A long-brewing constitutional dispute is threatening to splinter Kenya’s policing institutions, as lawmakers warn that the uneasy coexistence between the National Police Service and the National Police Service Commission has reached a breaking point.
At the center of the conflict are two clauses in the 2010 Constitution that were meant to safeguard independence and accountability but have instead become competing sources of authority.
Article 245 gives the Inspector General operational command including deploying officers and directing security operations. Article 246 assigns the Commission sweeping powers over human resources such as recruitment, promotions and disciplinary control.
This dual mandate has fueled recurring battles over who truly runs the service. The latest flashpoint, according to testimony before Parliament’s Committee on Implementation of the Constitution, is money.
A recruitment budget that Commission officials say was diverted to the Police Service effectively undercut its ability to exercise its mandate. Payroll management has also become contested ground.
The Inspector General insists that ceding control would weaken operational command while the Commission argues that it is a constitutional obligation.
“The continued wrangling risks fracturing the integrity and unity of the police service,” said Hon. Caroli Omondi, who chairs the committee.
He added that the uncertainty was eroding not only trust within the institutions but also public confidence in policing itself.
The committee has called for expanded consultations with the Interior Ministry, Treasury and legal experts. Insiders acknowledge that deeper reforms may be required and possibly even a constitutional amendment to reconcile the competing mandates.
For now the struggle highlights a broader tension in Kenya’s governance. The country must decide how to balance independent oversight with centralized command in a system still grappling with demands for accountability in its security services.
Until the question is resolved the very institutions tasked with upholding law and order remain locked in their own contest over power.
