Outcry As Dozens fall short of KDF Recruitment Threshold.

The nationwide recruitment has officially kicked off from August 28th, 2023 to September 8th, 2023 which targeted to recruit officer cadets, recruits, and Defence Forces constabularies drawn from ex-KDF and ex-National Youth Service (NYS) officers

“The Ministry of Defence will recruit KDF cadets/recruits between August and September.” Read a message sent to the recruits on Monday.

Vice Chief of the Defense Forces, Lieutenant General Jonah Mwangi, while addressing journalists at the Defense Forces Headquarters in Hurlingham, Nairobi, officiated the recruitment. He assured the public of the transparency and accountability of the recruitment process.

He also warned against any attempts to manipulate the system, urging candidates to avoid engaging with anyone claiming to have influence over recruitment outside the designated centers.

The military Defence cabinet secretary Aden Duale said the recruitment will have a national outlook in that every Kenyan tribe or ethnicity will be represented in the process, this is after Kenyans made public their fears about the marginalized groups being left out in the recruitment.

The exercise kicked off in various counties some reporting a low turnout while other counties reporting a high turnout.

In Lamu Central, both women and men showed up but upon arrival, the women were not allowed to participate.

In a statement issued by Lieutenant Colonel Hamisi Msagha, as per the instructions and statistics Lamu Central already had enough women personnel in the area. He further explained that it was only in Lamu Central which comprised of Amu, Hindi, and Mokowe Divisions that there were no recruiting women, and in other stations in Lamu women would be considered and recruited.

Also in Mandera, the turnout was good but many were disqualified as they failed to meet the minimum academic qualification of having a D and above with most having attained a grade of D-(minus) in their KCSE examinations.

In Isiolo and Migori however, a low turnout was witnessed. In Migori, only 350 recruits turned up as compared to the previous years.

The KDF recruiting officer for Migori Lieutenant Daniel Baraza acknowledged that the process was successful with no cases of personification or falsification of documents or attempt to bribe.

The officer also disclosed that there were no cases of medical complications among the participants. Barasa however, noted that there were a few reported cases of people who came to the wrong station of recruitment.

He acknowledged that the public was already informed and aware of where and when the recruitment exercise would be taking place across the eight constituencies for the whole week. The second day of the recruitment exercise will take place at Kegonga in Kuria East, while the whole process will be concluded on September 8.

In Turkana, the youth seemed to embrace the opportunities this year as the number of people who turned out increased from the past years. However, the recruits claimed that the officers-in-charge divided the group into two, those from Kerio and those from Central which was used to cut down the numbers before they were even asked to provide their documents.

The Kerio group was assessed leaving the other group. These left the locals questioning which criteria were used to exempt them from the exercise.

The recruitment locked its doors on short people who are below 5 feet in women and 5’3 feet in men with claims that they can’t have someone who the weapon would be taller than them as it will pose a big challenge.

It also excluded people with tattoos and birthmarks.

“You are not going to be recruited if you have a tattoo because the policies from history will disqualify you. Birthmarks could be an indicator of a weakness in the skin structure…if you have certain birthmarks and they get into contact with the weight then that would cause an injury that would put you off training,” The Vice Chief of Defense Forces said.

Stammerers were also excluded as the job requires good communication skills and people with criminal records were also excluded from the exercise.

The recruitment process is necessary to address human resource and capacity gaps within the discipline forces.