Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has slammed the international community and the church over their partisanship on Kenyan political developments following the deadly protests witnessed on Wednesday.
Speaking during a press conference on the steps of Harambee House in Nairobi on Thursday, the tough-talking and visibly angered CS slammed the international community over interference in Kenya's political matters without due diligence.
At the same time, Murkomen slammed the leadership of the church in Kenya, whom he accused of siding with anarchists at a time when their sober voice is needed to address critical societal challenges.
According to Murkomen, it was wrong for the church and international community to try and censure the government on what needed to be done as far as the freedom of the protesters was concerned, only for them to remain silent when goons took over the demonstrations and caused mayhem to the general public.
''I know that there will be no bishop or church member, neither Catholic nor Anglican, who will come out to defend the police. Nobody will speak about how the police were injured,'' Murkomen stated.
''I also know that there would be no diplomat who would speak against that. This is because they have no interest in a safe Kenya, and for the country to be a prosperous country with full democracy,'' he added in a hard-hitting statement in response to the international community, which had raised concerns about police brutality within the week.
Meanwhile, Murkomen revealed that the government had embarked on investigations to establish those behind the financing of the protests. According to the CS, the events witnessed on Wednesday amounted to acts of coup and terror.
The CS, who disclosed that he was at the police command centre, keenly following the protests, added that he had directed the Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja, to commence investigations into the incidents of looting that were widespread across many streets of Nairobi's central business district (CBD).
Murkomen, a lawyer by profession and once a vocal critic of police excesses, vowed to defend the police against what he termed as unwarranted attacks by the media, the international community, and the church. According to him, the police exercised significant restraint in the face of incitement by youthful protesters.
On Wednesday, images and videos surfaced showing some protesters confronting police officers, with a few captured engaging in physical altercations along Nairobi's Thika Road.
He further warned youth captured on social media with police uniform and other military fatigue, which he alleged might have been stolen from government stores when thugs broke into police stations, that the government would go hard on them and ensure they face the full force of the law.
''Since there is no one who is going to defend our police officers, I want to thank our officers for a job well done under extreme provocations. Some of the police stations were attacked by thugs with a simple mission to get guns and police uniforms,'' the CS added.
Additionally, Murkomen disclosed that 300 police officers were injured during the protests, alongside 100 protesters who sustained various injuries. He further revealed that five firearms were stolen from the Dagoretti Police Station in Nairobi during the chaos.
