Young Kenyans at a previous police recruitment./FILEThe eagerly anticipated recruitment of 10,000 police officers has been thrown into uncertainty after the National Police Service was forced to postpone the exercise in compliance with a court order.
The exercise, which was due to kick off on Friday, October 3, was halted after Lady Justice Hellen Wasilwa of the Employment and Labour Relations Court issued an interim conservatory order on Thursday, suspending the process pending the determination of a petition.
“In accordance with the Order of the Employment and Labour Relations Court, issued on October 2, 2025, the police recruitment exercise scheduled to commence on October 3, 2025 has been postponed until further notice,” NPS spokesman Muchiri Nyaga said in a statement.
Nyaga added that the Service was exploring “appropriate legal remedies to ensure the recruitment exercise can resume at the earliest opportunity,” but stressed that NPS would continue to uphold the rule of law and comply fully with court directives.
The petition challenging the process was filed by former legislator John Harun Mwau, who argued that the recruitment could not proceed amid a dispute over the management of the police payroll.
Justice Wasilwa concurred, issuing orders that effectively froze the exercise that was to end on October 9.
The ruling came as a major setback not only for the service, which was banking on fresh personnel to boost its ranks, but also for thousands of hopeful applicants across the country who had been preparing for the exercise.
In a statement after the court ruling, Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja sought to allay public fears, insisting that the service remained committed to conducting a transparent and credible recruitment once the legal hurdles are cleared.
Kanja was responding to mounting concerns from politicians and members of the public about the fairness of the process.
He urged the officers taking part in the exercise to ensure the integrity of the process by shunning corrupt practices, which will strengthen public trust in the National Police Service.
In an earlier petition that was later withdrawn, civil society group Sheria Mtaani and activist Shadrach Wambui had also sought to suspend the nationwide police recruitment.
They, however changed tune and told court that they had received overwhelming appeals from young people urging them to drop the matter.
“Many young people had already travelled to recruitment centres using limited resources,” the petitioners submitted, noting that blocking the exercise would not serve the public interest.
