President William Ruto has warned against attempts to intimidate police officers carrying out their duties, saying his administration will protect them.

Speaking when he hosted the National Police Service (NPS) at State House, Nairobi today, Ruto instead urged Kenyans to support and respect police officers tasked with maintaining law and order.

“To those who want to undermine, or try to intimidate our security agencies, I am telling them: you’re doing the wrong thing. Our security men and women deserve every support we can muster,” he said.

His remarks come ahead of planned Gen Z protests tomorrow, to mark the first anniversary of the June 25 anti-Finance Bill demos, in which several Kenyans were killed.

President Ruto: Without peace and stability there Is no nation, undermining security agencies is wrong. pic.twitter.com/iRUzf7E3e6

— The Standard Digital (@StandardKenya) June 24, 2025

Ruto expressed support for the police, praising officers for their role in safeguarding the country even under challenging political and social conditions.

“To our policemen and women, I want to say that as president, I am very proud of what our security agencies have been able to do to secure our nation, our properties, and to make sure our families can sleep in peace.”

“Without peace and security, without stability, we don’t have a nation. The people who put their lives on the line to make sure our families are safe, that our nation is safe and stable, are our security agencies,” he added. 

This comes as a growing public outroar of police handling of recent protests.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen painted a picture of a police force operating under extreme pressure caught between constitutional restraints and political hostility.

“If you listen to the conversation that is happening across the country, you would imagine that there’s a crisis in the National Police Service. However, this is one of the most professional police services on the continent,” said Murkomen. 

The CS described Kenya as having “the most difficult political environment” for police to operate in, with officers constantly under scrutiny and political leaders often undermining their work. “In this very difficult environment, the police are caught between a rock and a hard place. They must choose whether to side with their country or allow irresponsible political actors to spoil the nation,” he stated.

Murkomen decried the growing wave of street protests, calling them politically motivated attempts to destabilise the country.

“Some of those calling for protests today were just recently standing where I am, defending law and order. Now they are planning, buying machetes and rungus, distributing them to young people to cause violence in town,” he said, calling on the police to act decisively. “The National Police must be ruthless in dealing with such criminals.”