KDF hiring kicks off, officers warn against bribery

The nationwide recruitment for members of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) kicked off yesterday amid warnings against corruption in the exercise.

Vice Chief of Defence Forces Lt-Gen Jonah Mwangi officiated the exercise in Nairobi warning against bribery during the exercise.

There are fears of malpractice given the high demand for the few slots available.

The KDF seeks to recruit Kenyans in three broad categories namely officer cadets, recruits and Defence Forces Constables.

“The recruitment of diverse cadres into KDF is necessitated by human resource and capacity gaps in the establishment and the need for continuous alignment with the defence and security environment,” Lt-Gen Mwangi said.

Officer cadets represent those who will ultimately be commissioned as officers of the KDF. This category comprises General Service Officer Cadets, Graduate General Service Officer Cadets and Specialist Officer Cadets.

Under the Recruits category, the KDF intends to recruit General Duty Recruits among them artisans or tradesmen and women who will be classified as Service Members upon completion of basic military training.

The third category consists of Defence Forces Constables who will be drawn from ex-KDF Service members and former National Youth Service uniformed personnel.

There will be 374 recruitment centres across the 47 counties, according to DoD.

Interested candidates for Specialist Officers and Tradesmen and women vacancies had to apply online.

The Ministry of Defence had sent text messages to mobile subscribers warning them against fraudsters ahead of recruitment.

“The Ministry of Defence will recruit KDF Cadets/Recruits between August and September 2023. Do not buy calling letters from anyone. Recruitment is free. Report Fraud to 0726419706/0726419709.”

The ministry has partnered with various stakeholders including the police for action amid reports cons are demanding up to Sh400,000 for calling letters for one to join the KDF.

Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale said the military recruitment drive shall be free, fair and above board for all qualified Kenyan youths.

He made an undertaking to have the recruitment paint a national picture by having military officers and service members selected from across the country and cautioned parents not to give any money to secure the slots.

Document verification

There were fears that some marginalised groups may be left out of the drive.

Those whose applications confirm to the specific parameters and are selected will be informed through print media between 17 and 24 September.

“However shortlisting is only the first step in the process considering that physical verification of documents and medical examination based on military benchmarks shall be conducted thereafter,” Lt Gen Mwangi said.

Past such events have seen many being duped to pay for fake letters hence the warnings.

Several agencies including the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), human rights agencies and police will monitor the exercise.

“Members of the public are advised to desist from fraud since it violates KDF values, more so integrity,” he said.

“In support of this, oversight measures have been put in place encompassing the use of intelligence operatives, anti-corruption officers and the media,” he added.

On August 9, CS Duale told Parliament that over 20 soldiers had been arrested and arraigned for being involved in corrupt dealings during the July 2022 recruitment.

Eleven of them have been jailed for a total of 44 years while 14 other cases are pending investigations while three others have been withdrawn.

Senior Private Isack Mwangi Maina from the Defense Forces Memorial Hospital, for example, was sentenced on May 12 this year to 18 years for obtaining money and was also dismissed from the service.

Two officers of the rank of a Major, one Captain, three Corporals, a Constable, a Gunner and three Senior Privates are among the soldiers whose cases have been concluded in court.

Nine of them were charged with obtaining money and two others with influencing recruitment and furnishing false documents respectively.

“All these officers faced court martial precisely because of recruitment malpractices. To serve as a deterrent, all suspected cases have been thoroughly investigated, and those found culpable are subjected to the judicial process in the form of court-martial, often leading to dismissal from service or imprisonment,” said Duale.

A report detailing the status of the completed and ongoing cases of individual officers, more so General Officers, who have been prosecuted since the last recruitment held in July 2022 shows that Major JK Muriuki of the 75 Air Defence Artillery Battalion who is accused of obtaining money in 2021 is scheduled to appear before the KDF court martial for a defence hearing on September 29.

On the other hand, Major J Wasike from the Defence Headquarters, camp Administration Unit deployed in Langata Garrison was sentenced to 2 years and 10 months imprisonment on each of the two counts on January 20 this year for obtaining money while Major Kenyakisa from Laikipia Airbase who was deployed at Kahawa Garrison was sentenced to one-year imprisonment for each of the count for obtaining money. The judgement was delivered on June 23, 2023.

Duale tabled the report when he appeared before the MP to respond to questions from Kacheliba MP Titus Lotee on the measures being taken to avoid malpractices in the upcoming KDF recruitment scheduled for August 28.

The CS assured Kenyans that they were determined to protect Kenyans from fraudsters posing as KDF recruitment agents, who are bent on marring an open, free, and fair recruitment process.