Kenya’s long-running dispute over who has the constitutional authority to recruit uniformed police officers has taken a decisive turn after the Court of Appeal upheld a ruling placing the responsibility under the Inspector-General of Police rather than the National Police Service Commission (NPSC).
The judgment, delivered on Friday, October 16, 2026, is a significant victory for Inspector-General Douglas Kanja and the National Police Service in a legal contest that has exposed competing interpretations of the Constitution’s provisions on police command, recruitment and personnel management.
The appellate court dismissed challenges to the earlier decision of the Employment and Labour Relations Court, which found that the commission’s authority to recruit civilian employees within the National Police Service did not extend to uniformed officers.
The ruling reinforces the distinction between the independent command of the police service and the commission’s role in managing appointments and other human-resource functions.
It also settles, at the appellate level, a central question in the dispute: whether the commission can independently conduct recruitment for police constables.
The constitutional battle behind the ruling
At the centre of the dispute is the interpretation of Articles 245 and 246 of the Constitution, which define the powers of the Inspector-General and the National Police Service Commission.
Article 245 safeguards the Inspector-General’s independent command over the National Police Service, protecting the office from outside directions in the exercise of its operational responsibilities.
Article 246, meanwhile, establishes the NPSC and outlines its functions, including recruitment, appointments, promotions, transfers and disciplinary control within the service.
The commission had maintained that the constitutional provisions gave it broad human-resource management powers, including the recruitment of uniformed officers.
It argued that separating personnel management from operational command was deliberate, designed to promote accountability and prevent excessive concentration of power in the police leadership.
However, the appellate judges rejected that interpretation, finding that the commission’s recruitment mandate under Article 246(3) applies to civilian employees working within the police service, rather than sworn officers who exercise police powers and fall under the Inspector-General’s command.
The court’s position is that the recruitment and training of uniformed officers form part of the responsibilities of the National Police Service, while the commission retains a role in recruiting civilian personnel for administrative, technical, medical, accounting, information technology and legal functions.
How the dispute began
The case originated in September 2025, when the NPSC advertised vacancies for police constables, triggering a legal challenge by former Kilome MP Harun Mwau.
Mwau argued that the commission lacked the constitutional authority to recruit uniformed police officers, contending that the function belonged to the National Police Service under the Inspector-General.
The dispute was heard by the Employment and Labour Relations Court, where Justice Hellen Wasilwa ruled on October 30, 2025, that the commission could not conduct recruitment of uniformed officers.
The court also declared the commission’s 2025 recruitment regulations unconstitutional and issued orders barring it from carrying out specified personnel functions relating to police officers.
The decision triggered appeals by the NPSC and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), both of which sought to overturn the ruling.
The commission maintained that the Constitution expressly grants it authority over recruitment and human-resource management, warning that restricting its mandate would weaken its role as an independent constitutional institution.
The LSK also challenged the lower court’s interpretation of the relationship between the commission’s functions and the Inspector-General’s command.
The Inspector-General and the National Police Service, however, defended the earlier ruling, arguing that recruitment cannot be separated from the command structure responsible for training, deploying and managing officers.
Judges reject concerns over accountability
In dismissing the appeals, the Court of Appeal rejected the argument that limiting the commission’s role would undermine accountability or take Kenya back to an era when police institutions were vulnerable to abuse and political interference.
The three-judge bench—Justices Patrick Kiage, Jamila Mohammed and Jessie Lesiit—said the constitutional provisions were sufficiently clear in distinguishing the responsibilities of the commission from those of the Inspector-General.
The judges also emphasised that the Inspector-General’s independence does not place the office above the Constitution.
The police leadership remains bound by constitutional requirements on human rights, legality and the rule of law.
The ruling therefore settles the recruitment question in favour of the Inspector-General while leaving intact the constitutional obligation for police institutions to operate within legal safeguards.
What the ruling means for police recruitment
The judgment is likely to shape how future police recruitment exercises are organised and who exercises control over the process.
With the commission barred from recruiting uniformed officers under the upheld orders, the National Police Service, under the Inspector-General’s command, has secured the legal backing it sought to oversee the recruitment of constables and other uniformed personnel.
The decision also reinforces the separation between uniformed officers and civilian professionals employed within the service.
While police officers undertake security duties and exercise statutory powers, civilian staff provide essential support in fields such as medicine, law, accounting, information technology and administration.
For applicants seeking to join the police service, the ruling clarifies the institutional authority behind recruitment.
However, it does not in itself announce a new recruitment exercise or specify when additional vacancies will be advertised.
The judgment also leaves the wider question of how recruitment, personnel records, payroll management and institutional oversight should be coordinated within the police service as an important governance issue.
The dispute has demonstrated how disagreements over constitutional mandates can affect the administration of a major national institution.
Background: Why the commission was established
The NPSC was established under the 2010 Constitution as part of reforms intended to strengthen professionalism, accountability and independence in policing.
The reforms followed concerns about the conduct of security agencies, including those raised after the 2007–2008 post-election violence. They sought to establish clearer institutional responsibilities and reduce the risk of political interference in policing.
The commission’s position throughout the dispute was that its constitutional role in recruitment and personnel management was intended to provide an independent safeguard against excessive control by the police command. The National Police Service, on the other hand, argued that uniformed officers must be recruited and managed within a coherent command structure led by the Inspector-General.
The Court of Appeal has now sided with the latter interpretation on the question of recruiting uniformed officers, while recognising the commission’s continuing role in civilian staffing.
A defining moment for police governance
The decision marks a major development in the institutional relationship between the Inspector-General and the National Police Service Commission. It gives the police command a stronger legal basis for handling uniformed recruitment while narrowing the commission’s authority in that specific area.
Its practical significance will depend on how the relevant institutions implement the judgment and maintain transparency, fairness and accountability in future recruitment exercises.
Although the legal contest over who recruits uniformed officers has now been resolved by the appellate court, the broader public interest remains unchanged: ensuring that Kenya’s police service recruits qualified officers through credible processes, reflects the country’s diversity and respects the rights of the people it is mandated to protect.
The central message of the ruling is clear: the Inspector-General’s independent command extends to the recruitment of uniformed police officers, while the NPSC retains its recruitment role for civilian staff within the service.
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