IG Kanja: VIP police who are misused will be withdrawn immediately
Key points
- IG Douglas Kanja says misused VIP protection officers will be withdrawn “instantly.”
- He spoke in Keringet, Kuresoi South, alongside Interior CS Murkomen.
- Trigger context: Gachagua’s claims and an NTV report on aides/vehicles in Ol Kalou chaos.
- Murkomen says DCI has opened a goons file from the by-election; Kanja ordered nationwide gang pressure.
“If I find the officers being misused… I will withdraw them instantly,” Inspector-General Douglas Kanja told a Keringet baraza in Kuresoi South, Nakuru, standing with Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen — a line aimed at the political class that treats bodyguards as private militia, Eastleigh Voice reported.
The timing is not accidental. Days earlier, DCP leader Rigathi Gachagua accused some UDA-aligned Mt Kenya MPs of weaponising security details against perceived dissidents during the Ol Kalou by-election. An NTV investigation, cited in the same coverage, said vehicles used in disruption that afternoon were linked to aides of certain legislators and a parastatal chief, and that journalists filming were attacked.
From Witima to Ol Kalou
Gachagua further claimed a similar model featured in an attack at Witima Church in Mwea, saying he gave Kanja photos, names and video — and that instead of charges, some officers were promoted, better armed, then redeployed toward Ol Kalou. Those are allegations; they are now part of the political record the IG must either disprove with files or answer with discipline.
Murkomen said the DCI has opened an investigation into who the armed individuals were, what crimes occurred, and who was harmed at Ol Kalou. Kanja separately ordered commanders to jail gang actors and threatened transfers for inaction.
Credibility test
Withdrawal of VIP details only works if it is public, documented and applied across factions. Silent internal transfers will read as damage control after media exposure. Related crime desk: Crime.
Parliament’s security committee should demand a quarterly list of VIP details withdrawn for misuse, with ranks and dates — not names of principals if safety requires silence. Journalists attacked in Ol Kalou need a separate ODPP track so camera crews are not treated as collateral. Without charge sheets, NTV footage and Gachagua dossiers remain political ammunition rather than courtroom exhibits.
Ol Kalou’s disputed afternoon remains a numbers case: how many vehicles, how many officers on VIP tickets, how many journalists assaulted. DCI must publish a count of suspects interviewed within 14 days or the Keringet warning will look like theatre staged for cameras next to a drug baraza.
Track three numbers after Keringet: VIP details withdrawn in 30 days, Ol Kalou-related charges filed, and transfers executed at the station — zero on any column means the baraza was theatre.
Based on Eastleigh Voice reporting of Kanja and Murkomen in Keringet and prior Ol Kalou-related claims. Allegations remain subject to investigation.
