Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei has criticised the reported expulsion of 18 female police recruits from the Kenya Police College, Kiganjo, after they became pregnant during training.

Taking to his official X account on Friday, May 8, 2026, Cherargei called for humane treatment and equal accountability.

He argued that pregnancy should not be treated as a criminal offence and urged police authorities to reconsider the decision.

“The Inspector General of Police and the National Police Service Commission should know pregnancy is not an offence under our Kenyan laws,” Cherargei said.

The senator maintained that the recruits should instead be granted maternity leave and allowed to resume training after giving birth.

“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 stated.

Selective punishment

Cherargei also questioned what he termed ‘unequal treatment’ if only female recruits are punished while the men involved face no consequences.

“If you expel the pregnant recruits, then the pregnancy perpetrators / the male recruits, or anyone else must also be expelled or punished,” he said.

Wamuchomba’s plea

His remarks come hours after Githunguri Member of Parliament (MP) Gathoni Wamuchomba called on the National Police Service to reconsider the expulsion of the female police recruits due to pregnancy.

In a statement on her X account on Friday, May 8, 2026, Wamuchomba described the decision as devastating and argued that the women should not lose their training opportunities because of pregnancy.

“The news of 18 women police recruits chased out of Kiganjo Police Training College because they fell pregnant is devastating. Kicking them out is wrong; rather, they should be deferred,” Wamuchomba stated.

54 recruits expelled

The 18 women police recruits are among the 54 recruits who have been discontinued from the ongoing Basic Recruit Training Course.

Senior Assistant Inspector General Nyale Munga announced during a visit by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen to the campus in Kiganjo, Nyeri County, on May 7, 2026, who was assessing the progress of the training.

“The recruits are a fortunate group, having been selected from among many qualified applicants. Among them, 54 had their courses terminated because of various reasons,” Munga stated.