Why NPSC wants IG’s role in 10,000-officer recruitment overturned
The National Police Service Commission has asked the Court of Appeal to overturn a ruling that let the Inspector-General control recruitment of over 10,000 officers, arguing it violated constitutional hiring safeguards.
The battle over the recent recruitment of more than 10,000 police officers has intensified, with the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) asking the Court of Appeal to cancel a ruling that allowed the Inspector-General to control the exercise.
The Commission told the court on Monday that the hiring went ahead under an arrangement that ignored the constitutional limits placed on the Inspector-General.
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According to the Commission, the Inspector-General Douglas Kanja took charge of a role the Constitution assigns to the Commission, leading to a process that lacked the legal order normally used to guide the selection of new police constables.
It said the recruitment that took place last month across the country had no proper framework, describing it as “a process undertaken in a vacuum, stripped of the statutory and regulatory safeguards that ordinarily anchor transparency, fairness, and merit”.
The matter stems from a judgment delivered on October 30 by the Employment and Labour Relations Court, which found that the hiring of police officers is a function held by the National Police Service (NPS) as a national security organ.
That ruling also struck out parts of the National Police Service Act that the court said weakened the independent command of the Inspector-General.
The Commission argued that by removing the National Police Service Commission (Recruitment and Appointment) Regulations, the judgment left the country without the rules needed to protect the fairness of the recruitment process.
It told the appellate judges that the ruling wiped out the very system that ensures order in the selection of new officers.
“That moment illustrated a system operating without its compass, where a constitutional function proceeded without the laws meant to give it coherence, legitimacy, and public confidence,” the Commission said.
The Court of Appeal is expected to give its decision on February 27, 2026.
Prior to the appeal, another case had been filed in the High Court, leading to a temporary stop to the recruitment of the 10,000 constables.
That order was later lifted, allowing the exercise to continue.
In its appeal, the Commission warned that keeping the employment court’s decision in place would hand its role to the Inspector-General and slowly change the entire structure that governs how the National Police Service manages its workforce.
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