National Police Service Commission (NPSC) Chairperson Dr
Aman Yuda Komora./STEPHEN ASTARIKO
A petitioner from Garissa has sued the National Assembly for allegedly disregarding President William Ruto’s directive on considering regional balance in the appointment of the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) commissioners.
In court documents, Rukia Mohamed has listed the National Assembly, the selection panel for nominees for appointment as chairperson and members of the NPSC, and the Public Service Commission as respondents.
According to the petitioner, President Ruto emphasised the former provincial boundaries and regions as the basis for addressing the imbalance in the commission.
Ms Mohamed, through her lawyers Sallah & Advocates, argued that the nine commissioners come from counties that border each other and cluster in the South-Western part of Kenya.
The petitioner moved to court seeking orders compelling the respondents to provide the criteria, formula, or method used to shortlist the nominee; make public the shortlisted names forwarded to the President; produce appraisal forms and scoring for every candidate shortlisted for appointment; and submit recordings of the interviews conducted by the selection panel.
“Indeed in the previous vetting conducted on the 9th of June 2025, the National Assembly Departmental Committee report noted that, at Paragraph 43 Page 14, the President referred back the list of candidates recommended for appointment as Chairperson, together with that of one proposed member on the grounds that they do not individually and collectively, satisfy the requisite constitutional, statutory or representational thresholds and accordingly advised the Selection Panel to re-advertise the positions of Chairperson and one Member and undertake fresh recruitment exercise in accordance with the law,” read part of the petition.
She said the appointment representatives were picked from South Rift (3), Central (2), Western (2), Nyanza (1), and Coast (1), thereby disregarding the Eastern and North Eastern regions.
Even before the appointments, Ms Rukia had petitioned the National Security Committee and Coordination regarding the matter, which was received and stamped on 14 July 2024.
However, the committee report tabled before the National Assembly noted that they had not received any memorandum contesting the suitability of the nominees.
“In this regard, by close of business 12th August 2025 at 5:00 pm, the committee had not received any memoranda contesting the suitability of the nominees. The committee, however, received a recommendation letter from a women’s organisation supporting the nomination of Ms Angeline Yiamiton Siparo,” read the committee report.
When all efforts to bring the matter before the legislative arm were ignored, a constitutional case was filed by Sallah & Advocates under a certificate of urgency before High Court Judge Lawrence Mugambi, who ordered that Parliament and the National Police Service be served and set 15 October 2025 as the compliance date.
However, in their defence, Parliament claimed it has limited powers and that its mandate concerns vetting integrity issues only. It argued that oversight on regional balances lies with the Office of the Head of Public Service. Justice Mugambi granted the request for Parliament to be served.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) was last week served with a court order requiring it to explain the failure to appoint NPSC commissioners who reflect Kenya’s regional and ethnic diversity.
In the petition, the High Court in Nairobi, Constitutional and Human Rights Division, ordered the PSC to share details on how it arrived at the appointment of the nine commissioners without considering Article 246(4) of the Constitution of Kenya.
The matter is before Justice Lawrence Mugambi. On 15 October 2025, the judge directed that the case be mentioned in March 2026, with the selection panel removed as respondents and replaced by the Public Service Commission.
