Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has said he has no powers to order the Inspector General of police on matters outside the boundaries of the Kenyan constitution.
Speaking on Saturday June 28, 2025, Murkomen said he did not order the police IG to conduct any extra judicial killings, because the law does not allow him.
“I cannot order the IG on anything because the constitution denies me to do so. I did not order the IG to conduct any extra judicial killings,” Murkomen said.
This was after the Interior CS on June 26 instructed the police to shoot anyone who attempted to approach a police station.
“Na tumeambia polisi mtu yeyote atakaribia police station piga yeye risasi,” Murkomen said.
He made the remarks shortly after delivering a media briefing on the state of the country in the wake of the June 25 protests, which he described as an attempted coup.
In a statement on Saturday, the CS clarified that his remarks were made with the provisions of law in mind.
He cited the Sixth Schedule of the National Police Service Act, which dictates the conditions for use of firearms by a police officer, including to protect lives or property or self-defence.
“My statement was made contextually and consciously with clarity of mind based on the express provisions of the law. No leader, scholar, jurist, journalist, blogger, or opinion shaper has challenged me on the law,” Murkomen noted.
“At my age, position, and experience, I cannot utter statements that are not supported by the Constitution and the law. Throughout my career, I have never, in my conduct or utterances, found myself on the wrong side of the law.”
He added that the Police are mandated by law to operate within the constitutional framework, the statutes, and the departmental standing orders.
“In any case, I have no constitutional powers to give such orders; instead, I have a duty to support the police and to formulate policy recommendations to aid the application of law in the enforcement of law and order,” he clarified.
The CS emphasized that police officers have been given the constitutional mandate to defend themselves against rioters who threaten their lives.
His remarks emerged after an uproar over the shoot to kill order, as the Law Society of Kenya, opposition leaders and the civil society warned that it could fuel extrajudicial killings in the country.
