James Muthui from Mwingi Central, Kitui County, is in distress after he was successfully recruited to the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), under the National Youth Service (NYS) category, joined the team but was sent home only four days later. When he was speaking to Citizen Digital, 30-year-old James Muthui said he had unsuccessfully tried joining the forces three times before he hit the maximum age limit of 26 years but was lucky that this year’s qualification of having passed through the NYS and being 30 years favored him.
After the recruitment that took place in Mwingi town on August 31, his national identity card was taken and he was awarded a calling letter to join the forces on November 27, stationed at the Kahawa Garrison.
He is now pleading with the President through the Ministry of Defence to intervene and get him back to work, adding that he was sent back home together with two others.
“Since that day, I have lost all hope. I was the only one my family and village were depending on…I want to call on (Defence Cabinet Secretary) Aden Duale to look into the matter. There were other people who were also removed, one from Mandera and another from Wajir,” he said.
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“I am also asking President William Ruto to look into this issue. I have tried many times to join KDF since it has always been my dream, and it is not something I am forced but it I what I love it since my childhood.”
David Maluki, his father, says he had high hopes for his son, stating that his light was shining brighter until Friday last week when Muthui returned home hopeless, with his dreams of helping his needy family cut short.
“Nilikuwa na matumaini na huyu kijana wangu…nilitia bidii aende NYS, ndiposa achukuliwe kama mwanajeshi. Alireport Kahawa, akakaa huko siku nne na ya tano akaitiwa military imtoe nje pamoja na vijana wengine,” Maluki lamented.
He underscored that he has been unwell since his son returned and now wants the government to take up the matter.
According to him, among his ten children, Muthui was determined to salvage the situation of the family since all his other nine siblings are still jobless.
“I ask help from Aden Duale and William Ruto so that I can manage to go back to my normal work. I have ten kids, and all are in school where no one is employed. These is the only child am looking up to,” James said.
He reported to Kahawa on the said date and unknown to him, he only stayed there for four days. On the fifth day, he was shown the door for reasons he didn’t understand, and which were not disclosed to him.
“I was relucted as Constable from NYS where we were to report Kahawa Garisson last week on Monday. I reported on Monday and stayed there up to Friday at around 2pm when I was told to leave and go home,” he explained.
“I asked the reason, but I was just told there was no explanation to leave and I left.”
Muthui says he was given back his identity card and he returned the calling letter, but not before taking a photo of it using his phone; an action he notes was highly prohibited.
“After I was told to leave, they took the calling letter but luckily I had taken a picture as evidence that they had my ID,” he stated.
Being the eighth born of his family, Muthui says he is a very disturbed man as his dreams of rescuing his family from the pangs of poverty have been shattered.