Hiring of 10k officers in jeopardy due to NPS and NPSC stalemate

The stalemate between the National Police Service Commission and the Police National Service persisted on Tuesday, further putting into jeopardy the recruitment of 10,000 officers.

At the same time, the police service and the commission agreed to do away with online recruitment and will now conduct a physical exercise in all constituencies.

A meeting between the duo, facilitated by the National Assembly Committee on Constitution Implementation and Oversight Committee, failed to bear tangible fruits on the method of recruitment, who will spearhead it, and the Inspector General of Police handing over the payroll to the commission as the law requires.

The resolutions of the meeting, held behind closed doors, were communicated by the committee chairperson and Suba South MP Caroli Omondi. Present during the meeting were Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, Deputy IG Eliud Lagat, NPSC Chief Executive Officer Peter Leley and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss Ibrahim Amin.

“The commission and service agreed to meet on Thursday to finalise on issues of recruitment, prioritise institutional housing for police officers, and adopt recommendations regarding forum and human resource functions, in an effort to strengthen police reforms,” said Omondi.

 He said the police service and the commission had agreed to do away with the earlier proposed online recruitment process. “It’s been difficult for the physical examination. But the problem is, we don’t have the regulations in place to anchor the online physical examination. So we are not (going to do it), we don’t think it is a good idea to wait. So we have agreed the commission will meet on Thursday to finalise the recruitment, and it will be conducted in 290 constituencies and 405 centres,” he noted

The meeting also failed to give a status update or the bottlenecks hindering the IG from handing over the human resource functions, including the police payroll, to the commission, with the chairperson noting that a communique on the same would be given in good time.

“Regarding the issue of forum and HR functions, which has been the source of contention, we have agreed with both the services and the commission that they adopt certain recommendations we have made, but subject to further consultations, and they will report to us not later than 60 days on the progress,” added the MP.

He added, “We have agreed on the 60 days because we want the police recruitment to be conducted immediately. We don’t want to distract them from that. That is why we are giving them that time.”

 Notably, article 246 (3) of the Constitution empowers the commission to recruit and appoint persons to hold or act in offices in the service, confirm appointments, and determine promotions and transfers within the National Police Service. It is also charged with observing due process, exercising disciplinary control over and removing persons holding or acting in offices within the Service and performing any other functions prescribed by national legislation. 

The police service has, for years on end, been undertaking the said functions and refused to surrender the same to the commission- a development that has set off supremacy wrangles between the two.

The MPs have been demanding to know why the Inspector General of Police’s office has been acting in breach of the Constitution. Another key deliverable from the hours-long meeting was that the CIOC committee and other agencies of government will prioritise institutional housing for police officers within the police stations across the entire country. “We are aware that the Ministry of Housing must be involved because that committee is seized with the priority of housing for police officers,” remarked Omondi. 

The development comes amid a court case to suspend the planned recruitment of the 10,000 officers until a dispute over the payroll is resolved. 

Through lawyer Shadrack Wambui, a public interest group filed an urgent application on Tuesday last week seeking conservatory orders, arguing that the recruitment exercise is directly tied to the payroll system, whose constitutional management remains in dispute.

On September 5, the Commission adopted the National Police Service Commission (Recruitment and Appointment) Regulations, 2025, to guide the process.