By Ebi Kesiena
Hundreds of ex-police officers were on Friday morning turned away at the General Service Unit, GSU headquarters after appearing for non-existent jobs, having responded to a misleading call for non-existent job opportunities.
General Service Unit (GSU) is a paramilitary wing in the National Police Service of Kenya.
Primarily comprising run-aways and those previously dismissed, these eager jobseekers fell victim to a social media post enticing them back into the National Police Service.
As early as 7 am, they flocked to the paramilitary base armed with documents, only to be turned away upon discovering that they had responded to a fraudulent announcement.
The viral post, urging individuals to be aware of dismissed or deserting police officers to inform them of urgent opportunities at GSU headquarters, led to a considerable influx of hopeful candidates. A video clip circulating online shows the disappointed ex-cops entering and leaving the facility in substantial numbers.
Police spokesperson, Resila Onyango noted that they had promptly flagged the post, cautioning the targeted individuals against its legitimacy.
“We saw the post and issued an alert asking the ex-officers to ignore it. Police do not communicate in such a manner, and if their services were needed, an official signal would have been issued.” she said.
However, this fraudulent job scam occurred amidst the rescheduling of the planned nationwide police recruitment, slated for early next year.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kindiki Kithure disclosed this information during a session with MPs on September 30.
“We shall be conducting the recruitment early next year…we cannot have it this year; we are late,” he stated, refraining from providing further details.
This revelation came in response to a query from a member of the National Cohesion and Equal Opportunity regarding the recruitment process and measures in place to combat the prevalent issue of bribery during these proceedings.
