POLICE RECRUITS START REPORTING TO COLLEGES

The first batch of police recruits selected after Monday's recruitment exercise Wednesday reported to the Kenya Police Training College in Kiganjo, Nyeri County. The deadline for reporting is April 26. Recruits from all over the country started arriving as early as 6am escorted by relatives carrying mattresses and other personal effects. Of the 10,000 recruits, 6,000 are expected to report to the Kiganjo college. Recruits also started reporting to the Administration Police Training College and GSU Training School in Nairobi Wednesday. Majority of the 6,000 recruits were expected to report Wednesday while the rest will report to the college in the course of the week. It is the first time in two years that the college is welcoming recruits for their nine-month course after last year's recruitment of 10,000 youths was cancelled. The 2015 recruitment exercise, carried out across the country in 290 constituencies, was marred by a low turnout. See also: Revoked Uhuru directive finds many recruits off guard The National Police Service Commission (NPSC) Wednesday told successful candidates to ensure that they reported by Sunday evening or it would be assumed that they had chosen to forfeit their places. "There will be no supplementary recruitment for those who fail to report," said NPSC Chairman Johnston Kavuludi. Mr Kavuludi praised the recruitment exercise, saying it was above board. He said Monday's exercise had no relationship with the one in 2014, which is still being contested in court. He said all those recruited had met the minimum requirements. Special consideration was given to Wajir South, Wajir North, Saku, Laisamis, Moyale, Turkana North and Isiolo North constituencies, which were granted two centres each on account of their size. Kavuludi said tribal balance was among the key considerations in the recruitment. "We had calculated and knew the number of tribes we needed to recruit, and those claiming we favoured a particular community are lying," he said.

Kavuludi said they were waiting for next month's Court of Appeal ruling on the cancelled 2014 recruitment exercise to know how to proceed. Olympics athlete He was reacting to complaints by some unsuccessful candidates in Kanduyi sub-county who said they were denied a chance because they were from the Teso community. Kavuludi said the sub-county had 12 slots - 10 for Luhyas and two for Kikuyus. "Initially, he had not declared his tribe and when he was probed further he said he was Luhya before he changed to Teso. He was locked out because the slots we had were filled," said Kavuludi. The NPSC chairman also defended the decision to deny an Olympics athlete a chance in the recruitment because she did not have a certificate. See also: Revoked Uhuru directive finds many recruits off guard "The individual did not have a KCSE certificate, which was a requirement for all those seeking to join the service. The police force is professional and there are minimum requirements that must be met," said Kavuludi.