Blow to NPSC as High Court declares only IG can recruit police officers

The National Police Service Commission (NPSC) was on Thursday dealt a major blow after the High Court barred it from recruiting police officers.

The Employment and Labor Relations Court said that the mandate to recruit lies with the National Police Service (NPS), terming the recruitment exercise advertised by the commission as unconstitutional.

In a detailed judgement, Justice Hellen Wasilwa cited Article 232 of the Constitution of Kenya, which prescribes that recruitment by a national security organ can only be done by the organ itself and not any other entity outside it.

Further, the court declared that the mandate to train, assign, suspend, and dismiss police officers is a prerogative of the Inspector General of police, underscoring the constitutional independence of the NPS in running its human resource.

Buttressing the judgement on an earlier determination of the High Court, Justice Wasilwa indicated that the mandate of the NPSC relates only to recruitment, appointment of a person to hold an office in the service, and not actual members of the NPS.

The court declared Legal Notice No. 159 of September 19, 2025, unconstitutional, issuing a permanent injunction restraining the NPSC from undertaking any recruitment, training, assignment, suspension, or dismissal of police officers.

Justice Wasilwa further directed the revision of the National Police Service Commission Act and the National Police Service Act to align them to the Constitution to avoid interference with the powers of the IG and for greater national security.

Former Kilome legislator Harun Mwau had filed the case challenging the recruitment call by the NPSC, arguing that the mandate to employ police officers lies with the Inspector General of police.