A fresh court battle has rocked the police service after a petition was filed seeking the reinstatement of 18 female recruits kicked out of the National Police College in Kiganjo for being pregnant.

The case lodged at the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nyeri accuses the police service of unlawfully locking out the women after mandatory pregnancy tests, with petitioners Peter Agoro and John Wangai arguing that the move was unconstitutional, unfair and stripped the recruits of their dignity, labour rights and equal treatment under the law.

According to court filings, the women were among nearly 10,000 candidates recruited during the nationwide police recruitment exercise conducted in November 2025 and had already reported to Kiganjo for mandatory basic police training.

The petition claims that all female recruits were subjected to compulsory pregnancy screening upon arrival at the training college, with 18 of them allegedly dismissed immediately after the tests confirmed they were pregnant.

The petitioners maintain that the affected recruits were already pregnant before joining the institution and did not conceive during training.

They further argue that there is no existing law or officially gazetted policy that permits the automatic disqualification or dismissal of police recruits on the basis of pregnancy.

In court documents, the petitioners describe the move as a discriminatory practice that unfairly targets women, noting that male recruits do not face comparable penalties tied to biological or medical conditions.

The suit also accuses the police service of failing to explore alternative measures such as deferment of training, temporary leave or deferred admission to future intakes instead of expelling the recruits altogether.

The petition cites several constitutional provisions protecting equality, dignity, fair labour practices, reproductive health rights and fair administrative action, alongside Section 5 of the Employment Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex or pregnancy in employment matters.

The petitioners also argue that the dismissals breach Kenya’s obligations under international human rights instruments including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Maputo Protocol.

They are now seeking court orders declaring the dismissals unconstitutional, compelling the reinstatement of the recruits into the next available training intake after childbirth and recovery, and directing the police service to formulate and gazette a constitutionally compliant policy on pregnancy during police recruitment and training.

The petitioners further want the court to bar any future dismissal of recruits solely on grounds of pregnancy until such a policy is developed.