Kenneth Valenzia, a former army lieutenant colonel who resigned when Prime Minister Dom Mintoff decided to split the AFM into two in 1980, has died aged 91. 

Valenzia passed away earlier this week.

He resigned from the AFM in 1980, together with a group of other officers led by then Brigadier Arthur Gera – who died in July – in protest after Mintoff controversially decided to create the so-called Task Force, headed by then Police Commissioner John Cachia and other senior police officers, none of whom had any military experience. 

“My father loved telling stories, and while being a man of principle, he always loved to spend time with family and friends,” one of his three sons, Kevin Valenzia, told Times of Malta. 

Valenzia said his father was raised in Sliema and was one of the first pupils to board at St Edwards College – where he later served as chairman of the board of governors.

Right after school, around the end of 1940, he went to the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, UK, where he received his commission. 

“Afterwards, he joined the Royal Malta Artillery and then served in Kenya and Germany, and later in Malta. He slowly rose through the ranks and became a lieutenant colonel,” Valenzia said. 

Kenneth and Maryse on their wedding day in August 1955. Photo supplied by Kevin Valenzia

In August 1955, he married Maryse (née Salomone), and the couple had three children, Kevin, Michael and David. 

Apart from his military background, Valenzia was a keen sportsman.

“He played football in Malta for Birkirkara and Sliema, but, strangely, he was a big Floriana fan. He used to go and watch all their games at the old stadium in Gżira with Stephen Samut Tagliaferro, also an army officer, his closest friend.”

”He was a man of principle and ethics, he always wanted to do what was right.”

He said that when Mintoff decided to split the AFM into two, his father felt it was wrong and resigned. 

“After he resigned he became secretary general of the association of professional bodies, and then left to become general manager at Keen Products (furniture manufacturers),” he said. 

Kevin said he remembers his father recounting stories to him and his younger brothers. 

“The three of us were brought up to be brave enough to do what is right. He loved his family; he loved his eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Before my mother passed away, their Sliema house used to be the centre of our family life.”

Funeral mass will be celebrated on Tuesday, September 6, at St Gregory the Great Parish Church in Sliema at 8.45am.