The High Court will rule next week whether to stop the country-wide recruitment of members of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) as sought by Nairobi MPs, citing alleged discrimination.
Justice Bahati Mwamuye said he will rule on October 16 whether to stop the exercise, which begins on October 13, as sought by the 19 Nairobi MPs.
The judge, however, declined to issue an interim order halting the exercise, saying the court can still halt the process midway, if the court agrees with the petitioners.
Youths during the Kenya Defence Force (KDF) recruitment at Molo Stadium in Nakuru County on September 4, 2023.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
The legislators led by Embakasi West MP Mark Mwenje, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and Woman Representative Esther Passaris, said the recruitment itinerary has allocated only three recruitment centres to serve the 17 sub-counties within the entire city county.
They said this is unlike in other counties where recruitment centres were designated at each and every gazetted sub-county level.
“A declaration that Nairobi residents are entitled to the same equitable and decentralised recruitment arrangements as residents of other counties,” stated the application.
A Kenya Defense Forces officer examines potential recruit during a past national recruitment exercise in Nairobi.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Attorney-General Dorcas Oduor and the Ministry of Defence asked the court to dismiss the petition, saying it has no merit.
The MPs have sought an order compelling the government to review and re-publish the recruitment, in a manner that ensures equitable distribution of recruitment centres across all constituencies or sub-counties.
“The main grievance by the petitioners is that the respondent’s notice, which does not provide for the Kenya Defence Forces to hold its recruitment in the allocated sub-counties within Nairobi County, is against the principles of equality and freedom from discrimination as provided for under Article 27 of the Constitution,” the MPs said in the petition.
A past Kenya Defence Forces recruitment exercise in Turkana County.
Photo credit: File | Nation
In a notice published on September 14, the government called for the recruitment of general service officers (GSO), cadets (regular and graduate), specialist officers, general duty recruits, tradesmen and women, and defence forces constables.
The MPs’ claim that Nairobi, with dense populations, will be consolidated into a three recruitment centres.
According to the petitioners, the consolidation will present a logistical nightmare for applicants, forcing thousands of eligible candidates to converge at one point.
An instructor conducts drills for youths who turned up for the KDF recruitment at Chaka stadium in Nyeri County.
Photo credit: File | Nation
They said the arrangement is in stark contrast to the recruitment approach in other counties, where a more decentralised and equitable system was adopted, with recruitment centres distributed across sub-counties.
They said the effect of the skewed itinerary is that residents of Nairobi will be unfairly disadvantaged compared to their counterparts in other counties, resulting in inequitable access to recruitment opportunities and indirect discrimination against residents of Nairobi.
A KDF officer leads young men in exercises after a five-kilometre run during a recruitment exercise held at the Otonglo Grounds in Kisumu West on September 15, 2015.
Photo credit: File | Nation
Further, the decision will exclude many eligible youths from participating due to logistical constraints, congestion and limited capacity at the designated centres.
“The petitioners aver that the respondents' failure to accord the potential recruits from Nairobi with the same opportunities to access decentralised recruitment centres as the other potential recruits in the other 46 counties amounts to discrimination or unequal treatment,” said the petition.
