Court paves way recruitment of 10,000 police officers next week

A past police recruitment exercise at Gusii Stadium, on March 24, 2022. [File, Standard] Inspector-General of Police Douglas Kanja has received a major reprieve after the High Court lifted the conservatory orders that had halted the recruitment of 100,000 police officers scheduled for Monday, November 17, 2025. Justice Bahati Mwamuye on Friday set aside the earlier orders blocking the IG from conducting the exercises following an urgent application filed by the National Police Service, paving the way for the nationwide recruitment exercise to proceed as planned. "Pending the inter partes hearing and determination of the 1st Interested Party (National Police Service) dated November 13, 2025, the conservatory orders issued on Monday, November 10, 2025, in this matter are hereby stayed, and the status quo ante that existed immediately before their issuance shall apply in the interim,'' Justice Mwamuye ordered. He ordered the NPS to serve its pleading to all parties including activist Eliud Matindi who has secured orders halting the recruitment on Monday this week immediately claiming that IG has no mandate to recruit police officers. The last evening orders were issued after NPS filed an application on Thursday under certificate of urgency arguing that the continued suspension of the recruitment poses a grave threat to national security, citing a critical shortage of police officers and the urgent need to bolster security ahead of the 2027 General Election. "It is in the public interest that the orders issued by the High Court on November 10, 2025, be set aside immediately to allow the National Police Service to proceed with the nationwide recruitment drive scheduled for next week," the court papers state. The conservatory orders issued by Justice Mwamuye on November 10, 2025, barred the IG, the National Police Service Commission (NPSC), the Attorney General, and other related parties from conducting or facilitating the recruitment, pending the hearing of a petition filed by activist Matindi. NPS highlighted that no police recruitment has taken place over the past three years, leading to an acute shortage of officers due to retirements, natural attrition, and other exits from service. In its suit papers, NPS emphasised that recruiting new officers is crucial to enabling the National Police Service to effectively discharge its constitutional mandate of ensuring peace, security, and law and order across the country. NPS further warned that delays in recruitment would deny the service adequate time to train and deploy officers ahead of the 2027 General Election. "There is an impending general election to be held in August 2027, and elections in this country come with heavy security challenges, which require adequate police officers to manage," The NPS told the judge The National Police Service revealed to court that it had already mobilised resources and logistical arrangements for the recruitment. It warned that halting the process now would lead to unnecessary public expenditure and wastage of time. "The orders stopping the recruitment should be lifted in the interest of justice and public safety. Stopping or delaying the recruitment will deny the police service ample time to train new officers and deploy them to handle emerging security challenges," NPS contended. In his petition, Matindi argued that the IG lacks constitutional or statutory authority to carry out the recruitment, a mandate reserved for the NPSC under Section 10(2) of the National Police Service Commission Act. He claimed that the IG's independent action to conduct recruitment is unconstitutional and risks undermining the rule of law and proper governance in public service appointments. "The recruitment exercise announced by the Inspector General on behalf of the National Police Service is unconstitutional, null, and void in the absence of proper delegation by the NPSC," Matindi told the court. "The actions of the IG violate the Constitution and pose risks to public resources and the integrity of the recruitment process." In his petition, Matindi is seeking several legal remedies to halt the ongoing police recruitment exercise, including an order to quash the notice and advertisement issued by the IG Kanja on November 4 2025, which invited applications for recruitment as police constables into the NPS. The NPS case will be mentioned on Monday November 17,2025 alongside that of IG Kanja who also moved to court seeking to lift the order .

Court paves way recruitment of 10,000 police officers next week

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