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Parliament has called for the formation of an inquiry to investigate how 133 applicants who are among individuals who applied for the position of Revenue Service Assistances (RSA) at the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) but were allegedly dismissed on grounds that they were either HIV positive or pregnant.

It marks the escalation of exposure of the hiring shame at the authority that is certain to bring it on collision course with human rights activists and the Constitution.

Demand for the probe came after the committee learnt the authority rejected the applicants on grounds that some were HIV positive and others were pregnant.

The 133 applicants, the committee was told were subjected to a mandatory pregnancy and HIV tests as the position they were applying for required them to undergo a three-month paramilitary exercise conducted by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).

MPs who sit in the committee on Cohesion and Equal Opportunity chaired by Mandera West MP Yussuf Adan Haji said they want to get to the bottom of the matter to establish how the recruitment exercise was done and why the organization violated the constitution, specifically human rights by subjecting applicants to such tests.

The angry lawmakers who were meeting KRA Commissioner General Humphrey Wattanga, said they will use KRA as an example to other public entities to ensure that they do not follow the same route.

Said Haji: “There is no doubt that gross violation of the constitution was conducted by KRA during the recruitment of the revenue service assistants.”

The probe comes days after the court nullified the recruitment of the 1,406 revenue service assistants by the authority.

Paramilitary training

Justice William Musyoka ruled that the exercise, which was conducted by the KRA last year, was heavily skewed in favour of the Kikuyu and Kalenjin communities to the disadvantage of others.

Said the judge: “A declaration that the June 2023 recruitment of the 1,406 revenue service assistants was unconstitutional, as it offends the preamble to the Constitution and the provisions of Articles 10,27, 56 and 32 (g)(h)(i) of the Constitution.”

Already the opposition wants KRA officers who took part in the skewed interviews to be surcharged to cover the salaries wrongfully paid to wrongfully recruited officers.

The decision of the committee came after Wattanga defended the actions of KRA saying the officers needed to have paramilitary training to achieve the roles they were to perform.

He told the committee that despite 133 officers being rejected on medical grounds, the doctors did not disclose to them what they were ailing from.

Said Wattanga: “Due to the nature and role of the RSAs they were to undergo tax training as well as paramilitary skills, there was therefore a need to meet the prescribed paramilitary training equipment to avoid casualties and loss of lives due to the rigorous nature during training.”

Commissioner Risper Simuyu, who was part of the KRA team, also explained that the employees were set to undergo paramilitary training with KDF to prepare them for their role as tax collection enforcers, and they were to be tested prior to their training.

She said: “I could be wrong, but I’m told the military always does this (subjecting people to HIV and pregnancy tests) during recruitments.”

The explanation by Wattanga and his team members, however, angered MPs even more as they insisted that no one should be discriminated on account of being HIV positive or pregnant.

Record statements

The lawmakers said that their decision to call for the inquiry is because they had established that KRA had engaged in gross violation of the constitution and other existing laws.

Kaspul MP Ong’ondo Were demanded that the inquiry be done to establish why the authority decided to subject the applicants to HIV and pregnancy tests.

An angry Were who insisted on the need to force the commission to employ the 133 Kenyans having subjected them to such tests demanded that those who conducted the interview be made to record statements on how the exercise was done and the 133 applicants to be made to be invited before the committee to share their stories.

Said Were: “I think you should be surcharged for this. Didn’t your legal department advise you before hiring? How did you subject them to pregnancy and HIV tests? We need an inquiry on this,” posed Were.

He added: “Those who conducted the interview should make a statement. We should also call the 133 people subjected to those HIV and pregnancy tests… This matter needs time but before that KRA should explain why we should not force them to hire the 133 with immediate effect.”

Ndhiwa MP Peters Owino said as a committee they must use KRA as an example to other government institutions to stop discrimination against Kenyans.

He said: “There is a need to go to a full inquiry to know what happened, we must use this as an example to other government intuitions that are discriminating against other Kenyans.”

Nyeri Town MP Duncan Mathenge asked why KRA sought to use KDF and not the National Youth Service (NYS) which he said recently had a recruitment exercise but did not subject the applicants to such tests.

Mathenge further questioned why KRA had resorted to subjecting Kenyans to such tests yet it is not the only institution that has recruited enforcement officers.

He said: “The inquiry route will help us cite KRA on gross violation of the constitution. It is apparent from this debacle that we have rights but as long as such organizations exist then people cannot enjoy them.”

He added: “The Bill of Rights applies to all state organs. KRA using KDF is a poor excuse. They have no role under the KRA Act. They are not anchored anywhere under the KRA HR manual,” Said Nyeri town MP Duncan Mathenge.

Teso North MP Oku Kaunya supported the calls for a probe on the matter saying there is a need to get to the bottom of the matter.