Murkomen defends Ruto over abduction remarks

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen with operation Jangile officers

Interior and National Administration CS Kipchumba Murkomen Wednesday defended President Ruto over his remarks on abductions.

Ruto on Monday came under criticism over his remarks that he will ensure no more abductions take place.

“Many people misunderstood the president. His remarks were twisted. The President was simply stating the government position that it will ensure no abductions happen.”

“Do you have to be doing something to put an end to it as a government? The Government has a responsibility to end crime and that is what we are doing,” he said.

He went on: “Stopping it doesn’t mean we were the ones doing it. When I say, for instance, that we have stopped drug trafficking, does it mean we were involved? No.”

“The President confirmed what I have been saying all along. That the government is not in the business of abductions,” he said.

Murkomen was speaking in Marsabit during his 13th Jukwaa La Usalama tour of the county.

He was accompanied by Marsabit Governor Mohamud Ali, Inspector General Douglas Kanja, Laisamis MP Joseph Lekuton, and his North Horr counterpart Wario Guyo

Ruto assured the country that all Kenyans reported missing under suspicious circumstances have been safely reunited with their families, emphasizing his administration’s commitment to preventing enforced disappearances.

Speaking on Monday during a joint press conference with Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who is in Kenya for a three-day official visit, Ruto responded to questions from journalists regarding the recent cases of abductions.
He stated that the government had taken decisive action to address the situation and prevent it from occurring again.

“There is an accountability mechanism to ensure such situations are addressed,” said President Ruto. “I undertook to the country that, as a democracy, Kenya will not go back to the dark days when citizens disappeared and their bodies were found in all manner of places. That will not happen under my administration.”

The President confirmed that all previously reported missing people had been reunited with their families.

“All the people who disappeared or were abducted have been brought back to their homes. I have given clarity that nothing of that nature will happen again,” he emphasized.

He did not, however, reveal who was behind the abductions.

Among the reforms cited by the President to prevent such incidents is the grant of financial and operational autonomy to the National Police Service, which he stated was one of his first actions after taking office

“The first step I undertook when I became president was to ensure the independence of the police — to give them financial and operational autonomy,” Ruto noted.

His remarks come as the public becomes increasingly concerned about the rise in cases of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

According to a May report from the human rights organization Missing Voices, at least 55 cases of enforced disappearances were reported in Kenya in 2024.

The report further states that between 2019 and 2024, over 970 Kenyans were victims of enforced disappearances or extrajudicial killings.