Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris has challenged the Ministry of Interior, calling for the swift investigation and prosecution of individuals who hire unemployed youth to cause chaos during political events.

Speaking during an interview with a local station on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, Passaris linked the rise of goonism to the country’s high unemployment rates.

Passaris described the exploitation of vulnerable young Kenyans by politicians as both sad and disheartening.

“It’s important for us to recognise that unemployment plays a huge role in goonism and the exploitation of that unemployment by politicians is also very sad and disheartening,” Passaris stated.

Youth’s manipulation by leaders

Passaris argued that youth on the harsh side of life are often manipulated by leaders who provide them with alcohol and instructions to disrupt meetings.

She contrasted this with her own approach, recounting an incident in Korogocho where she engaged a group of young men who had blocked her path, eventually helping them register as an organized group for empowerment.

“There are other politicians who will give them alcohol the night before, and then they come in, exploiting them. There are other politicians who will get goons, which I call young Kenyans on the harsh side of life, get them to go and disrupt a meeting,” Passaris stated.

Passaris further called on CS Kipchumba Murkomen to utilise the government’s intelligence arms to build watertight cases against those behind political violence.

She said that the executive should not blame the judiciary for failing to secure convictions if the evidence presented is weak.

“This is where Murkomen now needs to really come in because I really believe that government has an intelligence arm, and they should use it to completely gather watertight, you know, to blame the judiciary when you don’t have a watertight case is wrong,” Passaris noted.

Murkomen on Sifuna’s attackers

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has said some persons of interest linked to the assault on Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi in Kisumu fled to a neighbouring country as security agencies step up efforts to track them down.

Speaking before the Committee on Administration and Internal Security in Parliament on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, Murkomen said investigators had already identified several persons of interest after images were circulated by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

“The DCI circulated the pictures. As you said, some of them presented themselves. Three of them presented themselves,” he told the committee.

He accused the judiciary and a section of political leaders of actively undermining the government’s efforts to eliminate criminal gangs.

“You don’t need to plead before a court of law for them (judges) to appreciate that the country is suffering because of these acts of goons and gangs, yet judges are still releasing these people to the public. They don’t care about the bail terms. As long as several opposition leaders have appeared before the court is enough proof to say rights have been violated and release these people to go,” he said.

At the same time, Murkomen confirmed that the police had heightened crackdown on political goons.