Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja suffered a significant legal setback on Friday after the Court of Appeal suspended a Labour Court ruling that had handed him exclusive control over the careers of every police officer in Kenya, including the power to hire, fire and promote without any oversight from the National Police Service Commission.
A three-judge bench led by Court of Appeal President Daniel Musinga, Justice Mumbi Ngugi and Justice George Odunga, on Friday stayed the October 30, 2025 judgment of Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC) Judge Hellen Wasilwa, which had declared the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) constitutionally powerless to recruit, promote or discipline any member of the police service.
The appellate court specifically suspended the part of Justice Wasilwa’s ruling that vested in Kanja exclusive and independent command over promotions and dismissals of officers.
In a ruling that will send shockwaves through the National Police Service, the bench held that no prejudice will be occasioned if, temporarily, the powers to promote and dismiss members of the National Police Service are suspended pending the hearing and determination of the intended appeal.
The bench was, however, careful to stress that the suspension of Kanja’s powers does not automatically restore them to the NPSC.
“For avoidance of doubt, we are not, by this ruling, reverting those powers to the National Police Service Commission. The exercise of those powers shall await determination of the appeal,” the judges declared, effectively placing the entire human resource machinery of Kenya’s police service in a state of suspension.
The saga began when businessman and politician Hon. John Harun Mwau filed a petition at the ELRC challenging a September 2025 police recruitment advertised by the NPSC.
Justice Wasilwa upheld the petition spectacularly, issuing fourteen sweeping declarations that effectively dismantled the Commission’s role in the service,stripping it of the power to recruit, train, employ, assign, promote, suspend or dismiss any police officer.
The judgment also nullified Legal Notice No. 159 of September 19, 2025, which had published the Commission’s recruitment regulations.
The Law Society of Kenya (LSK), though not a party to the original petition, moved swiftly to challenge Justice Wasilwa’s ruling, filing a notice of appeal and an urgent application for stay.
The Society argued the judgment had upended the constitutional balance between the Inspector General and the Commission, threatening to plunge the police service into institutional chaos.
Kanja fought back hard. Through his lawyers, the Inspector General argued that the Constitution was unambiguous, Article 245(4)(c) expressly prohibits any person from directing him on the employment, assignment, promotion, suspension or dismissal of officers.
His counsel further contended that there had been no police recruitment for three years, staffing levels were critically low, and with the 2027 general election approaching, granting a stay would endanger national security.
His team insisted the application “does not disclose any nugatory aspect should the orders of stay of execution of the judgment be declined.”
One dimension of Friday’s ruling provided cold comfort for Kanja: the Court declined to interfere with the recruitment of police constables that the National Police Service had already conducted in November 2025, ruling it would be futile to stay a process already completed and training already underway.
The bench acknowledged that where the decision sought to be appealed from has been executed, the Court ordinarily does not grant orders of stay since there is nothing to be stayed.
At the heart of the dispute is an apparent constitutional collision between two provisions: Article 245(4)(c), which shields the Inspector General from any direction on police human resources, and Article 246(3), which gives the NPSC the power to recruit, appoint, promote, transfer and discipline officers.
The Court of Appeal bench acknowledged the tension plainly, observing that there are serious constitutional overlaps in the functions of these two entities which require careful consideration and delineation when the appeal comes up for hearing.
Given the enormous public interest at stake, the Court directed that the full appeal be accorded priority and disposed of within three months, meaning a definitive ruling on who controls Kenya’s police force is expected before the end of May 2026.
