The Court of Appeal on Friday, 16 October 2026, upheld a Labour Court judgment that strips the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) of the power to recruit police constables, leaving the hiring of uniformed officers under the command of Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, who promptly welcomed the decision.

A three-judge bench of Justices Patrick Kiage, Jamila Mohammed and Jessie Lesiit dismissed consolidated appeals filed by the commission and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) against the Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC) decision of 30 October 2025, according to Eastleigh Voice and Kahawatungu. The judges ordered each side to meet its own costs, citing the public interest in the matter.

"The constitutional order has been vindicated," Mr Kanja said after the ruling, Eastleigh Voice reported.

Civilian staff only

At the heart of the judgment is Article 246(3) of the Constitution, which allows the commission to recruit and appoint people to hold or act in offices within the National Police Service. The appellate judges read that provision as covering only civilian personnel and not sworn officers, Citizen Digital reported.

According to Citizen Digital and TV47, the court held that the commission's recruitment mandate extends to civilians who carry out administrative, technical, medical, accounting, ICT and legal work in the Service. Uniformed officers, on the other hand, fall under the independent command of the Inspector General, whose office the Constitution shields from outside instructions on the employment, assignment, promotion, suspension or dismissal of police officers under Article 245(4)(c).

The bench also agreed with the lower court that the commission is not one of the national security organs listed in Article 239, which names the Kenya Defence Forces, the National Intelligence Service and the National Police Service, Kahawatungu reported.

The judges rejected the appellants' argument that confining the commission to its constitutional lane would return the country to an era of an unaccountable, politicised police force. They stressed that the Inspector General remains answerable under the Constitution and that police independence must be exercised alongside respect for human rights and the rule of law, Eastleigh Voice reported. The court also declined to rely on a 2023 decision of Nigeria's Supreme Court on police recruitment, noting that Nigeria's constitutional provisions on policing differ markedly from Kenya's.

Kahawatungu further reported that the bench dismissed claims that the ELRC lacked jurisdiction to hear the dispute, finding that recruitment, promotion, discipline and dismissal are core employment and labour relations questions.

How the dispute began

The case traces back to September 2025, when the commission advertised vacancies for police constables on 19 September and gazetted the National Police Service Commission (Recruitment and Appointment) Regulations, 2025. John Harun Mwau went to court arguing that the Constitution did not give the commission power to hire constables and that the Service, as a security organ, should recruit and train its own officers.

The Inspector General, the National Police Service, the Attorney General and the National Security Council backed the petition, while the Independent Policing Oversight Authority opposed it, according to Kahawatungu. On 30 October 2025, the ELRC ruled in Mr Mwau's favour, nullified the 2025 regulations and permanently barred the commission from recruiting, training, employing, promoting, suspending or dismissing members of the Service.

Recruitment drive and earlier stay

The tussle has shaped police hiring over the past year. In November 2025, the High Court lifted orders that had halted the recruitment of 10,000 police officers after an urgent application by Mr Kanja, who argued that a long freeze on hiring had left the Service badly understaffed, Nation and Capital FM reported at the time.

In February 2026, a separate Court of Appeal bench temporarily suspended the part of the ELRC judgment that gave the Inspector General exclusive power over promotions and dismissals of officers, pending the hearing of the LSK appeal, Citizen Digital and The Standard reported. That bench clarified at the time that the suspension did not hand those powers back to the commission.

Friday's judgment, which found both appeals without merit, is a significant win for the Inspector General's office in its long-running contest with the commission over who controls the police workforce. The commission had not publicly responded to the ruling by the time of publication.

Photo: Citizen Digital / National Police Service