Residents in Kisii have appealed for fairness in the recruitment of General Service Officers and servicemen by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).
Speaking at Mogonga on Saturday during a fundraiser, area residents called upon the government to curb the alleged corruption witnessed during military recruitment exercises by giving chances to qualified candidates from poor families.
According to them, officers in charge of recruitment, ignore expectations of Kenyans for a free and fair exercise by requiring bribes from candidates.
“I want to call upon the government to ensure the military jobs that were advertised are given to people regardless of their economic status. The KDF has a chance of redeeming its image by dealing with officers who may engage themselves in bribery related case,” said Mr Moses Ongwenyi.
They urged the Ministry of Defence to ensure the jobs are allocated to every Sub-County in a bid to ensure all regions are equally represented.
“We do not want to politicise military jobs but it is important that jobs are allocated in every Sub-County to root out the traditional perception that military recruitment is biased,” he added.
Bobasi MP Stephen Manoti urged locals to apply for the jobs in numbers and also called for openness in the recruitment.
“It is important that we apply for the jobs before the issue of bribery arises. I appeal to all to avoid discussing the matters relating to the military, but in case there may be any questions, parliament will do its job as we recently intervened against the police recruitment that was marred with bribery claims,” he said.