A sustained security campaign in Kenya’s banditry-prone areas has helped reopen schools and markets, restore trade and bring communities back together, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has said, as authorities report the recovery or surrender of up to 3,000 illegal firearms.
Murkomen said Operation Maliza Uhalifu had helped reverse the disruption caused by banditry and cattle rustling in parts of the Kerio Valley, where insecurity had previously forced families to flee, children to stay away from school and businesses to close.
Speaking at the 50th passing-out parade of General Service Unit recruits at the National Police College Embakasi Campus in Nairobi on Friday, September 18, 2026, Murkomen attributed the progress to joint operations by security agencies and reforms being undertaken within the National Police Service.
“Four years ago, insecurity was tearing apart communities in Kerio Valley region. But thanks to the Operation Maliza Uhalifu multi-agency operations, normalcy has returned in those counties which previously were ravaged by banditry and cattle rustling,” Murkomen said.
He said the return of security had allowed children who had been kept away from classrooms to resume learning, while families whose homes were destroyed had started putting their lives back together.
Murkomen added that communities that had previously been divided by conflict were now able to interact and conduct business with each other.
Several markets that had remained closed because of insecurity have also reopened, he said, allowing residents to resume their social and economic activities.
“Children are back to school, homes are rebuilt, social and economic activities are going on uninterrupted, communities that could not see eye to eye are trading together, and a good number of markets which had been closed are now reopened,” he said.
Murkomen said the security campaign had produced another major result through the collection of illegal weapons and ammunition.
He said security agencies had recovered or received the voluntary surrender of up to 3,000 illegal firearms, in addition to about 8,000 rounds of ammunition.
The Interior CS said the gains were also supported by changes aimed at modernising the police service and giving officers better tools to respond to security threats.
He said officers working in areas considered high-risk had been provided with advanced mobile response and protection systems, drones, protective equipment and other specialised gear.
“These have helped to strengthen the mobility, situational awareness, and protect our officers,” Murkomen said.
The government has in recent years increased joint security operations in parts of the Rift Valley and northern Kenya affected by banditry.
Police, military personnel and other security agencies have been working together during the operations, with the recovery of illegal weapons and disruption of armed criminal groups forming part of the wider security effort.
Murkomen said reforms at the Ministry of Interior and National Administration were also intended to improve the government’s ability to maintain peace while strengthening the delivery of services to citizens.