Kenya on Tuesday banned youths with tattoos from participating in the National Youth Service recruitment exercise across the country. .

The recruitment took place on Monday and Tuesday, at the Thika Stadium in Kenya, following NYS’s announcement of vacancies. 

However, during the recruitment some youths were caught by surprise as despite meeting the requirements for the academic and physical fitness test were later disqualified because of the tattoos found on their hands, chest and other parts of their bodies.

Some of the youth who questioned the decision disclosed that they got the tattoos in secondary school when having tattoos was not a big deal.

The youth pleaded with the authorities to reconsider their decision, seeking help to erase the tattoos in order not to miss out the opportunity offered by the government.

The disqualification was not just based on having tattoos as other youths were disqualified for discrepancies in their national identification cards and low academic grades.

Meanwhile leaders from Thika had decried a low turnout in the area following the disqualification despite the NYS recruitment seeking to net at least 15,000 recruits across the country.

Also, the authorities who have yet to give reasons for disqualifying youths with tattoos, promised that a statement would be issued at the end of the exercise.