Hundreds of youths today turned up at Raila Stadium, Homa Bay to participate in the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers’ recruitment exercise.
The KWS Deputy Director Samuel Tokore who led the recruitment said they were recruiting only 19 youth in the county based strictly on merit.
The youth arrived in droves to the stadium early morning to try their luck in the recruitment.
“The youth turned up in large numbers but we are going to pick the number allocated to the county strictly based on qualifications. We are doing it in a free and fair manner,” Tokore said.
He noted that some youths turned up with copies of academic certificates instead of originals leading to their disqualification from participating in the rigorous exercise.
“We do not allow anyone with copies of academic certificates to go beyond the verification stage,” Tokore said.
The lowest academic qualification to be considered in the exercise was a Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) mean grade of D (plain).
Tokore said that the youth who had graduated from the National Youth Service (NYS) were given priority in the recruitment.
The KWS rangers are involved in wildlife conservation efforts including the fight against poaching, addressing human wildlife conflict and other activities aimed at protecting wild animals in the country.
The youths who succeeded in the exercise said they were delighted with the outcome and that the process was free and fair.
However, those who didn’t qualify expressed their dismay at the high level of unemployment in the country.
“I have tried my luck three times to join disciplined forces including this one but I have not succeeded. My efforts have failed again today. A recruitment officer told me that one of my legs was not straight,” one of the candidates said.
By Davis Langat
