Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has stated that the government has not issued a shoot-to-kill order in order to manage crowds in the country and that the government has a zero-tolerance attitude for extrajudicial executions.
Prof Kindiki, who appeared before the National Assembly for the first time to answer questions from members, stated that the National Police Service Internal Affairs Unit and the Independent Police Oversight Authority (Ipoa) were investigating the death of a bodaboda operator in Chuka, Tharaka Nithi County.
The CS was responding to a query posed by Patrick Munene, a Chuka Igambang’ombe MP, who wanted to know the facts behind the murder of Daniel Mutembei on March 18, 2023, which sparked protests from the community over what they perceived as police inaction to arrest the accused.
“I want to let Members of Parliament and the wider public know that the police do not have a shoot-to-kill order when dealing with crowds. He noted that in order to ascertain whether or not civilian or police firearms were utilized, as well as what actions were taken, we are investigating all reported incidents of excessive force by police.
Kindiki informed the House that the police did not use force to hinder the rescue of a suspected bandit who was receiving medical care at the Iten County Hospital in Elgeyo Marakwet because they wanted to avoid harming civilians. The CS responded that the culprit will be taken into jail when Baringo North MP Joseph Makilap questioned when the apprehended bandit will be prosecuted.
Kindiki indicated that the lack of birth registration forms nationwide was caused by the government printer’s sluggish operation, which he has ordered to speed up, in response to a question from Gilgil MP Martha Wangari.
He claimed that once the government’s printer’s management was changed, his office wrote three letters requesting that the printer speed up its services. The Speaker of the National Assembly, Moses Wetang’ula, welcomed Kindiki to the House and noted that they will be having CSs every Wednesday. Kindiki was the first CS to respond to questions from members.