The Employment and Labour Relations Court has nullified the planned police recruitment, maintaining that the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) lacks the legal authority to preside over the recruitment exercise.
In a ruling issued on Thursday, October 30, Justice Hellen Wasilwa noted that recruitment, training and delegation of duties to police officers was purely the mandate of the National Police Service (NPS).
The court also noted that the Commission was not responsible for the country's internal security as per the Constitution, and therefore it had no role in presiding over the recruitment of police constables.
While dismissing the recently advertised nationwide police recruitment as null and void, the court accused NPSC of allegedly contravening Article 232 of the Constitution.
"A declaration is hereby issued that the recruitment by the national security organs under Article 232 of the Constitution can only be done by the national security organ itself and not by any other entity outside it," the judge ruled.
"A permanent injunction is hereby issued restraining the Commission from proceeding with the recruitment or any related activities, including the advertisement published in the Daily Nation," Justice Wasilwa added.
Justice Wasilwa further stated that the role of recruiting and dismissing police officers was exclusively the role of the Inspector General of Police, who heads NPS and that any overreach would interfere with the IG's independence.
She highlighted that the Commission's role was explicitly handling oversight and administrative functions and that operational roles were not part of the NPSC's Constitutional mandate.
The nationwide police recruitment had been scheduled to commence on October 3, following an advertisement published on September 19 by the NPSC.
However, the exercise was temporarily halted by the High Court on October 2 in response to a petition filed by John Harun Mwau against Police IG Douglas Kanja and NPSC.
Justice Wasilwa issued the conservatory order suspending the exercise until the matter is heard and determined. In her directive, the judge ordered respondents to file their responses within seven days.
In his petition, Mwau had argued that the recruitment exercise could not go on while NPS and NPSC were at loggerheads over police payroll issues.
