Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen shakes hands with top security bosses in Meru county on May 7, 2025. /MINAInterior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen Wednesday concluded the Jukwaa La Usalama Upper Eastern edition in Meru county where banditry cases, border disputes and illicit brew topped the agenda.
The security forums, launched in April, are set to be held in each of the 47 counties.
They are part of the efforts by the national government to try and find solutions to specific security challenges facing citizens in counties.
Speaking shortly after holding a closed-door meeting with regional security committee, Murkomen said that Jukwaa La Usalama is a platform for Kenyans to freely express their views on matters pertaining security in their areas.
“Our objective as it has been is to listen to the grassroots leaders, to also assess the security situation, to look at the challenges that has been faced by security team at the grassroots and also agree together on the way forward,” Murkomen said.
He said that the Jukwaa La Usalama, which started in the Coast region in April, covering Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi, Lamu, Tana River and Taita Taveta counties, has become a critical tool in enhancing national security.
The challenges of Eastern region are almost similar, particularly in Meru where banditry has been a thorny issue.
Meru county has for many years faced the problem of cattle raids, attacks that have led to the killing of civilians and theft of livestock, Murkomen noted.
However, the CS said that the government has made great efforts to address issues of banditry in Meru region especially in the last two years, adding that cases of cattle rustling have declined.
This, he said, has been made possible by the availability of improved security equipment, better strategy and deployment of additional police.
“We have even formed units and stations in between county of Isiolo and the county of Meru where we have the biggest problem of banditry,” he said.
“Most of these bandits come all the way from Samburu, some from Isiolo and they have caused havoc in this county…I am glad that a lot of progress has been made; the statistics show that there has been a significant reduction since last year but the problem has not been eliminated,” he said.
“Our duty today is to firm up more strategies, building from the meeting I had in Isiolo with some of the grassroots leaders to ensure that we eradicate this problem,” Murkomen said, adding that the meeting also deliberated on infrastructure issues like security roads.
As part of the broader strategy to curb cattle rustling, Murkomen said that proper vetting and deployment of National Police Reservists (NPR) will be done in the coming days.
“We will be looking at replacement of NPR, some were killed as you know and some have since deserted duty due to drunkenness and indiscipline,” he said.
“We are going to make sure that replacement is done but also vet to ensure that they are fit for the job and are serving the community."
Murkomen said that the recruitment of new NPRs will be conducted by subcounty security teams and will be done in public.
This, he said, will ensure that only the right people are given the job.
“We also have another problem which is common in other places of the country, the problem of boundary. Meru has boundary challenges with Isiolo county and another boundary issue with Tharaka Nithi county,” he stated.
“We also have cases of conflict between farmers and herders on the Isiolo side. We are going to find better ways of working out these issues…we know that this is not a one-off issue but listening to the people from the grassroots and building on the proposals, we will be able to have one approach nationally,” Murkomen pointed out.
He said that the border issues between counties will be addressed at the national level, noting that the Senate had at one point developed a legal framework to address the matter.
The other challenge in Meru county is the issue of illicit brews, drug and drug trafficking, human trafficking and presence of aliens because of the proximity of this county to our border through Isiolo to Marsabit, the CS said.
“We have been carrying out serious crackdown and we are going to discuss strategies that can deal with local brew, adulterated brew and second generation brew. We have identified some of the actors, some have been arrested and others are being pursued,” he said.
“I must say that we are getting more value from the Jukwaa La Usalama than I anticipated when we started because initially, I thought we are just going to listen but with the collaboration of grassroots leaders, we have been able to solve so many problems,” he explained.
MUrkomen will next head to Embu county on Friday after the Tharaka Nithi tour.
