Murkomen pushes back against ICC calls linked to Gen-Z protests
By Cy Muganda, August 1, 2025Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has dismissed calls for his prosecution at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the government’s handling of the recent Gen-Z protests, saying those pushing the agenda are ignoring violence committed by protesters.
Speaking during a Jukwaa la Usalama forum on August 1, 2025, Murkomen accused critics of selective outrage, claiming they have turned a blind eye to the destruction caused during the demonstrations.
“Interestingly, all these people who have been speaking about us say nothing about the amount of terror that has been meted on the people of Kenya by anarchists who have burned police stations, supermarkets, courts, vehicles, and administrative units,” the Cabinet Secretary stated, referencing incidents during the protests that resulted in deaths, including a case in Ol Kalou where a person reportedly died in a police cell.
Defending security measures
Murkomen, who has been at the centre of public criticism over his controversial directive to officers on the handling of violent protesters, defended the actions of security forces, maintaining that security decisions made during the unrest were about protecting the nation.
“Our decision is between life and death. It’s about the existence of a country or failure for a country to exist,” he stated.
He accused unnamed groups of attempting to intimidate the government through threats of ICC action, insisting that law enforcement had a responsibility to uphold constitutional order.
“We will not allow our country to become an experimental place for anarchists to want to subvert the constitution, to meet terror on the people of Kenya, and to get away with it just because some people want to scare us with ICC,” Murkomen declared.
“Please, scare somebody else—not the people who know the law,” he added.
Protest-related deaths
According to a press statement from the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) dated July 11, 2025, the death toll from the July 7 Saba Saba demonstrations has reached 38, with at least 130 others injured across the country.
According to the Rights body, the fatalities span several counties, with Kiambu recording the highest number of deaths at eight, followed by Nairobi and Kajiado with six each.
“The Commission observes that the death toll has now risen to thirty-eight (38) people as of 1800hrs today. At least one hundred and thirty (130) people are still nursing injuries at home and in various health facilities across the country,” the third update on the Saba Saba demonstrations stated.
Furthermore, the Commission noted that 14 out of the 15 postmortems conducted so far indicated that the victims died from gunshot wounds, raising serious concerns about the conduct of security forces during the protests.
“Further, four (4) of the deceased are female, two (2) are children, while the majority of those already identified are youth below 25 years. Out of the fifteen (15) postmortems conducted so far, the majority (14) died from gunshot injuries, including a 12-year-old girl who was shot while watching TV at home in Kiambu,” the statement added.