Police recruits cry out to IG Joseph Boinett after senior officers allegedly cancelled their appointments

NANDI: Two youths who emerged successful in the recently concluded police recruitment exercise are now crying out for help from Inspector General Joseph Boinnet after senior police officers confiscated their appointment letters.

 

Eliud Kiplimo Kosgei (25) and Julius Kogo had successfully undergone a rigorous recruitment procedure at Samoei recruitment centre in Nandi County where they were recruited to join General Service Unit (GSU) Training School in Embakasi.

The two were allegedly tricked by an officer who identified himself as a sergeant attached to the Nandi-Hills police station into presenting their Docket Numbers and Recruitment Questionnaire Forms to the said station for 'minor corrections'.

On reaching the station Kosgei's appointment documents were allegedly seized by the OCS who is reported to have been acting on instructions from Nandi North OCPD Alfred Nthiga where the young recruit's name was wiped out and replaced by an unsuccessful recruit's name.

"I received a call at night from a police officer who identified himself as a Sergeant attached to Nandi-Hills police station, he informed me that my son's recruitment documents had a slight problem that needed to be corrected and requested me to tell my son to bring the said documents to the police station in the morning," said Wilson Kosgei Rop, the recruit's father.

On hearing his mate's fate Kogo (the second recruit), who was yet to arrive to the station went into hiding in a nearby forest in a desperate attempt to protect his appointment documents. The recruit has been in hiding for the last two days.

Mr Nthiga (OCPD Nandi North) confirmed the officers had confiscated Kosgei's recruitment documents and explained the move was taken because the young recruit was later discovered to be 'unqualified.'

"We realized too late that he had a D-," said the OCPD who could not give a clear explanation as to why Kosgei was replaced with another unqualified recruit who is reported to have failed his medical examination and tests.

On his recruitment, Kosgei from Sirwa location had received a Kenya Police Service Docket Number 003889 and a Recruitment Questionnaire Form which he was supposed to fill out before joining the training college on Sunday.

He revealed the said police officers wrote him a statement to attest that he had chosen to 'willingly resigning from the force' and demanded him to append his signature.

"I refused to sign the statement, and requested to write my own statement where my request was denied," revealed the recruit.

Joseph Chepkwony who is the Kapsimotwo Location chief where the recruits come from revealed he received orders from an unnamed police officer 'not to sign the young recruit's questionnaire form' as required by the Kenya Police Service appointment conditions.

With new recruits supposed to report Sunday, the recruits' families are now calling for intervention from the IG.

"We wonder why they were replaced after the external recruiting officers had left town, and replaced with equally unqualified recruits, this is completely unfair and wrong," said Rop.