Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has defended police officers who demand fuel from members of the public before offering certain services, insisting that such requests should not be confused with corruption.

Addressing the Jukwaa La Usalama forum in Homa Bay town on Tuesday, Murkomen revealed that each police vehicle is allocated just 450 litres of fuel monthly—a figure he says falls short of the actual operational requirements for many police stations.

Murkomen explained, “The reason police officers are asking for fuel is because it is the truth, I will not sugar-coat it. We give officers 450 litres of fuel per vehicle, and like the OCS said, by the 18th of every month, this allocation is usually depleted from all the trips to operation areas.”

The CS noted that fuel shortages are especially severe in urban centres, where police are more frequently engaged in crime prevention activities.

Murkomen added that the government is working on increasing the monthly fuel supply to 650 litres per vehicle to help police work better.

“When officers say they cannot respond to distress calls because they do not have fuel, it is true. This is not an issue of corruption,” Murkomen stressed.

Meanwhile, Murkomen issued a stern warning to chiefs who handle defilement cases through informal ‘kangaroo courts’, calling the practice illegal and damaging to society. He threatened dismissal and prosecution for any chiefs found protecting offenders or personally involved in such crimes.

“GBV and defilement cases should not be dealt with in Kangaroo courts; those are very serious crimes for which people must be arrested and investigated,” he said.

He urged citizens to work alongside law enforcement agencies to ensure justice is served, particularly in cases involving children, and to help eradicate defilement from communities.