Garissa(Mogadishu24)-The nationwide recruitment for the Kenya Defence Forces commenced on Monday, the 28th, across all recruitment centers in the country according to the military officials.

Thousands of Kenyan youths queued at the recruitment centers to join the Defence Forces, an exercise that occurs once a year.

Members of the public have raised alarms about the increasing corruption and graft cases in the recruitment process in recent years.

The Ministry of Defence had earlier sent automated text messages to Kenyans, warning them against fraudsters and providing hotline numbers to report any fraud cases ahead of the recruitment.

“The Ministry of Defence will recruit KDF Cadets/Recruits between August and September 2023,”

“Do not buy calling letters from anyone. Recruitment is free. Report Fraud to 0726419706/0726419709,” read the automated message.

Cabinet Secretary for Defence, Hon. Adan Barre Duale, reiterated the ministry’s commitment to holding a free and transparent recruitment process.

“The KDF recruitment process will be a free, fair, and transparent one, and will be given to qualified Kenyans,” said the Defense CS.

He warned Kenyans against brokers who take advantage of humble families to swindle money through the recruitment process.

“Don’t send me a text, don’t call me, don’t call the President, don’t call any of us in defense. We want each and every Kenyan to go to the recruitment center in all our sub-counties across the country,” he added.

The recruitment process will continue until September, considering the date set by the Ministry for each recruitment center.

Tarbaj Member of Parliament, Hussein Abdi Barre, has gone to the ground to oversee the process.

He assured his constituents that the KDF recruitment will be free, fair, and transparent.

“I am personally close to the recruitment center of my constituency, Tarbaj, to keep an eye on all that is going on from a safe distance,” said Tarbaj MP, Hussein Abdi Barre.

“My intention is to enhance fairness in the process and avoid entertaining false accusations levelled against the officers on duty,” he added.

There has been a surge in corruption cases surrounding the recruitment processes in the past few years, causing public outcry ahead of this year’s recruitment exercise.

Several government agencies, including the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, the Police, human rights agencies, and the National Intelligence Service, will be involved to monitor the effectiveness and transparency of the exercise.