Flashy Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen has confirmed that police orders to shoot and kill anyone approaching or attacking police stations come from the highest levels of government.
He was speaking following incidents where June 25 demonstrators stormed or attempted to breach police stations during nationwide protests commemorating victims of the deadly 2024 anti-Finance Bill demonstrations.
Murkomen made it clear that the directive is not his but a “shoot-to-kill” mandate from above.
“If someone tries to come to the police station to take guns or to attack you, they want to take your life. Save yourself first,”This gun you have been given is not for decoration.” he said.
“This is not just from me, it is an order from above.”
Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen.
Criticizing judicial leniency, Murkomen said:
“The problem that sometimes makes police officers shoot criminals is that they arrest them, they get released, and then they come back to mock the police… And we have told the police that anyone who comes near a police station, shoot them.”
Murkomen insisted that the government would protect officers from legal consequences if they used force in self-defense.
“You have to protect yourself, protect the country, and we will defend you to the hilt.”
This directive came just hours before angry residents in Nyandarua stormed and burned down the Ndunyu Njeru Police Station after a boda boda rider was allegedly shot during a protest.
The incident raised fears that Murkomen’s message may already be influencing police response on the ground.
His remarks have drawn widespread backlash, especially from civil society groups who say the order encourages extrajudicial killings and sends a dangerous message amid growing frustration with state violence.
