Court halts hiring of 8,000 police recruits
Young men hoping to become police officers go through physical fitness tests during a Kenya Police Service recruitment drive at Mweiga Stadium in Nyeri County on July 14, 2014. FILE PHOTO | JOSEPH KANYI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The judge said NPSC illegally delegated power to recruit to sub-county police recruitment committees.
- The recruitment exercise was riddled with corruption and NPSC should have considered complaints raised by different agencies.
Thousands of youth who missed out on joining the Police Service have another chance after a court quashed the last recruitment.
In a precedent-setting ruling, High Court judge Isaac Lenaola said the July 14 hiring was tainted with corruption, irregularities and blatant violation of the Constitution.
“In the instance case, I find and hold that the National Police Service Commission failed itself, it failed Kenyans, it failed the recruits, it failed the Constitution and it must be told so. I am satisfied that drastic action must be taken, painful or unpopular as it may be,” he said.
The judgment came days to recruitment by Kenya Defence Forces and the National Youth Service next week. It was bad news for more than 8,000 recruits who had received letters to join the service.
The High Court not only quashed the appointments but also slapped taxpayers with a Sh87 million bill for a repeat. This is the amount spent on the hiring.
The 8,749 individuals, who were part of the 10,000 recruits, were to join police training colleges in August but their reporting was delayed to await yesterday’s ruling.
They will now have to try their luck again together with 1,251 others from 36 centres, whose admission was cancelled by the police service commission.
Recruitment of the 10,000 police officers has been riddled with controversy. Parliament held special committee meetings to investigate its credibility.
High Court judge Justice Isaac Lenaola when he delivered a ruling on the recent police recruitment on October 31, 2014. PHOTO | PAUL WAWERU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Judge Lenaola said although the successful recruits may have been innocent of any of the illegalities, it was obvious that the process was unlawful. “The only order available is to prohibit the National Police Service from issuing appointment or any other letters to persons recruited on July 14,” he ruled.
He said the commission had no authority to delegate recruitment powers to sub-county committees.
“Those powers are only vested in the Inspector-General of Police. There is no law or statute that allows delegation of recruitment,” he ruled.
He added that although he was aware of the value for a strong police service due to the threats posed by terrorists, that fact would not sway his mind to allow blatant breach of the Constitution.
“Action must be taken to be as a lesson to the police service commission and other constitutional organs that the Constitution is alive and kicking. It will resist all attempts to subvert its purposes. It will frown upon attempts to invoke convenience as opposed to its letter and spirit,” said Lenaola.
However, to give more autonomy to the police commission, Justice Lenaola ruled that they were not subject to supervision by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority and cannot be subject to directions from other institutions when carrying out their mandate.
The ruling was also a blow to pregnant women who complained of being discriminated against during the recruitment drive.
“Police service entails rigorous training and exercises. Allowing pregnant women to join the service and undergo the rigorous nine-month training will put their lives and those of their unborn babies to risk.”
