Recruitment of soldiers will be graft-free, KDF says

Ministry of Defence recruitment at the Kibaki grounds in Lamu on February 12, 2018. KDF officials said the activity will be graft-free. PHOTO | KALUME KAZUNGU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The month-long exercise will occur in 320 sub-counties spread across the country on week days and will be conducted between 8am and 5pm.

Military officials have assured the public that the ongoing recruitment will be free of corruption and fair to all.

Vice Chief of the Defence Forces Lieutenant General Joseph Kasaon on Monday cautioned those with intent of corrupting their way into the service to desist or face the risk of being arrested.

To ensure the recruitment is devoid of corruption, the military has invited all state oversight agencies to oversee the exercise and ensure it meets international standards.

AGENCIES

Agencies invited include, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, National Intelligence Service, the National Police Service and Transparency International.

“Corruption and bribery are against the law and those who are planning to bribe their way into the military service will be arrested. We all want free, fair and voluntary exercise,” Mr Kasaon said on Monday.

Mr Kasaon asked members of public who will encounter cases of corruption during the exercise to report to the police or the other oversight agencies.

The military chief was speaking when he formally launched the KDF 2018 recruitment exercise which kicked off Monday across the country.

The month-long exercise will occur in 320 sub-counties spread across the country on week days and will be conducted between 8am and 5pm.

A total of 16 recruitment teams have been dispatched to conduct the exercise.

CANDIDATES

It targets 2,000 candidates who will join the military as it tries to shore up the numbers of those who have exited the service through natural attrition, retirement, resignations and fatalities in combat.

Out of the 2,000 recruits expected at the training school, Mr Kasaon said between 7 per cent to 8 per cent will be women.

During the 2017 recruitment 92 youths were arrested after they presented fake documents at the Recruits Training School in Eldoret were found to be fake.