Kipchumba Murkomen Defends Himself after Backlash over Alleged "Shoot to Kill" Order to Police
- Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen suggests the public misunderstood him after his counsel to police to use their firearms to protect themselves
- Murkomen had asked the state law enforcers to shoot at anyone attempting to raid a police station
- The sentiments were interpreted as a blatant "shoot to kill" order, putting the CS on the receiving end of the wrath from angered Kenyan internet users
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has emerged to clarify his position on the law enforcers using their firearms while in police stations.
Source: Twitter
Speaking a day after chaos rocked the June 25 protests, the CS said police officers were unnecessarily lenient to protesters who unleashed terror on them.
He referenced the instances in which police stations were torched, vehicles were burned, and officers were injured by members of the public partaking in the protests.
Why did CS Murkomen anger Kenyans?
The CS counselled the police to open fire at any civilian attempting to attack them or raid their stations.
The sentiments sparked uproar, with a huge section arguing the CS had okayed extrajudicial killings through that order.
However, clarifying things days after the remarks, Murkomen said he did not ask the police to act recklessly.
"And I'm saying this with all humility, I cannot order an Inspector General of Police on anything because the Constitution denies me to do so. And I did not order an Inspector General or any police officer to carry out any extrajudicial killing anywhere," Murkomen said in front of President William Ruto at State House, Nairobi.
He said his sentiments were derived from the law and the standing orders guiding the police service.
How Kipchumba Murkomen defended himself
Murkomen clarified that his was only a caution to the officers to prioritise their lives in times of danger, and strive to protect the stations and the armouries by all means, even when the desperate need to shoot arises.
"What I did was to state the law. And as a lawyer, I have studied, read this law, and I understand what the law says. And what I told the police officers is, you will not find anywhere where I said somebody should be shot to be killed, you will not find me anywhere where I said that a police officer should take orders from myself. No," he said.
Source: Twitter
"I restated the law and reminded them what the law says. And for the benefit of those, Your Excellency, who have been speaking out there, I want to read for them the National Police Service Act, Section 612, and Schedule 6B1. Your Excellency is very clear on the use of firearms," he added.
Murkomen added that the officers are aware of the situations they should use their firearms, and that is what he stressed in his sentiments.
"I'm not the one who wrote the law. The law says a police officer, when faced with a situation of a threat to his life, must be able to use the firearm."
He lamented that the police have no defender even when they are the ones on the receiving end of atrocities; as such, he took it upon himself to defend the men and women in uniform.
The CS spoke on Saturday, June 28, at State House, Nairobi, where the president hosted the county and regional security chiefs alongside national government security bosses.
How William Ruto reacted to attacks on police
Speaking at the meeting, Ruto reiterated his government's commitment to the well-being of the state law enforcement agents.
Seemingly disturbed by the ugly events during the protests, Ruto expressed concerns about national security being jeopardised if law enforcement personnel, who are tasked with ensuring there is order, become targets of attack.
He declared that the government would crack down on those behind the arson attacks in police stations and injuries to the officers of the law.
Proofreading by Mercy Nyambura, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
