Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has addressed calls for his resignation following countrywide anti-government demonstrations that left more than 35 people dead.
As Kenyans pile pressure on President William Ruto to crack the whip on his cabinet and even kick out some Cabinet members, CS Kindiki has ruled out the possibility of him resigning.
CS Kindiki addressed the calls from a section of Kenyans including civil society groups, especially due to the conduct of police officers during the protests.
The CS who heads the critical Interior Ministry at a time when Kenyans poured into the streets was speaking in an interview on July 4, 2024, when he maintained that he is not resigning anytime soon.
According to CS Kindiki, had the idea of exiting office crossed his mind over the current crisis facing the country, he would have voluntarily resigned.
Kindiki on Resigning
The CS in his defense pointed out that there was no reason as to why he should step down from his position as he has done nothing that warrants his resignation.
“As to when I am resigning, that matter has not crossed my mind because I do not have a reason why I should resign. If for whatever reason I was convinced that I have done anything that warrants my resignation, I would happily do so,” Kindiki said.
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CS Kindiki also defended National Police Service (NPS) officers who have been on duty during the protests while not in police uniforms saying that it was a regular thing for the service.
Officers not in uniforms
According to the CS, policing activities are conducted in different forms where some may require officers to be deployed while not in uniforms to combat criminal activities.
“Crowd control policing is different from other policing activities including crime prevention policing activities and a police officer does not become an officer when only wearing uniform, he is a police officer because he is a police officer.
Policing techniques are very different because of the nature of the engagement and what we have witnessed in the past two weeks have told us that the organization of crimes is quite high. We had police in uniform and other officers without uniform and there is nothing irregular about that,” he maintained.
Also Read: Kindiki Issues Directives to Protesters Hours Before Countywide Demos
On the general orders granted to the Police, CS Kindiki said that NPS is independent on operational matters and is only under the instruction of the Inspector General (IG) Japhet Koome, adding that the work of the Minister is to give policy directives and policy guidance
Kindiki’s remarks came at a time a section of Kenyans including civil society groups, and religious organizations have called on President Ruto to reshuffle his cabinet in line with the expectations of the people.
They have at the same time called for the sacking of members of the Cabinet who have been deemed underperformers.
However, CS Kindiki has been ranked among the best-performing cabinet secretaries by opinion polls released since Ruto took office.
Conduct of Police
His defense on the general conduct of law enforcers and the Interior ministry came after members of the Cabinet highlighted that the police force as a whole acted professionally in very difficult circumstances despite a few who went rogue.
President Ruto chaired a Cabinet Meeting at State House Nairobi on Thursday July 4, where members were briefed about the current security situation in the country.
From the dispatch sent to newsrooms, the Cabinet lauded officers in general for their conduct in the ongoing protests saying that they have acted professionally
According to Cabinet, the riots which started as genuine protests were infiltrated, hijacked and taken over by criminal and opportunistic political forces.
Further, Cabinet noted that security agencies did a good job of protecting the country from anarchists,
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