More than 40 youth who had turned up for prison police recruitment exercise in Athi River have protested after they were disqualified for not being residents of the region by birth.
The youth on Wednesday stormed Mavoko’s deputy county commissioner's offices located approximately 200 metres from KMC grounds where the exercise was taking place to demand their considerations as residents of the district.
Makori Kodeck, the deputy county commissioner turned their demands down insisting that the government's laid down recruitment procedures and laws had to be duly followed.
He questioned why the complainants had failed to go to their respective home districts as indicated in their national identification cards for the exercise.
Samson Kunzu, who is in charge of the recruitment team in Machakos and Athi River said the exercise was successful though failed to meet balance in ethnic representation.
"We expected youth from diverse ethnic communities including the Maasai to turn up for the recruitment exercise given that Athi River district is cosmopolitan but that is not the case," said Kunzu.
He said majority of the youth who turned up for the exercise part of those who protested had their identification cards reading other districts as their places of birth which is against the rules and regulations stipulated by the government for the recruitment exercise.
The officer said they needed to recruit only eight youth from the centre during the exercise to Kenya Prisons Services as service men and women.
The last week's NYS recruitment exercise in the area also ran short of youth residents forcing officers in charge to recruit only seven youth instead of 15 since majority of those who turned up had their national identification cards reading other districts.