A police officer who boldly spoke out against the government’s deadly shoot-to-kill directive has been transferred from Kyumbi Police Station in Machakos to Todonyang, a remote and volatile border outpost on the edge of Kenya and Ethiopia.
The officer had posted a TikTok video last week criticizing Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen’s controversial remarks authorizing the extrajudicial killing of suspected criminals. In the now-Viral clip, he warned that Murkomen’s comments amounted to state-sanctioned executions, stressing that law enforcement officers swore to uphold the Constitution—not to carry out political kill orders.
Now, Channel 15 News is in possession of the officer’s official marching order notice, which directs him to “proceed immediately” to his new workstation in Todonyang, Turkana County—over 800 kilometers from his previous post. The abrupt transfer is already being interpreted within security circles as a deliberate punishment.
“This is not a transfer. It’s a warning shot to every officer with a conscience,” a senior police source confided. “Speak out against the state, and you’ll be buried in isolation.”
Todonyang is among the most dangerous and neglected police stations in Kenya, plagued by frequent cross-border raids, poor infrastructure, and minimal logistical support. Human rights observers say posting an officer there after he spoke out amounts to punitive exile.
The political storm started after CS Murkomen made public calls for police to “shoot to kill” armed rioters—remarks later backed by endorsed by President William Ruto, who instructed police to “shoot in the leg” to stop violent suspects. But the rhetoric has escalated sharply.
Today , Belgut MP Nelson Koech inflamed the debate further, bluntly telling police to ignore restraint: “Shoot and kill!” he declared, upping the ante on Ruto’s original directive. Critics now warn the country is teetering on the edge of normalized extrajudicial executions.
Murkomen has since claimed he was misquoted, but the damage is done. With his TikTok account now wiped clean and no public comment since the transfer, the officer’s silence speaks volumes.
Still, his final words in that TikTok post continue to resonate:
“We are trained to protect life. Not to carry out executions for political applause.”
