Murkomen: Police officers should only serve for three years in hardship areas
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen speaks to journalists in Hola, Tana River County on April 11, 2025.
Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has now ordered that police officers should serve for only three years in hardship and operation areas, and that placement in such zones should not be treated as punishment.
Mr Murkomen said transfers to any area should be on a rotational basis and no officer should be left to languish in hardship areas longer than necessary while others enjoy favourable postings.
"I have learnt that most officers are deployed or transferred to hardship areas like Tana River because of gross misconduct, and they are kept here for very long as a mode of punishment. That is not going to happen while I'm in office," Mr Murkomen said on Friday.
He was speaking in Hola in Tana River County on his fifth day of touring the Coast region.
“No officer should be subjected to prolonged hardship without relief. These transfers must be completed within three months,” Mr Murkomen ordered.
“And going forward, officers serving in hardship zones will be moved to more favourable environments to allow them to recover and rebuild their morale.”
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen on April 9, 2025 during a security baraza in Kilifi town.
For Tana River specifically, Mr Murkomen ordered that any officer who has served in the county for more than three years be transferred immediately, and no later than three months.
He expressed outrage and dismay over the appalling conditions under which security officers in Tana River County operate.
The CS was visibly disturbed by the state of the County Commissioner’s Office, which he described as a “makeshift facility unfit for any form of administrative operation”.
“This is the lowest standard of a government office I’ve seen across the country,” Mr Murkomen said. “It is unacceptable that officers charged with maintaining national security have to endure such deplorable conditions.”
According to accounts presented to the CS, some of the residential structures housing security officers in the county were erected in 1974 and have never undergone any form of renovation.
Officers reported that, due to the severity of the Tana River climate, many are compelled to spend from their own pockets to repair leaking roofs, cracked walls, and broken sanitation facilities.
“We live like forgotten people,” said one officer. “The houses are crumbling. We can’t even raise our families here safely.”
The Cabinet Secretary also learned that some officers have been stationed in the region for more than eight years without transfer.
This, he was told, has led to increasing psychological stress among the officers and bred a sense of hopelessness.
“There is no morale. Officers have lost their edge. They feel neglected and mentally drained,” noted a senior officer during the open forum. “That’s when bribery creeps in, and professionalism dies.”
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen on April 9, 2025 during a security baraza in Kilifi town.
Alarmed by the revelations, Mr Murkomen issued a raft of immediate directives. Key among them is the overhaul of the County Commissioner’s office.
“This office will be rebuilt from the ground up. It must reflect the dignity of the office and the importance of our officers,” he said.
Mr Murkomen also committed to prioritising the refurbishment of government infrastructure in the region and other marginalised counties.
“Security is only as strong as the people entrusted to enforce it,” he said. “We cannot expect excellence from officers if we treat them as expendable.”
Tana River is not alone in this crisis.
Across the country, reports of dilapidated housing, underfunded facilities, and lack of psychosocial support for security personnel are becoming commonplace.
According to a 2023 report by the National Police Service Commission, more than 60 percent of police housing units nationwide are either uninhabitable or in dire need of repair. The situation, experts say, is contributing to a surge in mental health issues within the ranks.
Data from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights shows that police suicide and depression cases rose by 35 percent in the last two years.
In 2024 alone, 21 cases of suicide among officers were reported, with many linked to prolonged hardship, lack of family contact, and inadequate support systems.