Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration Kipchumba Murkomen has maintained that he and other senior government officials will continue engaging in politics to ensure President William Ruto is re-elected for a second term.
His sentiments came at a time when there was condemnation by the public and other elected leaders over the involvement of Cabinet secretaries in early campaigns for President Ruto.
Despite an order by the High Court in June, state officers have been campaigning openly for President Ruto, defying the directive, which held that conducting premature political campaigns outside the election period violates the equality and equal protection under the law, as well as free and fair polls.
Some of the most vocal CSs who have been engaging in early campaigns for their boss include Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, Mr Murkomen, Aden Duale (Health), John Mbadi (National Treasury), Opiyo Wandayi (Energy and Petroleum), Geoffrey Ruku (Public Service), William Kabogo (Information Technology) and Alice Wahome (Land and Housing).
And during his media engagement with Kisumu journalists on Thursday evening, he maintained that they will continue engaging in politics.
He stated that it is politics that has put him where he is now at the top level of influencing policies.
“I don’t see politics as a negative thing because its definition is management of public affairs which includes governance and leadership. For sure I support President Ruto and will even ask people to vote for him for him to continue transforming the country. As a CS my first responsibility is to make sure that the policies of this government succeeds and it is re-elected based on the achievement,” said Mr Murkomen.
He, however, told his colleagues in government to desist from engaging in “bad politics”, which includes weaponising their power to fight other people perceived to be against the government.
“I believe in politics because I am privileged to serve at the highest level of political decision-making organs. We make political decisions every day on how to govern this country, so there is nothing wrong and I encourage people to do good politics,” said Mr Murkomen.
The Interior CS also defended his remarks on a number of issues that have attracted public criticism, saying the Jukwaa la Usalama forums have revealed the deep challenges the police go through that should be understood by the public instead of criticising their actions.
“I am a lawyer and CS for Interior, so I have to calculate and look at many things before I say something, which is why I never regret my sentiments. When I do, I apologise,” he said.
He added: “For instance, the shoot to kill which was even taken out of context by the media, is just me following the law, I can repeat it a thousand times and take 100 percent legal responsibility for it. And to show that I was serious, I put it in writing as a policy direction to the IG that when the lives of a citizen or a police officer are in danger, the officers have a right to use their firearms,” said Mr Murkomen.
He indicated that the use of firearms by the police does not apply only to protestors in certain circumstances, but also terrorists and criminals.
“More often than not, if you call a police officer and they tell you I cannot release the vehicle because there is no fuel that is exactly what they mean. The public should not take every statement of support as corruption. I am glad that thanks to Jukwa la Usalama these things are being put on the table and being discussed,” said Mr Murkomen.
He added: “For you to appreciate, you need to understand the leasing problem we started in 2014, it was negotiated that every motor vehicle will be given 450 litres of fuel per month, which is not enough because of the activities police are involved in. To deal with this we already have a negotiation to increase it 650 litres.”
Mr Murkomen also weighed in on the debate on scrapping the National Government Constituency Development Fund, saying he is opposed to it, underscoring its critical role in infrastructural development and security.
“I have always been a believer in decentralisation of resources and that is why I don’t think the NG-CDF should be scrapped. Returning money to Nairobi is retrogressive. The fact that the fund is ring-fenced for education and security is a perfect way to ensure equality and inclusivity,” said Mr Murkomen.
Other issues he pointed out were increasing the number of officers on the lake to protect fishermen, deal firmly with emerging gangs and deploy officers to ensure there is adequate security in the upcoming 24 by-elections on November 27.
