NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 16 — The Court of Appeal has affirmed the Inspector-General’s independent command over police officers, dismissing appeals by the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) against a ruling that barred the commission from recruiting uniformed officers.
In a judgment delivered on Friday, a three-judge bench comprising Justices Patrick Kiage, Jamila Mohammed and Jessie Lesiit dismissed the consolidated appeals in their entirety, upholding the Employment and Labour Relations Court’s October 30, 2025 decision.
The judges held that the Constitution places the recruitment, training, employment, deployment, promotion, suspension and dismissal of sworn police officers under the National Police Service, subject to the Inspector-General’s independent command.
“Ultimately, we find the consolidated appeal before us to be without merit and they are accordingly dismissed in entirety,” the court ruled.
The judges ordered each party to bear its own costs, citing the public interest involved in the dispute.
The decision resolves a contest over the division of human resource powers between the Inspector-General and the NPSC, which had argued that the Constitution grants the commission authority to recruit and manage police officers.
The court rejected that interpretation, distinguishing between sworn police officers, constitutionally defined as members of the National Police Service, and civilian employees who perform support functions within the service.
It held that the NPSC’s recruitment, appointment, promotion and disciplinary powers under Article 246(3) of the Constitution apply to civilian personnel rather than uniformed officers.
These include administrative, technical, accounting, information technology and legal staff working within the police service.
The judges also affirmed that the NPSC is not a national security organ under Article 239 of the Constitution, which identifies the National Police Service, Kenya Defence Forces and National Intelligence Service as national security organs.
The court said the constitutional principle of independent command protects the Inspector-General from directions by other persons or institutions on the employment, assignment, promotion, suspension or dismissal of police officers.
“No person, not even the Cabinet Secretary, and thus less still the Commission, may give him a direction” on those matters, the judgment stated.
The ruling further upheld the lower court’s decision declaring unconstitutional the NPSC’s September 19, 2025 advertisement for the recruitment of police constables and Legal Notice No. 159 of 2025, which provided for the commission’s recruitment process.
The dispute arose after businessman and former legislator John Harun Mwau challenged the commission’s authority to recruit police constables.
The Employment and Labour Relations Court subsequently ruled in favour of the Inspector-General’s independent command, prompting appeals by the NPSC and LSK.
In February 2026, the Court of Appeal temporarily suspended parts of the earlier judgment concerning the Inspector-General’s exclusive authority over police promotions and dismissals pending determination of the appeals.
Friday’s judgment dismisses those appeals and upholds the lower court’s declarations, reinforcing the constitutional separation between the commission’s role in managing civilian police personnel and the Inspector-General’s command over sworn officers.