Kisia slams Ruto and MP Koech over their recent shooting orders
Former Nairobi Town Clerk and governance expert Philip Kisia has come out strongly to condemn the recent directive by President William Ruto instructing police officers to shoot suspects in the leg.
Speaking on a popular podcast aired on Friday, July 12, 2025, Kisia argued that shooting a person in the leg is effectively a death sentence, as the individual could bleed to death.
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“Do you know that you can shoot someone in the leg, and the someone suffers injury and even sometimes causes death because of bleeding?” Kisia stated.
He cited examples from the United States, where law enforcement officers are trained to immobilise suspects using non-lethal force rather than resorting to gunfire.
He emphasised that there are technologies and tactics available to subdue suspects without shooting them.
“What he should be doing is telling the police because they are trained to immobilise people like in the US; police are trained to immobilise somebody, and we have technology to immobilise people,” he added.
Kisia described the directive as inhumane and primitive, asserting that citizens are not animals to be hunted or shot at.
He went further to challenge the president, stating that although many Kenyans are disillusioned with his leadership, they have never attempted to remove him from office by force. He warned that if the state adopts a tit-for-tat approach by justifying such violence, Kenya risks descending into a banana republic.
Shooting to kill
He went on to take a swipe at Belgut MP Nelson Koech over his recent remarks telling police to “shoot to kill”.
Kisia challenged Koech to cite any legal basis for such a directive, referencing Article 244 of the National Police Service Act, which outlines the functions of police officers. He noted that the law does not authorise police to take the law into their own hands or to kill.
“If you look at the National Police Service Act, Chapter 15, Article 244 clearly states the functions of police officers. Then Article 245 addresses the command structure of the police service. I want this man, Nelson Koech, to pinpoint exactly where in the law it says that police are allowed to take the law into their own hands or shoot to kill,” Kisia stated firmly.
