Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has dismissed Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen as unfit to lead the security docket, branding him a “TikTok phone boy with too much English.” Speaking during a funeral in Butere on Saturday, September 6, 2025, Khalwale accused Murkomen of being out of touch with the realities of insecurity in Western Kenya.

The senator took issue with the CS’s choice to hold meetings at a premium hotel in Kakamega during his visit, instead of meeting locals and security officials on the ground.

“Kama umechukua kijana Murkomen, wakati amekuwa hapa Rais alikuwa Golf Hotel Kakamega, na masharti ya kifahari, viatu za kifahari na kizungu mingi. Maneno ya usalama haiko golf hotel. Murkomen, you don’t know what you are doing,” Khalwale said.

He went further, questioning Murkomen’s approach to leadership and contrasting it with his own experience in dealing with cattle theft in the region.

“Mtu wa usalama hauvai shoes, unavaa boots, uende ground uone what’s going on there. What were you doing in golf? Mimi nakumbuka hii mchezo imekuwa hapa Butere, nikaenda huko, vile niko hapa. Nikapata DCI amekaa, nikapata Comissioner subcounty amekaa, subchief na chief; tukapanga baada ya three days tukashika ngombe 47 za wizi. Tukapeleka kwa DC. Hao watu walikuwa wamekoma wakati wa Mweshimiwa Kithure Kindiki,” he recounted.

Khalwale mocked Murkomen’s youth and style, arguing that the minister was better known for his online presence than for effective administration.

“Huyu kijana wa simu kwa mkono TikTok nini nini hawezi kuwa waziri wa mambo ya usalama,” he said. The senator added that President William Ruto had erred in assigning Murkomen such a sensitive docket.

“Mr. Presidant imagine your minister for security amekuja huku kwa haya maneno, lakini alikuwa golf hotel. Golf hotel ni mahali ya kifahari ya disco, ya nini nini sio maneno ya usalama.”

Khalwale vows firm action

As killings linked to gangs continue to trouble parts of Kakamega and Vihiga counties, Khalwale vowed to stand with locals in their demand for firm action. He insisted that communities expected hands-on leadership, not luxury stays and polished speeches.

“Leo nimekuja kusimama na nyinyi kwa hili janga la mauaji. And I want to promise all of you kwamba hii mchezo nitamaliza,” the senator declared, drawing applause from mourners.

Murkomen, who was also in the region over the weekend, had warned about the rise of gangs such as the Reggae Boys, Nduthi Culture, and the 42 Brothers. He promised to deploy more police officers and urged residents to speak out against criminals. But Khalwale dismissed those assurances as detached from the lived reality of villagers facing daily threats.

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— Dr Boni Khalwale, CBS (@DrBKhalwale) September 7, 2025