Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen is facing sharp criticism after congratulating the police for their role during the Saba Saba protests on July 7, 2025.
His public praise of law enforcement officers came just hours after reports confirmed that at least ten people had been shot dead during the demonstrations.
While Murkomen claimed there was less violence than in previous protests, many Kenyans saw his message as tone-deaf, arrogant, and completely out of touch with the reality on the ground.
The Saba Saba protests, which mark Kenya’s historical fight for democracy, turned bloody as police allegedly opened fire on peaceful demonstrators in several parts of the country.
Reports from respected international outlets such as BBC, Al Jazeera, and Reuters clearly show that the protests were met with brutal force. Live bullets were used, and multiple eyewitnesses described police dragging away bodies and harassing medics.
A paramedic in Kangemi even confirmed that two people died from gunshot wounds under his care. In other places like Ngong, Juja, and Mukuru, there were also confirmed deaths. Yet Murkomen chose to walk around Nairobi, shaking hands with heavily armed officers and congratulating them for a job well done.
His tweet, which many have now labelled as an insult to grieving families, praised the police for supposedly maintaining peace and security. What peace is there when innocent lives are being lost?
What security is being protected when armed police and plainclothes criminals are filmed working together to terrorize citizens?
This is what Kenyans are asking. Instead of addressing the killings, Murkomen doubled down on the government’s narrative that criminals were to blame for the chaos.
But the public is not buying it. On social media, Kenyans expressed their anger and pain, with many accusing Murkomen of issuing “shoot to kill” orders.
One user wrote that police told people they would sleep in the mortuary, then went ahead and killed three people. Others said the real criminals were moving side by side with police, beating and looting as officers watched silently.
These claims are not baseless; the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights has openly accused the police of using excessive force and working with violent gangs.
Murkomen’s statement also failed to mention any accountability on the part of the police. Instead, he praised their conduct and promised to investigate so-called criminals. But how can there be trust in a system that protects killers in uniform? How many more people must die before the government stops using force to silence dissent?
The gap between Murkomen’s praise and the bloody images shared by the media is too wide to ignore. His role as Interior CS should be to protect lives, not applaud their loss.
His words have only added to the grief of families who have lost loved ones. His congratulations to the police will not bring back the dead. Instead, they have revealed a government that sees protestors not as citizens, but as enemies.
Murkomen has blood on his hands. No matter how he tries to spin the narrative, the facts remain clear. Innocent Kenyans were killed, and instead of mourning with the nation, he chose to celebrate with the killers. That is not leadership. That is cruelty.
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