Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka has put the National Police Service Commission (NPSC), Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) on notice, giving them seven days to explain how they have recruited staff over the last five years.
Kalonzo wants the three institutions to release records showing how many people they hired during the period, the process used to select them and the regions where the successful applicants came from.
He said the information would help determine whether recruitment in the institutions has followed the principles of fairness and the requirements set out in the Constitution.
“Seven days. That is what I am giving the National Police Service Commission, the Teachers Service Commission and the Kenya Defence Forces to come clean on who they have recruited over the last five years, how many, on what basis, and from where in this country,” Kalonzo said in a statement issued on Thursday.
The former Vice President also weighed in on concerns raised by National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula and Murang’a Woman Representative Betty Maina over claims that TSC recruitment letters were being issued through unofficial channels.
Kalonzo said the claims should be taken seriously instead of being treated as political statements.
“You cannot dismiss what National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula and Murang’a Woman Representative Betty Maina have said about TSC recruitment letters as just political noise,” he said.
He argued that the matter deserved closer attention because it raised questions about the independence of public institutions and whether people were being hired on the basis of merit.
“When the Speaker of the National Assembly says something like this in public, it stops being gossip. It becomes a matter that this country must get to the bottom of,” he said.
Kalonzo went further to accuse the government of allowing political interests to play a role in recruitment, saying some Kenyans could now be getting employment opportunities based on political links instead of their qualifications.
“We have been getting information for months that recruitment into these institutions has stopped reflecting who we are as a country, and that where a job comes from now depends less on merit and more on who you know or who you voted for,” he said.
He cited Article 232 of the Constitution, which provides the values and principles that should guide public service, including fair competition and merit when people are appointed or promoted.
“These institutions belong to Kenyans. They are not a basket of favours to dish out to friends and reward loyalty,” Kalonzo said.
The Wiper leader said his MPs and lawyers would write to the three institutions within 48 hours to demand access to the recruitment information.
He said the requests would be based on laws that allow citizens to obtain information held by public bodies.
Kalonzo said the seven-day period would begin once the letters were received by the institutions.
“The seven-day clock starts from when those letters land on their desks,” Kalonzo said.
He warned that failure to provide the requested records would lead to legal action, with his team prepared to seek court orders requiring the institutions to release the information.
“If they choose silence instead of answers, we will go to court and ask a judge to compel them to disclose what they are hiding,” he said.
Kalonzo maintained that the move was not meant to intimidate the institutions or serve as a political threat, but was instead aimed at ensuring public bodies remain accountable to Kenyans.
He said the information would help Kenyans establish who was being recruited into the institutions and the reasons behind their selection.
“Kenyans will get the truth about who is being hired into their institutions, and why, with or without State House’s cooperation,” he said.