Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has laid bare Kenya’s security paradox—where guns alone won’t end the chaos in bandit-prone regions without long-overdue development.
In a candid breakdown of his security priorities, Murkomen said technology must top the list:
“If we had more advanced drones—ones that fly longer and operate at night—we’d slash surveillance costs and respond faster.”
But the CS admitted technology and troop deployment are only half the solution. “You cannot pacify Kerrio Valley or Samburu with MRAPs and choppers alone,” he said.
“We need a Marshall Plan to develop these 13 forgotten counties—from Lamu to Turkana.”
Murkomen revealed that many of the bandits terrorizing regions like the North Rift are teenagers—some as young as 14.
“Are they aggressors or victims?” he asked. “We have a generation raised in neglect, armed, and angry. That’s what we’re up against.”
The CS linked insecurity to historic marginalization. Citing Silale Ward in Baringo—larger than Kirinyaga County yet with only one secondary school—he argued Kenya is “reaping the harvest of abandonment.”
He commended President Ruto’s directive to fast-track roads in areas like Isiolo–Mandera and Lamu–Ijara, saying: “When we tarmac those roads, we’re not just building infrastructure—we’re cutting off criminal hideouts and opening opportunity.”
Murkomen insisted true security will only come when Kenya stops developing just one-third of its land and starts unlocking the arid two-thirds. “We can’t police poverty forever. We must replace it with purpose.”
His doctrine marks a shift: from chasing bandits to uprooting the system that breeds them.
