Lawyers Samson Nyaberi and Danstan Omari representing Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen after filing their application at the High Court in Nairobi on Tuesday January 7, 2025/EZEKIEL AMING'A
Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen is seeking to have his name struck off as a respondent in the case where LSK has sued various state officers and agencies over cases of alleged abductions.
Murkomen says that as a CS, his work is only limited to policy direction and that ensuring the security and protection of citizens and their property is the work of the Inspector General of Police.
The Law Society of Kenya and other human rights organisations including the Kenya Human Rights Commission and the International Commission of Jurists, sued CS Murkomen alongside Police IG Douglas Kanja, DCI boss Mohammed Amin and DPP Renson Igonga over the alleged abductions.
The petitioners sought orders to compel security and criminal prosecution agencies to produce in court six youths who were reportedly abducted in December.
The abductees were named as Ronny Kiplagat, Steve Mbisi, Billy Mwangi, Peter Muteti, Bernard Kavuli, and Kelvin Muthoni.
On Monday, only Steve Mbisi remained unaccounted for after the other abduction victims were released in various locations across the country.
Meanwhile, the case filed by LSK is set to be heard tomorrow (Wednesday) before Justice Bahati Mwamuye at the High Court in Nairobi.
Murkomen, through lawyers Samson Nyaberi and Danstan Omari, has put in an application seeking that his name be struck out of the list of respondents.
“The job description of a Cabinet secretary is clearly defined and limited. His role to the police is only on policy direction to the IG. That does not involve a command structure, which is a preserve of the Inspector General,” Omari said.
The lawyers said issues of kidnappings and abductions and other insecurity cases are handled by the Inspector General.
Last week, Justice Alexander Muteti directed that all the petitions touching on the abductions be heard on January 8, 2025 before Justice Mwamuye.
Parties had been given until January 7 to submit their evidence, if any. Justice Mwamuye had also given IG Kanja seven days to explain his failure to produce the abductees in court on December 31, 2024 as had been earlier directed.
"There is still room for the IG to vindicate himself by presenting the six abductees in any High Court to avoid penal consequences," Justice Mwamuye said on December 31, 2024.
