Court lifts orders that stopped police recruitment, exercise to continue Monday

The High Court in Nairobi Friday lifted an order that had stopped a planned police recruitment.

This means the November 17, 2025 exercise will continue.

Justice Bahati Mwamuye issued the orders to lift the earlier ones he had given. The Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja had made an application to have the orders lifted.

“Pending the inter partes hearing and determination of the 1st Interested Party/Applicant’s Notice of Motion Application dated 13/11/2025, the conservatory orders issued on 10/11/2025 in this matter are stayed, and the obtaining status quo ante in place immediately before their issuance shall apply in the interim.”

”The 1st Interested Party/Applicant shall serve its Application dated 13/11/2025 and this Court Order on all parties and file an Affidavit of Service in that regard,” the judge ordered.

He said the case management on the previous case will be on the day of recruitment.

This came as the team to conduct the recruitment met at the National Police Service Campus B in Embakasi to finalize on the exercise.

Mwamuye had temporarily halted the planned national recruitment of police constables following a petition challenging the legality of the process initiated by the Inspector-General of Police.

Mwamuye issued conservatory orders suspending the recruitment exercise that had been advertised on November 4, 2025 by the Inspector-General, pending the hearing and determination of a petition filed by Eliud Karanja Matindi.

Matindi had sued the Inspector-General of the National Police Service, the National Police Service Commission (NPSC), and the Attorney-General, naming the National Police Service and Katiba Institute as interested parties.

In his petition, Matindi argued that the Inspector-General has no constitutional or statutory authority to recruit police constables, a function he says belongs exclusively to the National Police Service Commission under Article 246(3)(a) of the Constitution and the National Police Service Commission Act.

The petitioner contended that the advertisement and planned recruitment by the Inspector-General, scheduled for November 17 across 422 centres nationwide, is unconstitutional, null, and void since no lawful delegation was made by the NPSC as required by Section 10(2) of the Act.

He further warns that proceeding with the recruitment would undermine the rule of law and expose public resources to wastage, arguing that the court’s intervention is necessary to safeguard constitutional integrity.

The court also ordered the petitioner to serve all respondents and interested parties with the application and petition by November 12 while the respondents have until December 11, 2025 to file their responses.

The matter was then listed for mentioned on January 22, 2026, to confirm compliance and give further directions on the hearing.

The new exercise is planned for November 17, 2025.

The labour court had earlier stopped the exercise following a petition filed by former MP Harun Mwau tussle on who between the IG and National Police Service Commission should conduct the recruitment.

The court ruled in favor of the IG prompting the move by Kanja to announce the new dates.