KHRC official: Ruto admin quietly replaced killer SSU with new DCI unit
By Kenneth Mwenda, June 23, 2025Communications Lead, KHRC, Ernest Oduor, has accused President William Ruto’s administration of failing to honour its pledge to end extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.
Speaking in a recent interview on a local TV station, on Monday, June 23, 2025, Oduor said the government has only changed tactics, not behaviour.
“When Ruto came to power in 2022, he said he would disband the killer unit, the Special Service Unit (SSU), which had been accused of at least 500 cases of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings,” Oduor said.
While SSU was formally disbanded, Oduor pointed to worrying developments that suggest a quiet continuation of the same practices.
“Reports show that another unit was formed to replace SSU. It’s called the Operation Action Team (OAT), based within the DCI. Some of the same SSU members were retained to operate under this new outfit,” he claimed.
Oduor warns of repression
According to Oduor, the OAT has been accused of conducting abductions, enforced disappearances and executions targeting government critics.
“This unit does exist,” he said. “The Human Rights Watch report details its operations. The president, on one hand, makes promises to end extrajudicial killings, and on the other, a unit is formed to continue the same crimes. Nothing has been learned.”
He warned that the use of informal repression is growing again, drawing parallels to past regimes.
“The goons we saw on the streets last week, that was informal repression. The state covertly deploys vigilante groups to maim and intimidate, without leaving direct fingerprints. It’s not new. It happened during Moi’s time with Jeshi la Mzee, under Kibaki and under Uhuru,” he noted.
Oduor concluded with a grim reflection.
“From Moi to Ruto, it’s the same script, different actors. They’ve simply refined the tactics. But the people still suffer.”