Charles Owino: Poor network coverage will affect digital police recruitment
By Joel Masibo, September 17, 2025Former Police Spokesperson Charles Owino has stated that poor network coverage in some parts of the country will be a challenge in the upcoming nationwide digital police recruitment exercise.
Speaking in a TV interview on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, Owino also added that there will be difficulties in the entire process as many people will be trying to log into the designated portal for the application.
”The challenge we will face in going the digital way to recruit police is that not every part of the country is covered by a digital network, and people will also have a hard time logging in due to the large number of applicants trying to access the website.”
“Therefore, the digital way is more discriminative and provides fewer opportunities to Kenyans compared to physical recruitment,” Owino said.
Speaking on recent shootings of protesters in anti-government demonstrations, Owino defended the law enforcers, saying Kenyans and the police normally collide during protests because the public fails to understand the role of the men in uniform in such situations.
”The main point of conflict between the police and Kenyans has been during protests. While we must continue training the police, Kenyans too must understand that they cannot loot businesses or burn other people’s property and expect the police to respond with kid gloves; it will never happen,” Owino added.
Recruitment goes digital
Meanwhile, Charles Owino has spoken when the National Police Service of Kenya (NPSC) confirmed seeking to recruit 10,000 police constables in the 2025/2026 financial year, under new regulations of virtual recruitment aimed at promoting transparency after past exercises were marred by complaints of bribery, favouritism, and bias.
For the first time in the recruitment process, the NPS has confirmed that the exercise will be conducted entirely online, with applicants required to submit their details virtually.
This is according to President William Ruto’s announcement, saying the recruitment will take place in September 2025.
Ahead of the exercise, the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) has approved the framework and regulations for the recruitment and appointment process in 2025, with recruits expected to report for training on November 17, 2025.