'Goonism is being exaggerated,' Murkomen says as he blames politicians

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has downplayed the extent of goonism in the country, insisting the problem has been exaggerated for political reasons, even as he ordered police to intensify the crackdown on criminal gangs and those financing them.

Speaking during the launch of the Multi-Biometric Identification System at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters, Murkomen said criminal gangs should be dealt with firmly using all lawful means.

"The issue of goons isn't as bad as exaggerated. It's being hyped by politics and politicians..." he said.

Murkomen accused politicians of creating and financing criminal gangs to advance their political interests.

He also claimed that some religious leaders who had initially defended suspects arrested during the 2024 and 2025 anti-government protests were now demanding tougher action against criminal gangs.

"We saw the church defending those goons... Now they are crying for the government to end goonism,” said the CS.

The Interior CS said Kenyans had made it clear that they wanted criminal gangs eradicated and directed the police to act decisively.

"If church leaders have given us a go-ahead to deal with goons, now you have my order as police: deal with goons mercilessly,” he ordered.

Murkomen spoke as he unveiled the Multi-Biometric Identification System, a new digital platform expected to reduce the processing time for police clearance certificates from the current 14 days to less than 24 hours.

The system will also enable digital access to criminal records, strengthen investigations and support the presentation of evidence in court.

"The new system integrates fingerprint and facial recognition..." DCI Mohamed Amin said.

Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga said the new platform would significantly improve the speed and efficiency of investigations and prosecutions.

"The DPP is at the tail end of the investigations... Now it's a click of a button,” Ingonga noted.