Fresh setback for IG Kanja as court stops police recruitment exercise

"Pending the inter partes hearing and determination of the Petitioner/Applicant’s Notice of Motion Application dated 06/11/2025, a conservatory order be and is hereby issued suspending the Notice of Recruitment of Police Constables/Officers issued on 04/11/2025 by the 1st Respondent,” reads the order.

The orders were issued by Justice Bahati Mwamuye following a petition filed by Eliud Matindi, who challenged the legality of the recruitment exercise being conducted by the Inspector General of Police (IG).

In his petition, Matindi argued that the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) — not the Inspector General — is constitutionally mandated to handle recruitment into the National Police Service under Article 246(3)(a) of the Constitution.

According to court documents, the NPSC had earlier, on 5 September 2025, announced plans to recruit 10,000 police constables, citing its constitutional and statutory mandate. However, the exercise was suspended on 2 October 2025 following a separate court order in Petition No. E196 of 2025, Harun Mwau v. Inspector General of Police & Others.

The Inspector General later issued a fresh advertisement on 4 November 2025 announcing a new recruitment drive to be conducted across 422 centres countrywide on November 17, 2025.

This was after a court battle between the National Police Service (NPS) and the National Police Service Commission (NPSC), where the latter was found to be the rightful body to conduct the exercise. 

On October 30, 2025, the High Court declared the NPSC advertisement unconstitutional, ruling that the recruitment mandate lies with the National Police Service (NPS).

Matindi’s petition contends that this move was unconstitutional, arguing that the IG has no legal authority to undertake recruitment without express delegation from the NPSC as required under Section 10(2) of the National Police Service Commission Act.

Justice Mwamuye, in issuing the temporary orders, noted that the petition raises substantial constitutional and public interest questions that must be determined before any recruitment proceeds.