The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) has put in place tough measures to forestall instances of corruption and other malpractices as the recruitment of 2,000 officers gets underway across the country.
According to KDF Vice Chief of the Defence Forces Joseph Kasaon, they have invited the National Intelligence Service (NIS), the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), Transparency International, Civil Society Organisations, the media and members of the public to monitor the month- long exercise, which kicked off yesterday and will cover all the 320 sub-counties in the country.
“The recruitment process will be open to scrutiny. We have invited NIS, EACC, Transparency International and civil society organisations and the press to observe and report any corruption and malpractice cases to the senior recruiting officer on ground,” Lieutenant General Kasaon said.
“We are also cautioning members of the pubic against giving bribes because those who will be caught will be prosecuted. Furthermore, we are asking members of the public to be vigilant and report any cases of corruption and malpractices to the senior recruiting officer on the ground, the local police station or call the number 0202307971,” said Kasaon.
“We are also warning the candidates from presenting fake documents because this is an offence and it will be dealt with according to the law,” he added. The KDF Vice Chief of the Defence Forces said cases of corruption have been decreasing since 2013 and they expect the trend to continue this year.
“In 2013, there were 23 cases of bribery reported where Sh5 million exchanged hands while in 2014, they reduced to 16 cases with Sh4 million exchanging hands. Last year the cases came down to only five with Sh2 million exchanging hands.”
The Lieutenant General who was briefing the media on the recruitment exercise also said that the force has taken further measures like setting the recruitment camps as far away from local communities to limit interactions and also ensuring that the exercise is carried between 8.00am to 12.00pm. The KDF is seeking to recruit positions of general recruits, constabularies, and tradesmen.
General recruits are required to have scored a mean grade of “D” plain and above in their KCSE exam. They are also required to be aged between 18 and 26 years. The force is also looking for various tradesmen and women with diplomas or certificates in a variety of disciplines like Aeronautical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, Mass Communication, Psychology and Education.
Lieutenant General Kasaon yesterday defended the force’s decision to pick the presumably low grade of ‘D’ as the minimum entry grade for the recruits in the face of changing security threats like terrorism, which have gone high tech and the gender composition of the force.
“On our own assessment, grade ‘D’ is a good grade considering the that all the trades like IT and technology takes that as the minimum grade,” he said.
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