Lawyer Willis Otieno has launched a blistering attack on Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen over his shoot-to-kill directive to police officers, accusing him of abandoning the Constitution and endangering lives.
In a strongly worded statement shared on Saturday, June 28, 2025, Otieno called out Murkomen for misusing his position, saying the CS had lost sight of his purpose after gaining political power.
The lawyer described him as a legal scholar who had now become a political mouthpiece, turning against the very laws he once taught.
“Kipchumba Murkomen is the tragic end product of what happens when a man mistakes proximity to power for purpose. A legal scholar turned state sycophant, parading around like a high priest of infrastructure while vomiting contempt on the very Constitution he once taught,” Otiono stated.
Otieno’s criticism comes just hours after he warned police officers against obeying Murkomen’s directive.
In a statement posted on his X account on Friday, June 27, 2025, the lawyer cautioned that officers who act on such illegal orders will be held personally responsible.
“Dear Police Officers, If you choose to follow illegal orders from @kipmurkomen or any politician drunk on power, know this: you will stand alone in the dock. When the dust settles – and it always does – the cameras will have your face, not his,” he stated.
He reminded officers that in the end, they will be left alone to answer for their actions. He noted that when the situation calms down, it is not the politician who will face justice, but the officer who pulled the trigger. He urged them to reject illegal instructions and instead uphold the Constitution.
Otieno also warned that the leaders misusing the police today will abandon them tomorrow. He stressed that no uniform or title would protect any officer from facing the law. He said accountability may take time, but it always comes, urging police to stand with the law and not be drawn into political chaos.
Shoot to kill
In the wake of Gen Z memorial protests held on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, during a visit to Kiambu County, CS Murkomen said that he had directed police officers to shoot anyone attempting to storm police stations.
He claimed that some individuals were mocking officers after being released, and this behaviour needed to be stopped. He said anyone approaching a station with bad intentions should be shot immediately.
“Ile shida inafanya saa zingine polisi wapige wakora risasi ni kwa sababu wanashikwa, wanaenda alafu wanarudi kuchekelea polisi wakisema sasa tulifika wapi, hakuna kwenye tulienda. Na tumeambia polisi, mtu yeyote ambaye atakaribia police station, piga yeye risasi,” Murkomen said.
Loosely translated as: “The problem that sometimes makes the police shoot criminals is that they get arrested, are released, then come back to mock the police, asking, ‘So, where did you take us? Nowhere.’ And we’ve told the police, Anyone who comes near a police station, shoot them.”
The shoot-to-kill order has been met with strong criticism from lawyers, human rights defenders, and members of the public, who say it promotes extrajudicial killings and undermines the rule of law.
