No National Crisis Over Goons, Murkomen Says as Police Defend Record
According to Murkomen, politicians who have failed to sell their ideas to Kenyans are the ones fueling the narrative of a crisis by sponsoring goons to fight each other and then blaming the government.
Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Developmetn Kipchumba Murkomen. Photo: Courtesy.
By Robert Mutasi
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has stated that Kenya is not facing a goons crisis, dismissing claims that political gangs have become a national security threat.
Murkomen spoke in Naiberi, Uasin Gishu County, even as the National Police Service (NPS) denied allegations that its officers have been involved in disrupting opposition meetings or protecting criminal gangs accused of unleashing violence at political events.
According to Murkomen, politicians who have failed to sell their ideas to Kenyans are the ones fueling the narrative of a crisis by sponsoring goons to fight each other and then blaming the government.
“Those who are trying to say that this country is in a crisis because of goons are liars. The crisis in this country is the bankruptcy of ideas by politicians who are unable to campaign, and they go and send goons to fight themselves and then want to make it a national crisis. There is no national crisis. Kenya is safe,” Murkomen said.
The CS’s sentiments come at a time when opposition leaders have consistently accused the NPS of being complicit in the rising cases of political violence, claiming police officers have looked the other way when goons disrupt their meetings.
However, Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat, who was in Nyeri on Friday to inspect preparations for next week’s pass-out parade for over 6,000 recruits at the Kiganjo Police Training College, said there is no evidence linking police officers to the disruptions.
“There is no complicity by security officers. We are there to enforce the laws that are provided for, and I don’t believe the police are partisan to this. What we know is that it is possible to deal with this,” Lagat stated.
Lagat said the police leadership has taken note of the concerns raised over goonism and has put in place elaborate strategies to deal with the menace, adding that the deployment of newly trained officers will strengthen security operations countrywide.
He disclosed that about 10,000 officers graduating from various training colleges this month will be deployed to help address emerging security challenges.
“You will see how we are going to deploy them to help reduce the security challenges we have had before. I am aware that we have had challenges of goons and criminal gangs, and we have put in place strategies that will manage this kind of nonsense, this kind of uncalled-for insecurity as a result of goons,” Lagat noted.
He maintained that investigations have not found any evidence incriminating police officers, and reaffirmed the service’s commitment to professionalism and neutrality.
The National Assembly Committee on Administration and Internal Security, which accompanied Lagat to Kiganjo, acknowledged the presence of criminal gangs in the country but pointed an accusing finger at the political class for sponsoring them.
“What you are seeing in the country, these gangs and criminal groupings, almost entirely, if not all, are being sponsored by politicians, the men in ties, men in big offices,” said the Committee’s chairman, Gabriel Tongoyo.
Tongoyo said curbing goonism requires a collective approach involving not just the police but also politicians, religious leaders, the youth and the general public.
“This is not an issue of the National Police Service alone. It is an issue for everybody: the political class, the religious class, the students and the youth. We all have to work with the police and stop these criminal gangs,” he said.
The committee expressed optimism that the new cohort of officers is adequately trained to handle modern forms of crime and will play a critical role in maintaining peace and stability ahead of next year’s General Election.
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