The High Court, Constitutional and Human Rights Division, has put on hold the NPS planned recruitment of 10,000 police constables, thus opening the door for another lawsuit on the question of the authority of recruiting police officers.
Justice Bahati Mwamuye issued the temporary orders after hearing an urgent application brought by the petitioner Eliud Matindi, who questioned the constitutionality of the recruitment exercise scheduled for Monday, November 17, 2025.
Matindi maintained that according to Article 246(3)(a) of the Constitution, the power to recruit officers into the National Police Service rests with the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) only and not with the Inspector General (IG) of Police. It is stated in the court documents that NPSC on 19th September announced through a press release its intention to carry out the recruitment of 10,000 police constables and justified the move by its constitutional and statutory mandate.
However, the recruitment exercise was stopped on 2nd October by Employment and Labour Relations Court, which had ruled that the NPSC should not have gone ahead with the exercise.
After that, on October 30, Judge Hellen Wasilwa issued an order restraining the NPSC from carrying out the exercise, and instead directing the Inspector General of Police to conduct the same.
Accordingly, the IG issued a new advertisement announcing fresh recruitment to take place across 422 centres nationwide on November 17. Matindi’s petition alleges that the IG’s move infringed upon the constitution since the recruitment function was being handed over without NPSC’s explicit authorization.
Justice Mwamuye observed in her verdict that the petition raises pertinent legal questions concerning not only the Constitution but also the public interest, which, according to her, have to be resolved first before any recruitment can take place.
The court ordered that the case be discussed on January 22, 2026, to ascertain compliance and give further instructions. The decision essentially supersedes the ruling of the Employment and Labour Relations Court and thus constitutes the next episode in the continuing power struggle between the National Police Service Commission and the Inspector General over recruitment powers.
