Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has launched a sweeping multi-agency crackdown targeting gang leaders, political goons, land fraud cartels, and illicit alcohol networks across the Western region.Speaking in Kakamega during the Jukwaa la Usalama forum on Friday, Murkomen said the operation will involve county security teams working in coordination with officers from the national headquarters to dismantle criminal networks without fear, favour, or political bias."We are spending a lot of resources and personnel in dealing with political goonism in Western Kenya when we have other regions and parts of Kenya that need security, and therefore we are going to deal with the paymasters of the goons, and it is going to be painful," said Murkomen.
The CS said the government is alarmed by the rise of political violence in Western Kenya, where funerals and political rallies have increasingly been turned into battlefields."We will not allow political leaders to use goons and criminal leaders to use young people to cause violence and instability in our country because some cases have left families mourning, while others find it difficult to give their beloved one a good sendoff," said Murkomen.He cited the recent chaotic burial of a chief in Matungu, Kakamega County, where goons disrupted the ceremony, clashed violently, and left mourners in fear.Murkomen said such incidents are evidence that criminal gangs are being embedded in community events for political gain, and he warned leaders who sponsor or ferry these groups that they will be prosecuted."We will deal with everyone, even those ferrying the goons, whether to rallies or to funerals.
Unfortunately, police are now being forced to provide security at burials, while elsewhere people bury their loved ones peacefully without needing officers on the ground," Murkomen said.He emphasised that the crackdown will remain politically neutral."A multi-agency operation is underway to combat the persistent problem of political goons.
The county security teams, supported by officers from the head office, are pursuing gang leaders without any regard to political leaning.
