Lawmakers from Nairobi County want the planned Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) recruitment cascaded to each of the 17 sub-counties within Kenya’s capital, lamenting that conflating different constituencies was discriminatory against the capital’s residents.
Led by Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and Embakasi West Member of Parliament Mark Mwenje, the MPs oppose a KDF advertisement that only designated three recruitment zones for Nairobi – Nyayo Stadium, Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani and Jamhuri Grounds.
According to the September 14 notice, Nyayo Stadium will serve Embakasi Central, Embakasi East, Embakasi West, Embakasi North, Embakasi South, Kamkunji, Makadara and Starehe constituencies.
The Kasarani stadium will cater to Ruaraka, Mathare and Roysambu, with Dagoretti North, Dagoretti South, Lang’ata, Kibra and Westlands served by Jamhuri Grounds.
“This consolidation of recruitment centres for over a dozen constituencies presents a logistical nightmare and is in stark contrast to other counties, where recruitment centres are designated for each sub-county, reflecting a more decentralised and equitable approach,” a letter to Defence Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya, signed by the capital’s MPs, reads in part.
The KDF announced a nationwide mass recruitment exercise scheduled for next month, with openings for general service officers, specialist officers, general duty recruits, tradespersons, and constables. They did not specify the targeted number of recruits. The last such recruitment was in September 2023.
“The logistical parameters of this recruitment exercise, as currently structured, demonstrably fail to account for the unique demographic challenges and high population density of Nairobi,” the MPs added, faulting the planned recruitment as breaching the constitutional principles of equality and equity.
“Equity… entails treating people in a way that the outcome for each can be the same, and that people with different circumstances need to be treated differently. This means that the distribution of resources and opportunities should reflect levels of need, with needier people getting more allocations.”
The city lawmakers warned of “logistical chaos, security risks and an environment that undermines the very principles of fairness and transparency,” asking for a review of the centres.
The MPs want the Defence Ministry to implement affirmative action programmes to address the disadvantages they say Kenyans from urban areas suffer limited opportunities owing to the population density.
