Civil rights group Sheria Mtaani na Shadrack Wambui petitioned the High Court to stop the planned recruitment of 10,000 police officers, until a petition challenging the management of the National Police Service payroll is heard and determined.
Through lawyer Danstan Omari, the group argued that the recruitment exercise cannot proceed because new officers must be added to a payroll system whose management is contested.
According to the court documents, despite directions issued on August 13 requiring the Inspector General of police (IG) and the National Police Service (NPS) to file their responses to the petition within seven days, no such responses have been submitted.
The lobby wanted the court to summarily allow its application filed on August 11, 2025 saying the matter is effectively unopposed.
“The recruitment of police officers is directly tied to payroll management, as recruits must be placed on the payroll for payment of salaries, allowances, and benefits, all of which are at the centre of the dispute before the Court,” the petition stated.
Omari maintained that allowing recruitment to proceed would embed payroll entries under an authority whose mandate is contested, undermining the National Police Service Commission’s (NPSC) role should the court later rule in its favour.
The petition sought conservatory orders to bar the State and its agencies from conducting or proceeding with the recruitment exercise until the case is heard and determined.
The group also wanted the court to compel the IG to preserve the status quo on all payroll records and systems.
According to Omari, the unilateral control of the payroll by the IG “undermines the Commission’s human resource mandate, creates a risk of alteration or deletion of payroll records, frustrates ongoing disciplinary and recruitment processes, breaches due process under Article 47 of the Constitution, and risks institutional paralysis.”
The conflict over payroll management became public on August 4, 2025 after reports surfaced of a standoff between the IG and the NPSC.
The Public Accounts Committee has since directed the IG to hand over payroll functions to the Commission, describing it as the rightful employer of the National Police Service.
“This Court must urgently intervene to safeguard the integrity of police governance, protect constitutional separation of powers, and maintain public confidence in the National Police Service,” Omari argued in the petition.
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