The government has, for the first time, directly linked elected leaders to the organisation and financing of goon networks, warning that the growing trend could destabilise the 2027 general election.

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Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen on Tuesday told Parliament that politicians have entrenched the use of gangs as a deliberate political tool to intimidate opponents and control public spaces.

In a telling disclosure, Murkomen said the vice has gone beyond informal street mobilisation and is now being institutionalised within some county governments.

Without naming specific individuals, the CS revealed that certain governors have assigned county chief officers to coordinate and manage groups of goons, effectively embedding the networks within official administrative structures.

“We have seen that almost every politician has a form of goons disguised as bouncers escorting them around. In some counties, there are chief officers in charge of goons who accompany governors to functions. They can’t go anywhere without them,” Murkomen said.

“To some leaders, their own claim to leadership is making it impossible for opponents to operate.” He said some governors are actively facilitating the vice through structured networks within county governments.

The CS said the trend has entrenched violence and disorder in parts of the country, turning what should be isolated criminal acts into an organised political tool.

Murkomen was speaking when he appeared before the National Assembly’s Departmental Committee on Administration and Internal Security to address the country’s deteriorating security situation, including rising political violence and banditry.

He was accompanied by Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja and Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin.

Murkomen called for a national conversation to confront the growing menace, urging political leaders across the divide to take responsibility and end the culture of using gangs to settle political scores

“We might need a national convention to agree on peaceful campaigns.”

The CS further revealed that security agencies have identified several goonism hotspots nationwide, warning that the situation could escalate if left unchecked.

The CS further told the parliamentary committee that the groups have emerged from street goons to sophisticated and well-organised alleged criminal enterprises operating mainly in urban areas.

Outside ‘goonism’, the gangs are allegedly engaged in other activities such as drug trafficking, illicit brews, extortion, and land disputes.

He told MPs that alleged actors are working with some of the gangs to invade and occupy properties are often followed by the hiring of squatters to complicate eviction.

Murkomen was speaking on the backdrop of public uproar over the emergence of goons in the country triggered by the recent attack on Vihiga senator Godffrey Osotsi in Kisumu early this month.

On the Osotsi's case, Murkomen told the Committee, chaired by Narok West MP Gabriel Tongoyo Murkomen, that a majority of suspects linked to the recent attack on Vihiga Senator fled the country shortly after the incident.

"What happened to the Osotsi issue is that the DCI circulated the pictures. Three of them presented themselves. The rest of the 13 or 14 ran out of the country to the neighbouring country, but the IG and the DCI are on them, working with the authorities in the neighbouring country. And we will arrest all of them eventually. As soon as they step into this country, they will all be arrested, and I hope that will be the first example to show that violence doesn't pay."

He, however, said investigators had made initial progress after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) circulated images of the suspects, prompting some to surrender.

“DCI circulated the pictures, three of them presented themselves. The rest of them, 13 or 14, ran out of the country to the neighbouring country,” he said.

The Cabinet Secretary added that security agencies are now working collaboratively with authorities across the border to track down and apprehend the remaining suspects.

According to Murkomen, the National Police Service, under the leadership of the Inspector General, is coordinating efforts with the DCI to ensure all those involved are brought to justice.

INSTANT ANALYSIS

The CS revealed that certain governors have gone as far as assigning specific county chief officers to coordinate and manage groups of goons for political ends. He said the trend has entrenched violence and disorder in parts of the country, turning what should be isolated criminal acts into an organised political tool.