There was confusion after the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi issued a temporary order halting the recruitment of 10,000 police officers, dealing a legal setback to the National Police Service (NPS).
The recruitment was to start Friday, October 3, 2025.
The ruling, delivered on Thursday, October 2, 2025, by Lady Justice Hellen Wasilwa, came in response to a petition filed by politician John Harun Mwau against the Inspector General of Police (IG) and the National Police Service Commission (NPSC).
According to the court documents, an interim conservatory order was issued, staying the entire recruitment process until the petition is fully resolved.
“Interim conservatory order is hereby issued, staying the entire recruitment pending resolution of the Petition,” the court stated in its ruling.
The order directs the IG and NPSC to file their response within seven days, while the petitioner is allowed the same period to file further affidavits and submissions.
The court also scheduled the next mention on October 21, 2025, to confirm compliance and address highlighted submissions.
The orders mean the recruitment process will remain frozen until the court makes a final determination on the petition.
It came after police authorities had finished plans for the exercise that was to start on October 3 to 9, 2025.
It was targeting Kenyan citizens aged between 18 and 28 years with a minimum academic qualification of a D+ in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).
The announcement came after weeks of tension between the NPSC and the NPS over the recruitment process.
The commission had earlier pushed for a new model requiring interested applicants to apply and be shortlisted before attending the physical vetting exercise.
However, the proposal was dropped, allowing all applicants to present themselves on the recruitment day with duly filled forms.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said he was aware of the court orders suspending the recruitment exercise but is confident that the issue will be resolved.
He said the exercise will proceed as much had been done in terms of its planning.
“I am aware that there was a legal process in court and one of the judges has given an order to stop the recruitment,” Murkomen said, while speaking during a Jukwaa la Usalma forum in Nairobi.
Murkomen said he wished he could call the judge directly to understand the consequences of a court order that has stalled police recruitment for the last four years.
He stressed that recruiting those police officers is critical for the safety of the country.
“I wish I could be allowed to call the judge directly to understand the consequences of a court order to the recruitment of police officers that has never happened for the last four years. How it is very critical for the safety of our country to recruit those police officers urgently not just for anything else, to secure our boarders,” he said.
He made the remarks while addressing the Jukwaa La Usalama Nairobi edition at the Kenya School of Government in Kabete.
he said the National Police Service Commission needs to replace several police officers who have died since the last recruitment.
Murkomen said the recruitment needs to be opened soon to ensure the police are trained in time to assist in the 2027 general election.
“There are many police officers who have retired, some have passed on, and we need to replace and bring energetic police officers who will be trained in time to even help us support the next election,” he said.
Murkomen said he hoped the judge would watch his speech, apply reason, and quickly reopen the recruitment process so that the country can get the police officers it urgently needs.
He expressed confidence that the situation would soon be resolved.
“I hope that the judge will watch my speech so that I don’t need to call her and apply reason to make sure that the process is opened very quickly to ensure that our country can recruit the police officers they need so badly. I am sure that the situation will be resolved.”
The court order comes just days after the Constitutional High Court in Milimani approved the withdrawal of a separate petition filed by civil society group Sheria Mtaani and activist Shadrach Wambui, which had also sought to suspend the nationwide police recruitment.
The petition had sought conservatory orders restraining the Inspector General of Police (IG) and the NPS from proceeding with the recruitment exercise.
The group argued that the exercise cannot go ahead while a constitutional dispute over payroll management remains unresolved.
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