Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has issued a chilling ultimatum to the National Police Service command structure, effectively placing a "perform or perish" order on county commanders amid a resurgence of brutality complaints.

In a tense security briefing that felt less like a policy address and more like a reading of the riot act, the CS admitted that the "rogue officer" narrative is no longer tenable. With documented cases of excessive force rising in Nairobi and spreading to the counties, Murkomen is now pivoting to a strategy of command responsibility, threatening to purge commanders who fail to rein in their juniors.

The "Mental Health" Defense

Crucially, the CS linked the spike in violence to a silent crisis within the force: mental health and alcoholism. "You cannot deploy an officer who you already suspect has certain mental health challenges," Murkomen stated, revealing that a significant number of brutality cases involve officers battling addiction and trauma. This admission marks a significant shift from the state's usual defensive posture.

The Ministry has now mandated a "monitor and remove" protocol:

• Immediate Interdiction: Commanders must instantly disarm and suspend officers showing signs of psychological instability.
• Command Accountability: If a junior officer kills or maims civilians unlawfully, their direct supervisor will now face administrative queries alongside the perpetrator.
• The "Self-Defense" Red Line: A new directive strictly limits firearm use to scenarios where there is an "imminent threat to life," stripping away the gray areas often used to justify extrajudicial killings.

Skepticism on the Ground

While the rhetoric is robust, the reality on the streets of Nairobi remains grim. Civil society groups argue that without independent audits, these internal directives are merely "police policing police." The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) remains underfunded, and conviction rates for rogue officers are statistically negligible.

Murkomen's "10-point agenda" for reform promises a professional service, but as long as officers are deployed to quell protests with live ammunition, the public's trust deficit will continue to widen. The CS has drawn his line in the sand; now he must prove he has the political capital to enforce it.