Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has warned that the government will prosecute anyone found to incite violence  or disrupt public order ahead of elections.

This even as a coroner’s report and parliamentary records contradict his defence of police conduct at two opposition rallies that turned violent.

Murkomen spoke at a church service at AIC Kipkelion Town Church in Kericho County on Sunday, a day after chaos engulfed a Linda Mwananchi Movement rally at Amalemba Grounds in Kakamega County, leaving one person dead.

“We have dealt with Al-Shabaab, banditry and land conflicts. The only challenge we face as a country is insecurity caused by politicians. They don’t have any plan of development; they organise groups and ferry goons to political rallies causing tension and mayhem,” said Murkomen.

He denied any police role in the teargas incident at Kakamega, calling accusations against the National Police Service (NPS) a calculated smear.

But images obtained by journalists showed teargas canisters thrown by individuals in plainclothes, contradicting his position.

Murkomen later shifted his explanation, saying teargas canisters that police had earlier lobbed and which had failed to detonate may have ended up in civilian hands.

“I have no doubt in my mind that the Inspector General has a responsibility to ensure that the person who was carrying teargas yesterday and threw it in Kakamega so that police are blamed must be searched for and arrested. That must be dealt with finality,” noted Murkomen.

The Kakamega incident was not isolated. It followed a February 15 rally in Kitengela where Vincent Ayomo, 28, a garage worker, was shot through the left eye as he crossed the road from work, the bullet exiting through the back of his head.

A postmortem conducted under the oversight of VOCAL Africa and the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) confirmed the cause of death as a single gunshot wound that fractured the skull and severed the spinal cord.

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has since opened an investigation into the shooting.

On January 25, a confrontation had also erupted at Witima ACK Church in Othaya, Nyeri, during a service attended by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and other opposition figures, establishing a pattern of political violence across multiple counties that predates the Kakamega chaos.

At Murkomen’s previous line of defence, that he had not been notified of the Kitengela rally, Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General Edwin Sifuna moved decisively to close that door before Kakamega.

Sifuna notified Murkomen of the rally via his personal WhatsApp number and shared it in the Senate WhatsApp group, of which Murkomen remains a member as a former senator, to prevent a repeat of the ignorance claim.

Sifuna vowed the Kakamega meeting would proceed even as teargas spread across the dais.

“This meeting will not be disrupted as they did in Kitengela. We will extinguish it like bhang in prison,” he declared, urging supporters not to throw stones at police.

In an apparent reference to Gachagua, who has repeatedly accused the government of enabling violence, Murkomen dismissed unnamed former leaders as instigators playing victim.

“I saw a former leader saying insecurity has worsened. The truth is he is a chief negotiator of goons, and when his goons are beaten up, that’s when you see him lament,” noted Murkomen.

Gachagua fired back on social media. “Kipchumba, don’t push Kenyans beyond. Kenyans will say no,” he warned.

Opposition figures, including Wiper Democratic Movement leader Kalonzo Musyoka, claimed two people were shot dead and 50 others injured at the Kitengela rally.

Only one death, Ayomo’s, has been independently confirmed by forensic examination.

Murkomen maintained the government’s security record under President William Ruto’s administration remained strong, noting gains made against Al-Shabaab, banditry and land conflicts since 2022.

“Incitement between individuals, tribal clashes or political incitement irrespective of one’s position in society will be dealt with according to the law,” added Murkomen.