya Air Force.
And Kenyans have unearthed why the lawmaker, and alleged murderer, was unceremoniously discharged from the miliitary in 2009. It involves financial forgery and fraud.
Why Didmus Barasa was Kicked out of the Military
Barasa’s trouble started when he decided to help his fellow soldiers get loans. He promised to be their guarantor, but there was a problem: the senior officer who needed to sign the loan documents refused.
Instead of accepting the decision, Barasa took matters into his own hands.
As he explained during a burial ceremony in 2021, “I went in and tried to convince the officer to sign the loans, but I think my English was better than his, and he did not understand me.”
“He left me in his office alone, and I stamped and signed the junior officer’s documents that approved the funds.”
Barasa’s gamble worked—his friends got their loans. But the consequences were severe.
“Fortunately, it worked, and my friends ended up receiving the loans, but the incident ended up costing me my career in the Air Force later in life. I lost my job in the Air Force because of this mistake,” Barasa admitted.
His actions led to his immediate suspension and eventual dismissal from the KDF.
But that wasn’t the end of the story. Barasa later started calling himself a “Retired Captain of the Kenya Air Force,” even though he had never reached that rank and had been dismissed, not retired.
This led to a court case where he was permanently banned from using the title.
Despite his troubled past in the military, Barasa turned to politics.
And eight years later, he was elected as the MP for Kimilili Constituency in 2017. He is now serving his second term.
By Vivian K.