Matiang’i defends firearms crackdown, cites discipline and law
By Aloys Michael, October 29, 2025Former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has defended the government’s crackdown on illegal firearms and strict security reforms during his tenure, insisting that every action taken was guided by existing laws and aimed at restoring order in Kenya’s security sector.
In an interview on a local TV station on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, Matiang’i dismissed accusations of authoritarianism during his tenure, saying even now the leadership should be grounded in legal frameworks and institutional discipline.
“When I arrived at the Ministry of Interior, we had a problem of the proliferation of small arms in the country. We discovered that we did not even know how many people had been licensed to carry guns. There was no record,” he said.
“When you look at it, it’s when you force your will in an environment without structure. But everything that happened in my department followed the established regulations and system.”
So far, the government has recovered more than 600 illegal firearms in the Kerio Valley as part of efforts to curb insecurity in the country.
President William Ruto urged individuals still in possession of illicit weapons to surrender them voluntarily to security agencies or face the full force of the law.
“We know everyone who has a gun, and we are going to come for it,” he said while addressing residents of Kabarnet town, Baringo County, on Tuesday, October 28, 2025.
“We cannot continue being a county of widows and orphans. I have instructed Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen to ensure that all firearms are in the hands of security officers.”
Incidentally, the former CS has noted that despite the existence of a clear law regulating firearm ownership, enforcement had collapsed.
“There is an Act that prescribes how you should be licensed to carry a firearm. It even requires psychiatric tests. But those systems were ignored,” he said.
Vetting of firearms holder
The former CS insisted that enforcing the law was not an act of dictatorship but one of responsibility.
To restore order, Matiang’i said that during his tenure, he revoked all private gun licenses and ordered a fresh vetting process, a move that drew both praise and criticism.
“I simply said, here is the law. Everyone holding a firearm license, consider it canceled. We will start afresh and do what the Act demands,” Matiang’i explained.
“Five people, including leaders, failed the test. One even murdered someone.”
Matiang’i lamented what he described as Kenya’s tendency to cut corners and resist discipline, comparing the nation’s progress to that of Asian countries like Singapore and South Korea.
“People made sacrifices and stuck to discipline. That is how they moved forward. Things don’t just happen. People have to work for them.”
The former warned against the erosion of reforms in the security sector.
The regime has gone completely back to where it was because people are used to cutting corners,” he said.