The National Police Service (NPS) has described as "regrettable and unacceptable" remarks by nominated Senator Karen Nyamu, who claimed in a radio interview that she helped a political supporter join the police using a forged secondary school certificate.

The senator made the remarks during an interview on Radio Generation on Friday, 23 October 2026, while speaking about rewarding members of her campaign team. According to the Nation, she said she had wanted to give back to campaigners who lacked the required qualifications when police recruitment was advertised.

"Tukakarabati (we forged) a Form Four certificate, because I had this chance and I really had to give back," Nyamu said, as quoted by the Nation.

She went on to say that the recruit was admitted to the Kiganjo Police Training College but was later caught up in an investigation into fake academic documents. "She went to Kiganjo for training; we were so happy, but after investigations, she was arrested for forgery alongside 17 others," she said, according to Kenyans.co.ke. The Nation quoted her saying about 18 recruits with fake papers were removed from training.

Police respond

In a statement on Saturday, 24 October, NPS spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga said the service had come across a video in which a senator acknowledged knowing that a supporter used a fake certificate in a bid to be enlisted as a recruit constable. The statement did not name Nyamu, but it was clearly addressed to her remarks.

The service said the comments were especially troubling because they came from a lawmaker who is also a legal practitioner. It confirmed that fraudulent academic documents had been detected at a police training college, leading to the expulsion of the recruits concerned.

"Any dishonest attempts, including the use of fake documents, cannot succeed," the NPS said, as reported by the Nation.

The service added that its recruitment process includes strict verification of documents and warned prospective applicants against presenting falsified academic certificates.

Unanswered questions

The police statement left several issues open. It did not say whether the recruit described by the senator was among those expelled, whether Nyamu had been summoned to record a statement, or whether the matter had been referred to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations. No charges had been announced by Monday, and Nyamu had not publicly responded to the police statement.

Forgery is an offence under Section 349 of the Penal Code. Whether any offence was committed in this case would depend on what investigators establish about who prepared the document, when, and how it was used. The senator's account has not been independently verified.

Lawyer Ndegwa Njiru criticised the police response, describing the statement as "a cover-up" for not directly addressing the senator's role, according to the Nation.

Recruitment integrity under scrutiny

The episode has revived concerns about the integrity of police recruitment, which has for years been dogged by complaints of bribery, political interference and the use of fake documents. Successive recruitment drives have seen candidates disqualified after background checks exposed forged papers, sometimes after they had already begun training.

Nyamu was nominated to the Senate by the ruling UDA party in 2022 after contesting the Nairobi Woman Representative seat in 2017. She has previously drawn criticism over public remarks, including comments in March 2026 that Senate Speaker Amason Kingi ruled inappropriate.

Photos: Nation (Karen Nyamu); Kenyans.co.ke (Inspector General Douglas Kanja, file).