Ex-Kenya Security Industry Association boss urges Ruto to dialogue, says Raila’s pressers don’t help
By Cy Muganda, July 8, 2025Former Kenya Security Industry Association Chairperson Erick Okeyo has called on President William Ruto to take personal responsibility for defusing the country’s political tension, warning that continued violence linked to ongoing protests is unsustainable and dangerous.
Speaking on a local media station on July 7, 2025, Okeyo stated that the President, as a symbol of national unity and the Commander-in-Chief, is pivotal in bringing an end to the chaos.
“The pressers of Serena don’t make much,” he said, in apparent reference to recent briefings by opposition leader Raila Odinga.
“The symbol of national unity, the Commander-in-Chief, the President, can bring this to a stop. The President needs to engage,” he added.
He lamented the rising death toll linked to the Saba Saba protests, which have claimed the lives of at least 10 people, along with injuries to others, including police officers.
“Today, we have lost 10 or 19; hurt others, hurt police, hurt destroyed shops, and so on. I live in this country. I am a security actor of many years — 32 now. I will look the government in the eye and say this: If there was no infiltration, there would be no trouble,” Okeyo remarked.
Political unrest
The former KSIA boss claimed that the recent unrest had been fueled by hired individuals acting on behalf of political actors or their sympathisers.
“From where I sit today, I take the very strong position that people who are hired by actors or sympathisers of one side of the political divide… those who are paid are the ones who are causing mayhem. These young people, ordinarily, if they would have been left on their own, there would have been no trouble,” Okeyo explained.
Police reforms
Turning to police reforms, Okeyo highlighted the neglected state of security sector improvements.
He criticised the government’s failure to implement the 19-point Ransley Report on police reform, noting that despite the shift from a police “force” to a police “service,” the underlying structures — including the training curriculum — remain unchanged.
“The Ransley Report is somewhere enjoying dust. It is a 19-point agenda, very nice. It has a path for career progression, salary increments, and salary reviews. We are doing affordable housing units across the country. In some areas, people are not interested in them, but our police officers, in their units, still live in uni-huts. I have said here before, some of the things we do not look at; is the psychosocial stability of the police,” he stated.
“We talk of, we moved, we transitioned from a police force to a police service, but the police curriculum is still that one of the force,” he added.