Deputy Inspector-General Gilbert Masengeli visited the Multi-Agency Operation Amani Boni headquarters on October 31, 2025.
He moved among rows of boots and camouflage. Troops stood stiff. Faces were solemn. The Ministry of Defence recorded the visit and posted images of the visit.
A photograph shared by the Kenya Defence Forces’ social feed showed a KDF soldier at attention, hand to brow, saluting the DIG.
The image travelled fast on social platforms. Some praised the gesture. Others asked why a military man saluted a police official.
Voices split
Voices split quickly. For many, the salute read as simple respect. A senior civilian official. DIG Masengeli is a revered leader within the Administration Police organisation.
Protocol, some argued, requires a certain level of decorum in the field.
Others contended that the image highlighted the delicate boundary between military and police institutions.
The military is trained to salute only within its own chain of command.
The police serve a different chain. The debate sharpened. Social posts grew short and hot. Comments were blunt. Some called it proper courtesy.
Some called it a breach of hierarchy.
When can a soldier salute a police officer?
Custom and law both shape the answer. International military practice treats the salute as a mark of respect exchanged principally among armed forces personnel and commissioned officers; it is rarely wrong to return a salute.
Official British guidance, for example, frames the salute as a compliment and allows it outside purely military interactions in many settings.
The US military manual likewise expects personnel in uniform to render or return salutes during ceremonial occasions and when the situation requires it.
DIG Masengeli with KDF officers at Manda Bay. Photo/KDF
Kenyan law
Kenyan law governs service relationships too.
The KDF Act, 2012 and related standing orders lay out duties and cooperation with other security organs; they set the legal backdrop for joint operations and for interactions with police and provost authorities.
In practice, a soldier may salute a police officer when protocol, rank recognition, or joint-command contexts make it appropriate.
The contentious photo of junior KDF officer saluting DIG Masengeli . Photo/KDF
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Conversely, salutes are inappropriate in covert operations, in mixed civilian settings where civilian command takes precedence, or when the gesture could imply partisan allegiance.
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