Thousands of youths arrived early at Mukuyuni Primary School ready for Kenya Defence Forces recruitment showing that there is a lot job seekers amongst youths that needs to be addressed in the country by all stakeholders both in private and public sector. Addressing the media after starting the exercise that began early in the morning, Colonel Odula said the exercise was open and transparent. He added that it attracted thousands of youths who came out in large numbers to try their luck.
Odula said some of the youths who turned up did not have all the required particulars that were required for the exercise saying some turned up with only photocopies of their documents which disqualified them and appealed to youths to always visit the Ministry of Defence website and get the right information and also follow the media as announcements were made all over. He also added that some had a lot of scars and some lacked all the tooth which were some of the requirements but however said most youths this time round tried to fall within specifications and medical report was the most important.
He warned anyone who would be involved in corruption that if found would be dealt with in accordance with the law and appealed to parents to be careful so that they don’t fall into the traps of the cartels who would pretend to be in a position to help them get chance to in the end get their money and asked anyone to report if he sees any person with such character. However he refused to disclose the number of youths to be taken something that sparked mixed reaction with some residents arguing that them hiding the number of people to be taken from Bungoma North meant they have something they are covering.
Some parents who spoke to us hailed the exercise and said it was one of the most trusted and transparent, though requested the government to increase the number of recruits in order to help the youths who are out there seeking for job opportunities. Others said the exercise this time round began with physical observations before they youths went out for race competition unlike in the previous years where race was always the first before physical and medical observations something they said was okay.
In terms of the exercise, youths who did not succeed echoed the sentiments of some of the parents and said the exercise was fair compared to previous exercis. Theey said as much as they had lost, they were satisfied with how the exercise was carried out. Some who succeeded were happy and promised to carry the flag of Bungoma county higher and were happy to join the forces in order to serve the country.