Murkomen offers to fly journalists for fully-paid week’s stay in Elwak
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, announced plans to fly journalists to Elwak, Mandera County, for a week’s stay.
Speaking during the National Police Service Development Partners Roundtable at the Kenya School of Government, Kabete, Murkomen indicated that the fully-paid trip would help the media practitioners familiarise themselves with the kind of work and sacrifices police officers make to protect the nation.
The CS noted that the trip would be an eye-opener to journalists who have consistently criticised police officers without getting to understand some of the extreme environments they are forced to work under in areas such as Elwak.
CS Murkomen made it clear that some would request to return to Nairobi after spending less than half a day in the area.
“I wish really we would carry some of these journalists and editors to stay in Elwak, not for the whole day, for a half day in Elwak. I am ready, I want to request all the journalists who are writing very nice stories about us in Nairobi, I will give you transport for free and fly a good number of journalists to Elwak and I want them to sleep there for a week just to enjoy, relax and interact with the local people.
“It is not that you will be alone; there are police officers there. I am giving that challenge, and I am ready to take some of our very good editors who are in Nairobi to Elwak,” Murkomen stated.
“That offer is effective now. If you are there for a day or two, you will change your attitude on how you report about our police officers and what they do, the sacrifices they make and the enemy they confront to protect our nation,” he insisted.
While vowing to fly journalists to understand the police work environment in Elwak, Murkomen underscored the need to improve the working conditions.
He asserted that the government was keen to improve the conditions to ensure effective service delivery.
Plans to introduce body cameras
As part of improving service delivery and promoting accountability, CS Murkomen noted that the government was at an advanced stage of introducing body cameras.
Digital occurrence books, instant fines and improving local networks are other issues Mukomen committed to addressing in an attempt to modernise the National Police Service (NPS).
“We are in the process of rolling out police body cameras to improve police professionalism and accountability. The government remains steadfast in addressing the existing challenges by ensuring that NPS is fully equipped to meet evolving security demands and serve Kenyans effectively.
“We are spearheading the integration of technology to enhance efficiency, transparency and service delivery in policing. The ongoing modernisation of police operations, including the implementation of a digital occurrence book and case management system, streamlining workflows, and improving operational efficiency, are crucial steps towards the implementation of this plan,” Murkomen disclosed.
“I firmly believe that the digitisation process will help us firmly deal with corruption, especially when we look at the plans that are underway to introduce instant fines while we expand our local area network and wide area network infrastructure will ensure seamless data sharing.”
