Murkomen: Politicians are the biggest security threat facing the country

Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has said politicians are the biggest security threat facing the country, warning that the use of youth in political violence and the rise of organised gangs is undermining national stability.

Murkomen made the remarks on Wednesday during a visit to the National Police College Embakasi ‘A’ and Embakasi ‘B’ campuses, where he assessed the progress of recruit training and ongoing capacity-building programmes for serving officers.

He said the alleged involvement of political actors in mobilising and exploiting vulnerable young people for violent activities had reached worrying levels and required firm action from security agencies.

“The emergence of political goons and gangs is a national security threat. Picketing has also been used by politicians to cause chaos, instead of people registering their dissent without destruction,” said the CS.

He added that the trend of recruiting young people into organised violence had worsened over time, posing a serious threat to public order and security.

“Unfortunately, politicians are the greatest threat to security now. They recruit young people as goons and gangs, and this has been getting worse over the years,” faulted the CS.

Murkomen further warned that recent patterns of unrest during protests had escalated into incidents of chaos and targeted attacks on key installations.

“The pattern is worrying for the nation where attackers target security installations like the police stations and Parliament,” said the CS.

He said the National Police Service (NPS) was responding to emerging security challenges by reviewing its training programmes to better equip officers in managing public order situations.

Murkomen noted that reforms were underway to strengthen the capacity of officers through enhanced training in crowd control and other operational areas.

“The NPS is retooling and reskilling officers to ensure we give Kenyans the best, including crowd control and management capabilities, “ he added.

He also expressed confidence in the current training programmes for police recruits, saying they had been carefully designed to prepare officers for their mandate of maintaining peace and protecting lives and property.

"The training our police recruits undergo has been carefully designed to equip them with the necessary knowledge, skills and mindset to safeguard peace and protect lives and property."

On accountability within the security sector, the CS said he had directed a thorough investigation into an incident in Embu County where public protests resulted in loss of life.

He welcomed the move by Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja to deploy senior investigators from police headquarters to probe the matter, while reiterating that any cases of misconduct would not be tolerated.

“I am happy that the IG, Douglas Kanja, has sent top investigators from the headquarters to probe the matter," said the CS, cautioning that police brutality will not be tolerated.

Murkomen directed that officers found culpable in the incident would face appropriate action, underscoring the importance of accountability and continuous training to align the service with evolving security challenges.

He further said the government was upgrading training institutions to ensure officers have easier and continuous access to professional development.

"We are revamping regional colleges and centres of excellence to ensure our officers can access regular training with ease,” he said.