Bumula MP Wanami Wamboka wants the Ministry of Defence to explain why it reportedly didn't hire anyone from his constituency during August and September 2023 recruitments.
Seeking a statement from the Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence, and Foreign Relations, Wamboka claimed there were rampant irregularities during the Kenya Defence Forces recruitment.
“Despite the KDF vowing to ensure that mass recruitment exercise across the country is transparent and free from bribery, it is sad to note that the vice versa is true,” he said.
Wamboka wants the ministry to table a comprehensive list of youth that were recruited in the last recruitment per sub-county, including those who claimed to have hailed from Bumula.
He said the chief of a location and the sub-chief have contradicted reports that there were youths recruited from their areas.
The lawmaker further wants the ministry to outline steps taken to ensure that future recruitment processes are fair and transparent.
Wamboka noted that the KDF usually recruits general service officers annually.
“That recruitment initiative is necessary to address human resource and capacity gaps within our defence forces. As per their annual adverts, the recruitment process is conducted at sub-county levels,” he said.
“While that is commendable, it is crucial to acknowledge that many applicants may currently be unemployed, hence the need to ensure fairness in the numbers of recruited candidates per region and equal opportunity to all sub-counties,” he added.
The KDF recruitment exercise for General Service Officer Cadets, Graduate General Service Officer Cadets, and General Duty Recruits came to an end on September 8, 2023.
Former National Youth Service officers showed up in their thousands at the Embakasi Garrison with the prospects of being absorbed into the KDF.
On November 9, 2023, President William Ruto has directed the National Police Service and KDF to ensure that their future recruitment drives prioritise officers from the National Youth Service.
