CS Murkomen's three-day Ukambani tour faces heat over security, neglect
Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen delivers his speech after launching the first mobile registration drive for the issuance of national identity cards in Nakuru City on March 19, 2025.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen begins a three-day tour of Ukambani amid concerns that President William Ruto's Kenya Kwanza administration has sidelined the region.
The CS will tour the three Lower Eastern counties of Kitui, Makueni and Machakos to engage with local communities on security and development issues.
Mr Murkomen is expected to host town hall meetings in each of the three counties, after meeting regional security chiefs and other leaders to address insecurity challenges.
Ukambani and specifically Kitui County has endured a long-standing pastoral conflict with herders from North Eastern counties, which has claimed lives, year in and year out.
The general perception is that the owners of the thousands of camels which invade people’s farms, with devastating consequences, are senior people in government, with immense influence in security and other sectors.
Despite security being a function of the national government, Kitui Governor Julius Malombe has been forced to use county funds to construct six police stations along the volatile border, which were to be staffed by the National Police Service, to address the insecurity menace that hinders investment and development.
Plans to establish a military base on the volatile border between Kitui and Tana River counties to prevent conflict appear to have stalled, with residents often clashing with camel herders over dwindling grazing and water resources.
A statement released by the CS's office said he will engage locals the same way he did early this month when he toured the six counties in the Coast Region.
"The CS will hold town hall meetings that bring together political leaders, security agencies, NGAOs, community leaders and the youth for candid conversations on the state of security and service delivery to the public in the respective counties," said the statement.
Apart from the insecurity that falls under his ministerial portfolio, Mr Murkomen has to contend with unfulfilled promises by the Kenya Kwanza government and several stalled projects in the region.
The Kibwezi-Kitui road has remained incomplete since President Ruto took office, while the Kitui-Kanyangi-Wote road and the Mutomo-Mutha-Hola road, which are key to linking Ukambani with neighbouring regions, have stalled.
To reach Wote town in neighbouring Makueni County, residents have to travel long distances through Machakos or Kibwezi.
Similarly, there's no road linking Kitui to Tana River County, forcing traders to travel either through Mombasa and Malindi or through Mwingi and Garissa.
The sacking of former East African Community Cabinet Secretary Peninah Malonza, one of only two CSs from Ukambani, without a replacement from the region, hasn't helped the president's cause, as residents feel they don't have enough voices to represent them in the highest decision-making body.
The CS will hold a meeting with the Eastern Region Security Committee in Kitui Town, followed by a town hall meeting. Later in the evening, he will have a joint media interview with the region's vernacular radio stations.
On Friday, the CS will pitch his tent in Wote Town, the headquarters of Makueni County, for a similar engagement, concluding with the Machakos County chapter in Machakos Town on Saturday.
The town hall meetings are highly interactive, and participants are free to air their views and grievances.
The forums give the CS and his team an opportunity to get first-hand information regarding the security challenges that Wananchi feel the government should give attention to and suggestions for possible interventions. The CS also fields questions from attendees.
The security personnel and NGAOs also have an opportunity to bring to light the challenges they face in the course of their work.
Recurring security challenges such as inter-county boundary disputes, resource conflicts between herders from the North Eastern Region and farmers in the Lower Eastern Region, highway insecurity, cattle rustling and Gender-Based Violence are expected to feature prominently in the deliberations.
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