Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has directed the Samburu County Commissioner to fast-track the recruitment of chiefs and sub-chiefs, as the government moves to strengthen security in the newly gazetted administrative units within the county.
Speaking during a church service in Kerio Valley on July 5, Murkomen instructed that interviews for the vacant positions be completed within the week, allowing successful candidates to be deployed to their stations without delay. He stated that he had ordered all previously gazetted locations to be made public and directed the County Commissioner to fast-track the interview process so that qualified candidates would be stationed in the newly zoned areas by the following week.
The push follows the 2024 gazettement of Samburu West as a new sub-county, with Loosuk as its headquarters, part of 578 new administrative units created across 31 counties nationally. Within this restructuring, Loosuk Division was established as the only new administrative division under Samburu West, an area Murkomen wants reinforced with additional security personnel to counter banditry.
The CS also issued a stern warning against illegal firearm possession in Samburu and the wider Kerio Valley region, announcing plans to deploy more Kenya Police Reserve officers and reintroduce the Special Operations Group, an elite paramilitary unit specializing in counter-terrorism and anti-banditry operations.
Murkomen did not spare politicians accused of arming local youth, cautioning that anyone found supplying firearms would face serious consequences. He warned politicians that their days would be numbered if caught selling guns to youths, and told young people that those found with firearms sourced from politicians would answer to the law on their own.
The Kerio Valley region, covering Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo, and West Pokot counties, has long grappled with banditry and cattle rustling fuelled by territorial disputes, revenge attacks, and organized commercial looting. The conflict predominantly involves the Pokot, Marakwet, and Tugen communities, with criminal networks exploiting the rugged terrain of areas such as Tiaty, Silale, and Nadome to evade security operations.
Authorities have made notable progress in disarmament efforts, with more than 2,600 illegal firearms recovered across the North Rift through initiatives including Operation Rudisha Bunduki.
The directive comes a day after Murkomen declared parts of Marsabit County security-disturbed and dangerous for 30 days, ordering residents to surrender firearms under an order that took effect on June 23.
The renewed focus on Samburu underscores the government’s broader strategy of pairing administrative expansion with tighter security enforcement in Kenya’s volatile pastoralist regions, as authorities intensify efforts to restore order ahead of the new deployments expected next week.
