NAIROBI , Kenya May 10 –The National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) has called for an urgent review of police recruitment and training policies following public controversy surrounding the discontinuation of pregnant recruits from training at the National Police Service Training College in Kiganjo.
In a statement issued on Sunday, NGEC Chairperson Rehema Jaldesa said the ongoing debate had exposed major policy gaps in the handling of pregnancy and other physiological conditions within the country’s disciplined services.
The Commission said it had taken note of recent reports involving recruits who were discontinued from police training over issues including forged academic documents, criminal records, disciplinary concerns, health conditions and pregnancy.
NGEC also acknowledged clarification from the National Police Service (NPS) indicating that the affected female recruits were already pregnant before reporting to the training college and that the pregnancies were not linked to misconduct within the institution.
According to the Commission, the police service had explained that the physically demanding nature of police training raised safety concerns for pregnant recruits.
“The constitutional question that must be addressed is not whether pregnancy affects participation in strenuous training, but whether the State has a clear, lawful, proportionate, humane and non-discriminatory framework for handling such situations,” the statement read.
The Commission observed that while police training is rigorous and operationally demanding, the lack of clear guidelines on recruitment eligibility, deferment mechanisms and treatment of pregnancy had created uncertainty and public mistrust.
NGEC warned that unclear recruitment criteria and inconsistent administrative decisions could easily be perceived as arbitrary or discriminatory, potentially violating constitutional protections under Article 27, which guarantees equality and freedom from discrimination on the basis of sex, pregnancy, health status and social status.
“The current controversy surrounding the dismissal of pregnant recruits exposes a critical policy gap within Kenya’s police recruitment and training framework,” the Commission stated.
The agency further pointed to wider legal and institutional concerns surrounding police recruitment processes, including recent court decisions questioning the legality and mandate of recruitment procedures conducted by the National Police Service Commission in 2025.
To address the concerns, NGEC called for a comprehensive review of police recruitment and training policies to align them with constitutional principles on equality, human dignity and fair administrative action.
The Commission also recommended the establishment of a clear policy framework on pregnancy and other physiological conditions during recruitment and training. The proposed framework would include pre-recruitment disclosure requirements, medical assessment standards, deferment and re-admission mechanisms, safeguards against arbitrary exclusion and protection of maternal health.
Additionally, NGEC urged authorities to improve transparency in police recruitment following repeated cases involving forged documents, criminal records and post-recruitment vetting failures, which it said pointed to weaknesses in the screening process.
The Commission maintained that constitutional equality should not ignore operational realities within security institutions, but insisted that any administrative decisions must remain lawful, fair and grounded in clear policy guidelines.
“The Commission remains committed to supporting reforms that strengthen constitutionalism, professionalism, equality, accountability and public confidence within Kenya’s security sector institutions,” Jaldesa said.