We won't pay for livestock killed by security officers, says Murkomen

The government has ruled out monetary compensation for Samburu families whose livestock were indiscriminately killed during a security operation last month.

During a heated session where tempers flared and the issue of the government’s inability to deal with banditry took centre stage, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen noted that the government had no legal policy framework to compensate victims of the chaotic operation.

The CS, who was flanked by Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja and the Director of Criminal Investigations Amin Mohammed, had appeared before the National Assembly’s Administration and Interior Security Committee to respond to questions on the security situation in the country. There, he also clashed with lawmakers from three banditry-affected counties.

“Unfortunately, we have no legal policy framework for compensation. From a criminal justice standpoint, if we were to compensate the affected families, then other people in town who had their phones stolen or houses broken into would demand impossible compensation,” stated CS Murkomen.

His sentiments came in the wake of a petition lodged in Parliament last week, which sought reparations for affected families after more than 700 of their livestock were shot down by the police. According to the petition filed on Friday last week, 763 livestock were shot down during the operation and the families were demanding Sh70 million in compensation.

During the Committee sitting yesterday, CS Murkomen was taken to task by lawmakers drawn from Samburu, Meru and Isiolo counties who questioned the efforts by the State to deal with banditry in the region.

While the CS submitted that the scourge that is banditry had increased because of the region being historically marginalised, the MPs held that underdevelopment in the region should not be used as an excuse by those engaging in the acts, or by the state in dealing with the same.

Murkomen argued that poor roads, lack of schools, inadequate water infrastructure, weak communication networks and limited access to government services had created conditions in which banditry could thrive.

“Whereas the other factors might contribute, in my personal opinion, I think the greatest thing contributing to banditry is marginalisation. The fact that you go to Samburu, or in Baringo, you go to Tiaty constituency, there are no roads. There is no network...” said the CS.

“I know communities are fighting over themselves. But the reality is that, Mr Chair, on this particular issue, everybody is trying to stand their ground, to look like they are defending their community. But all of them are victims, as I said earlier, because of marginalisation,” he added.

While highlighting government efforts to deal with banditry, he said leaders could no longer afford to treat banditry purely as a security problem while ignoring the socio-economic conditions in which it flourished.

“Deploying more police officers without addressing the underlying causes will only provide a temporary solution...There are no roads. There is no network. There are no schools. There is no education. Accessibility and underdevelopment are the greatest contributors. Unless proper road networks, communication networks, schools, and water infrastructure are developed in this area, police and security will continue doing this over and over and over,” Murkomen observed.

He further regretted the economic and heavy human cost of banditry, noting that between June and September 2026 alone, 14 people were killed and 17 injured across the affected region

His utterances, however, attracted the ire of MPs who insisted that marginalisation should not be used as a cover-up for the security crisis.

“Marginalisation is not justification for stating that cows are sacred to some regions. There is no sacredness for one community. People have suffered, people have been killed and others have been left homeless. The sacred cows do not matter to me and the people of Meru, what we want is to hear about compensation,” said Buuri MP Mugambi Rindikiri.

Tigania West MP John Kanyuithia sought to know how marginalisation is harbouring banditry, even as he accused the security system of failing to arrest leaders who are supporting banditry.

“I believe that this security operation going on is because some senior police officers were killed; I would like to know: are Meru people not important, yet they were killed?” he posed.

Igembe North MP Julius Taitumu disparaged the argument by the CS, questioning why the North Eastern region, which was also marginalised, was not affected by banditry.

But Samburu West MP Naisula Lesuuda insisted that there can be no development if people are killing others, even as she defended the cows killed from her region, insisting they were a source of livelihood for their people.

The MP Gabriel Tongoyo-led Committee subsequently directed the CS to commence intelligence-led operations in the affected areas to stamp out banditry.

jthiongo@standardmedia.co.ke