JARED NYATAYA | NATION Ms Elizabeth Kosgey is taken through a drill by Warrant Officer Class 2, Julius Odhiambo, during the Kenya Armed Forces recruitment in Eldoret on Wednesday. Over 2,000 youths turned up. Ms Kosgey and two other ex-soldiers were hired, as were two young men and one young woman.
The crowd was used to seeing youth between 18 and 26 years at army recruitment venues, so the sight of the 48-year-old woman was bound to attract attention.
Mrs Elizabeth Kosgey, a mother of five, defied her age and underwent the rigorous military drill.
Clad in a maroon dress and a grey stripped fitting head gear, she looked determined to make a return to the disciplined forces. And as she stepped forward for the drill, it clearly emerged that Mrs Kosgey who has been out of service for 20 years, was at home with what was expected of her.
“Once a soldier, always a soldier,” went a voice from the thousands of job seekers who had gathered at Outspan Open Ground in Wareng District, as Mrs Kosgey made a brief sprint, saluted and then, made an about-turn.
The youths at the recruitment field were taken aback on seeing how the woman’s audacity of rejoining the military, a career that leaves little time for family matters.
Mrs Kosgey, from Kapsaret Division in the district, said she was dismissed from the forces after getting pregnant in 1994. “By then, it was against the rules of the armed forces to get pregnant while still serving in the forces. If one wanted a baby, she had to abandon the military.”
She later learnt that the guidelines were reversed by retired president Daniel Moi in 1995. “Much has changed. I have been meeting pregnant women serving in the military. This encouraged me to try my luck,” said Mrs Kosgey.
She is rejoining the Army as a constabulary, which has an age cut-off limit of 49 years. She wants to look after her daughter, whose pregnancy was the cause of her acquittal from the service. So she beamed with joy when she was selected among three of the six ex-service personnel who turned up for recruitment.
Constabularies are ex-military personnel who wish to rejoin the military after retiring from the service.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Radina who led the recruitment team, all that one needs is a discharge certificate with “Very good”, be below 49 years and be medically fit.
“My daughter who made me shove aside my passion, is the same one who has been nagging me to rejoin it because I need to cater for her college fees,” she said. Mrs Kosgey joined the military as a constable in 1984 and served for six years.
Lt Col Radina said the level of unemployment was alarming judging by thousands of youths who turned up for the recruitment.
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