President William Ruto has reaffirmed his commitment to protecting Kenyans from what he termed as rogue police officers amid cases of alleged police brutality in the country.
According to the President, they are going to hold responsible anyone who brutalises Kenyans in the course of their work.
Speaking on Friday when he presided over the destruction of illicit small arms and light weapons in Ngong, Kajiado County, Ruto emphasised the importance of security officers in upholding the rule of law.
“We will protect citizens from rogue police officers and make sure that we hold to account so that we can have a nation that is based on the rule of law, where everybody is serving under the rule of law,” he stated.
The event also doubled up as a commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Regional Centre on Small Arms (RECSA).
RECSA is an inter-governmental organisation with a mandate of coordinating the implementation of the Nairobi Protocol on the Prevention, Control and Reduction of small arms and light weapons in the Great Lakes Region, the Horn of Africa and Bordering States.
There are 15 RECSA member states in the Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa signatories to the Nairobi Declaration and Nairobi Protocol.
These are Burundi, Central Africa Republic, Republic of Congo, DR Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, who attended, echoed a similar sentiment saying saying decisive action will be taken against police officers misusing their authority.
This, as he defended the integrity of the wider security forces, clarifying that not all are bad as some might want to portray. Murkomen said they are going to deal with each case on its own.
“Whereas we have a force of over 120,000 police officers, a few people, two, three, four, or even if it is 50 or 100, cannot be used to generalise and say all of them are violating human rights,” he said.
He acknowledged that there are a few individuals who have erred in their work by brutalising the citizens. He reminded the police officers of their mandate to respect human rights and dignity while doing their operations.
Addressing public outrage over the recent death of teacher Albert Ojwang while in police custody, Murkomen vowed that those responsible will be brought to justice as they protect all other officers “doing a good job”.
RECSA Executive Director Jean Pierre Betindji, Chief of Defence Forces Charles Kahariri, Inspector General of Police Dougla Kanja and Governor Joseph Ole Lenku, among officials from the member states, were in attendance.
Over 6,000 illegal firearms recovered between 2022 and 2025 were destroyed during the event.
Ruto said the destruction of arms sends a clear and powerful message that “we will not allow violence to take root in our communities, and we remain firmly committed to disarming those who threaten our peace and to strengthening the safety and security of every citizen.”
Majority of the firearms, he said, were voluntarily surrendered by the public, who responded positively to our amnesty programmes and community disarmament campaigns.
A significant number was also recovered through the diligent efforts of our security agencies during targeted operations.
This recovery is aligned with the African Union’s “Silencing the Guns in Africa by 2030” initiative.
In his address, the president commended both security agencies and responsible citizens, including religious and community leaders, for making it a success.
“Because of their efforts, our families, communities, and nation are safer,” he stated.
