Lawyer Willis Otieno has challenged Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen after he denied issuing shoot-to-kill orders on police station invaders.
Otieno argued on his official X account in the early hours of Sunday, June 29, 2025, that Kenyans are intelligent and understand what Murkomen said.
According to the lawyer, Murkomen’s remarks that have since stirred mixed reactions were a reflection of the political laundering of violence.
“We are not a nation of docile subjects waiting for a Cabinet Secretary to reinterpret violence as legality. The Kenyan people understand English, and more importantly, we understand the law. What we witnessed was not a restatement of the statute. It was the political laundering of violence,” Otieno stated.
Otieno warns Murkomen
He went ahead to warn Murkomen against using the Kenyan constitution as his mouthpiece.
“The Constitution is not your mouthpiece, CS Murkomen. It is the people’s covenant, and you have no licence to distort it in defence of state-sponsored repression,” he stated.
Lawyer Willis Otieno was responding to Murkomen’s defence against his shoot-to-kill remarks, where he had argued that he never issued a “shoot-live-to-murder command.
Murkomen’s defence
Murkomen, while responding to the criticism directed at him by former Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana, claimed that he had only restated the law.
“My good teacher & friend, where did I issue a ‘shoot-live-to-murder command’? Having been your good student, I know better than to make unfounded statements. I merely restated the law that you participated in its formulation. As you may recall, the sixth schedule of the National Police Service Act in Paragraph B (1) provides the conditions for the use of firearms, which include the protection of the lives of officers or civilians; protection of property; self-defence against threats of death or serious injury, among others. I am happy to continue this debate with you over a cup of tea and to listen to any other perspectives on your interpretation of the above provisions. Have a good evening, Mwalimu,” Murkomen stated.
