Police: Two wanted cops in Ojwang's murder can't be traced

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has reassured Kenyans of decisive action against police officers misusing their authority.

This, as he defended the integrity of the wider security forces, clarifying that not all are bad as some might want to portray.

Speaking on Friday during the 20th Commemoration of RECSA and the destruction of illicit small arms and light weapons in Ngong, Kajiado County, Murkomen said they are going to deal with each case on its own.

“Whereas we have a force of over 120,000 police officers, a few people, two, three, four, or even if it is 50 or 100, cannot be used to generalise and say all of them are violating human rights,” he said.

He acknowledged that there are a few individuals who have erred in their work by brutalising the citizens.

Murkomen reminded the police officers of their responsibility to respect human rights and dignity while doing their operations.

President William Ruto presided over the event.

Addressing public outrage over the recent death of teacher Albert Ojwang while in police custody, Murkomen vowed that those responsible will be brought to justice, even as they protect all other officers “doing a good job”.

He said they are fully keeping the pledge by President William Ruto of ensuring there are no extrajudicial killings in the country.

Murkomen also defended the officers, saying some of them are working under difficult conditions to ensure the country is safe, as he urged Kenyans to respect their authority.

He warned that undermining police authority risks breeding anarchy.

“Our police officers and security officers must know that from the ministry and the government, they have our maximum support,” he said.

On the recent protests in Nairobi and an incident in Nakuru where a protester was filmed wielding a panga at police, Murkomen called for responsible demonstrations.

He warned that violence, looting, and destruction would not be tolerated.

“We will not waver, it does not matter what people say, our duty in office and the security safe is to keep the people safe…as we hold the police officers accountable, we will also hold the civilians accountable,” he said.