Kitui and Kisii County marked the end of the 2015 exercise.
The KDF recruitment 2016 advert is likely to come out in June/August 2016.
In 2014, the advert for the military intake of servicemen came in November. In 2015, the advert came out in August. If the same trend remains unchanged then the advert for the 2016 intake is will come out in mide 2016.
***Note: If you wish to join the GSU then you will join through the Kenya Police. The Kenya police recruitment will be done around April 2016. Read more about Kenya police recruitment in 2016.
The KDF recruitment consists the recruitment of the following;
- GSO Cadets.
- Specialists.
- Servicemen/women.
- Tradesmen/women.
- Constabularies.
Number of Recruits
In the 2015 exercise, the number of servicemen recruited was 2,000. This was spread over all the counties. As a result, the number of recruits per county was 45-on average.
No Recruitment of Ladies
Well, ladies will be recruited into the military. However, based on what was seen in the 2015 recruitment of servicemen/women, the military did not recruit any lady in several recruitment centres. This was a deliberate action since ladies had actually turned up at the recruitment centre. The recruiting officers explained that the reason why no lady was recruited in some centres is the use of a "Recruitment formula."
Age Requirement
The following is a summary of the age requirement for GSO Cadet, Specialist, Tradesmen/women and general recruits (servicemen and women).
- GSO Cadet: Between 18 and 26 years.
- Specialists: Between 18 and 29 years.
- Tradesmen/Women: Between 18 and 26 years.
- General recruits: Between 18 and 26 years.
*Tradesmen are recruits with diploma in various fields. No work experience is required for one to apply as a tradesman/woman.
Vacancies for specialists in the 2015 existed in the following field: Chaplains/imams, IT Specialists in Statistics, Communication/IT, Media officer (Mass communication), Marine engineers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, architects, lawyers, dentists and medical officers
Key Dates
The various dates of the whole recruitment drive are important as they allow for proper personal planning. Let us look at the 2015 drive so that were can get approximate timeline for various stages of recruitment.
In the 2015 recruitment of GSO cadets and specialists, the advert for application was made on 4 August 2015. After the applications, the shortlist came out on 18 Sep 2015. The shortlisted GSO cadet and specialist candidates were then directed to report on 24 Sep 2015 and 5 Oct 2015 respectively.
*The intake will involve the Kenya Army, the Kenya Navy and the Kenya Air Force.