Murkomen to release Jukwaa la Usalama report after 47-county security forums by month's end

Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen now says a report informed by his just-ended 47-county Jukwaa la Usalama engagements will be launched and made public at the end of this month.

Speaking during a TikTok live version of the 'Jukwaa la Usalama Forum', Murkomen also defended the forum's expenditures without disclosing the amount that went into financing the countrywide tours, saying the tours modelled as public participation exercises served a purpose and allowed him to articulate the government's stand and its expectations from police officers and chiefs across the country.

He added that the forums also provided solutions to some biting security challenges across the country, amongst them petty crimes such as mugging in the city and other major towns, which he attributed to a laxity in police patrols, inadequate police vehicles, and so forth.

He, however, noted that plans are underway to fix the gaps through more deployment, police vehicle leasing, an increase in monthly fuel allocation, tightening police administrative structures, and procurement of CCTV cameras not just in the capital city but also across the cities and major towns.

While addressing the gains recorded in the fight against banditry in the North Rift, as seen with the recent increase in surrendered ammunition and firearms, now tallying close to 290, Murkomen said the state has intelligence on who is hoarding weapons and said they must surrender them during this period.

He explained that a majority of the weapons used to fuel banditry are sourced from neighbouring countries, and a few from rogue police officers who have access to stations' armouries, some of whom have since been arrested.

"When the president took office, he said his vision is to end banditry, and we must fulfil that," vowed Murkomen.

President William Ruto's decision to order a security operation in the North Rift in 2023 was informed by the findings of a confidential report dubbed "Technical Report on Shared Security Strategy for Enduring Peace and Security in the North Rift Region" that was handed to him in February of that year and adopted by the National Security Council.

The report sought a permanent solution to the banditry menace through security operations alongside a development strategy to solve the social and economic problems that are persistent within the six counties.

Murkomen explained that part of the journey towards the fulfilment of the Security Marshall Plan is an anti-radicalisation programme for ex-bandits who have surrendered, which will be spearheaded by the National Police Service.

The ex-bandits, he explained, will then be taken through a rehabilitation programme supported by the church and partners before they are engaged by the state in empowerment programmes that will allow them to transform their lives.

The Plan will also see schools built as others are rehabilitated and expanded into model Nomadic Peace boarding schools that admit pupils from warring communities to foster co-existence.

He noted that the absence of key government facilities and infrastructure has been the cause of the region's marginalisation, which triggered a high prevalence of crime in the region.

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