Women shy away from recruitment yet again

Women once again failed to turn up for the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) recruitment exercise in Mandera East, Mandera County.

It is said that the female folk shied away from the military recruitment for fear of being stigmatised by their Somali community which discourages women from joining the forces.

Recently, women also stayed away from the National Youth Services (NYS) recruitment for fear of being shunned by men.

Meanwhile, about 100 candidates had turned up for the exercise but only 14 were short listed for interviews after they passed all the requirements including physical fitness and the academic requirement of a grade D plain and above in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination.

Mandera KDF camp lieutenant colonel David Kipng'etich said only six candidates were successful.

Mr Kipng'etich also pointed out that the two women who turned up for the recruitment did not meet the academic requirement.

Girls in the area normally shy away from joining the forces because of cultural and religious teachings that prohibit women from exposing any part of their bodies.

Many ladies interviewed said they would love to join the forces but they fear the cultural repercussions.

“If you do it, chances are high that you will miss a man to marry you,” said one of them.

Khalalio member of county assembly Abdinoor Dakane who visited the stadium after the exercise termed the recruitment as transparent.

He said all the three locations of central Khalalio and Neboi in Mandera East had been well represented.

The MCA noted that some candidates missed the recruitment due to childhood scars, missing  teeth and others for being underweight.

“For practical reasons, I think the weight requirement should be lowered particularly for people from this reasons. Most young people are underweight because of lack of food which is as a result of the perennial drought," he explained.