NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 29 – Members of Parliament have directed Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja to immediately surrender the police payroll and all human resource functions to the National Police Service Commission (NPSC), citing constitutional violations.
Lawmakers ordered the surrender during a session of the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), where Kanja appeared alongside Deputy Inspector General Gilbert Masengeli and police accounting officer Bernice Lemedeket.
PAC Chairperson Tindi Mwale accused the police leadership of undermining the Constitution by withholding the payroll from the commission, which is constitutionally mandated to manage police human resource functions.
“This committee orders you, the Inspector General of Police, to hand over all payroll and human resource functions to the commission immediately — not in a week, but now,” Mwale said.
“The CEO of the commission must also write back to this committee to confirm receipt of those functions.”
The standoff came to light after NPSC CEO Peter Lelei told the committee on July 16 that the police leadership had for years placed administrative obstacles blocking the commission from accessing the payroll, making it impossible to conduct a comprehensive audit or enforce HR policies.
Lelei defended the commission’s audited financial statements for the 2022/23 fiscal year, with the Auditor General citing the IG’s refusal to surrender payroll control as a key impediment.
Article 246(3) of the Constitution grants the NPSC exclusive powers to recruit, appoint, confirm, promote, transfer, and discipline members of the National Police Service.
Turf wars
However, MPs said these functions have been exercised by the police service in contravention of the law, fueling persistent turf wars between the two institutions.
“The documents tabled here by the IG are not the payroll. Where is it?” asked Lugari MP Nabii Nabwera.
“The commission is the legal employer of police officers. Why would the employer be denied access to payroll data?”
Aldai MP Marianne Kitany said the IG had no choice but to comply.
“If the IG believes the Constitution was wrong to assign payroll functions to the commission, he should first surrender the functions and then seek an amendment. But as things stand, we are left wondering whether the IG should even continue in office if he openly disregards the Constitution.”
Mathioya MP Edwin Mugo added that the long-running dispute between the IG and the NPSC had undermined the administration of the police service.
In response, Kanja defended his office, insisting that the National Police Service had acted within the law and maintained institutional cooperation with the commission.
“The NPS has maintained a constructive, respectful, and professional working relationship with the NPSC in accordance with applicable laws and protocols,” he said.
NPS Accounting officer Lemedeket also maintained that her office had submitted all required payroll documents to the commission for audit.
