Nandi Senator Kiprotich Cherargei has strongly criticised the decision to send home female police recruits who were found to be pregnant while undergoing training at the National Police College Main Campus in Kiganjo, Nyeri County.
The development, which has sparked national debate, saw a group of recruits among them 18 women—discontinued from the Basic Recruit Training Course during a recent inspection by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen.
According to reports, a total of 54 recruits were affected, with the police administration citing violations of recruitment and training requirements.
However, Cherargei has dismissed the action as discriminatory, arguing that pregnancy should not be treated as a disciplinary issue within the National Police Service.
In a sharp reaction, the senator questioned the rationale behind expelling the recruits instead of allowing them time to recover and resume training later.
“The Inspector General of Police and the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) should know pregnancy is not an offence under our Kenyan laws,” Cherargei said.
“They should allow the police recruits maternity leave instead of being expelled, then they can come back to finish their police training. That’s humane and basic human rights.”
He further argued that the policy appeared inconsistent, insisting that responsibility should not be placed solely on female recruits while ignoring male counterparts who may have contributed to the pregnancies.
“If you expel the pregnant recruits then the pregnancy perpetrators or the male recruits or anyone else must also be expelled or punished,” he added.
The remarks have added fuel to a growing debate on whether strict training rules in disciplined forces adequately reflect constitutional protections on reproductive rights and gender equality.