Murkomen orders crackdown on gangs and drug traffickers in Nakuru
By Nancy Marende, August 13, 2025Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has directed security agencies to intensify operations against gangs and drug trafficking in Nakuru.
Speaking during the Jukwaa la Usalama forum in Nakuru on August 12, 2025, Murkomen acknowledged that while security agencies have largely contained the gang problem in Nakuru, it remains a recurring challenge.
He said the gangs survive through petty theft and the sale of narcotics, fuelling insecurity in certain parts of the county.
“Nakuru also faces a recurring gang problem, though it is largely contained by our security agencies. The gangs sustain themselves through petty theft and selling drugs,” he stated.
“To stamp out the problem, we have ordered an immediate crackdown on drug trafficking and intensified police patrols in areas affected by the problem,” he added.
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Criminals in Nakuru
This comes a month after security agencies in Nakuru intensified the manhunt for a hardened criminal and his two accomplices, who had been targeting businesses between 8:00 pm and 10:00 pm using motorcycles to escape.
County Commissioner Loyford Kibaara, on June 1, 2025, assured residents that detectives were in hot pursuit of suspects using useful leads in the hunt for the gang that has been targeting M-Pesa shops in residential estates, particularly in Pipeline, Ndege Ndimu, Ngata, and Barnabas estates.
The commissioner said two suspects were already in police custody, and investigations have so far yielded important details.
Further, the county administrator said all security personnel, including regular and administration police officers, Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers, chiefs, assistant chiefs and village elders, have been put on high alert to ensure locals carry out their daily activities in a secure and peaceful environment.
“We will not give space to criminals to have a field day under the government’s watch,” the Commissioner warned.
He urged citizens to embrace their civic duty as watchdogs to help combat crime by supporting security agencies in identifying gang members.
“Work with the security agencies so that we can ensure that there’s safety and security in our country,” Kibaara appealed.
The administrator also read the riot act to law enforcement officers and local administrators who allow the sale of illicit brew as well as drugs and substance abuse in their jurisdictions.
He said the use of alcoholic and narcotic substances had contributed to the rise of many forms of crime and warned that each administrator, right from the Deputy County Commissioner and Assistant County Commissioner to the chiefs and their assistants, would be held personally responsible for any illicit brews and drug and substance cases reported in their jurisdiction.