Women in Lamu County were turned away after they showed up for the Kenya Defence Forces, KDF recruitment. Frustration and anger among the women filled the air after they were turned away.
Hundreds of women showed up for the recruitment at the Kibaki Grounds for KDF servicemen, servicewomen and constables hiring. Their dismissal was because there were no provisions for women recruits this year.
Lieutenant Colonel Hamisi Msagha, in charge of the KDF recruitment, explained that the Lamu Central Station already had enough personnel from the area. She explained that there were instructions given against taking in more women.
” It’s unfortunate we will not be recruiting ladies. However, in the other stations of Lamu, we have other positions where we will be considering and recruiting women,” said Lt Col Msagha.
Ladies who showed up the the recruitment questioned the KDF, on why they did not make a prior announcement on the same. According to the women, if there were no slots for them in that area, then they ought to have announced earlier before they showed up.
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The lieutenant emphasised that it was only at the Lamu Central Station that women would not be recruited. Pointing out that other stations would take in those who qualified for the slots.
“This is the second time I’m doing this and someone tells me they don’t need more women in the forces. What happened to gender balance? It’s unfair,” said one of the ladies who showed up for recruitment.
Turn Down of Women Recruits
In response to the move by Lamu KDF, women’s rights lobby groups mentioned that it locks out qualified women from joining the force. According to the ladies turned away, it didn’t make sense that men were constantly being recruited without a maximum number mentioned, however, when it came to women, there was a limit to those who could join the force.
“It’s ironic telling me that Lamu has enough women in the forces and hence no need for more. In Lamu, women are still lagging on matters of government employment. It’s even unconstitutional to deny someone a chance due to gender. Let them produce those statistics publicly for us to be convinced that there are enough ladies in the KDF,” said Ms Famau, Lamu Women Alliance Executive Director.
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Maendeleo ya Wanawake wa Lamu’s spokesperson appealed to the President to intervene. According to the spokesperson, Hindu Sali, there need to be enough women in Lamu prioritised in the recruitment process.
According to her, this was almost the third time women were turned away during KDF recruitment. She further mentioned that she hoped men would also be turned away from such exercises in Lamu so that only women would benefit from them.
In 2017 and November 2018, Lamu women seeking to join the KDF were also turned away on similar grounds. They mentioned that there were enough women in the forces.
