Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has implored the Ministry of Interior to exert more efforts in tackling cases of mysterious disappearance, abductions, and femicides in the country.

While making his exit address at the end of duty as Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration on Thursday, the DP urged his successor to spur the strides made by the ministry in his two years tenure.

Upon Prof Kindiki’s elevation to the country’s second-in-command position, President William Ruto appointed Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi as the acting Interior CS.

“I pray that my successor will build on the gains we made and succeed to roll back the emerging reports of mysterious disappearances, abductions, and femicide,” Prof Kindiki told the media at Harambee House in Nairobi.

He lauded security officers, especially those assigned the sensitive duty of protecting the country from terror, banditry and other organized crimes, terming them as patriotic and selfless.

Prof Kindiki said President Ruto’s orders to modernize the operational and tactical equipment of security agencies greatly boosted the fight against terrorism, banditry and other organized crimes.

“The Sh37 billion Police Equipment Modernization Programme (PEMP) was initiated early in 2023 following orders of President Ruto to modernize the operational and tactical equipment of our security agencies. The five-year program is underway, with Sh7.6 billion already spent to acquire Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), Mine Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicles (MRAPs), personal protection equipment for the Police as well as sophisticated weaponry to provide enough firepower to secure the nation,” Prof Kindiki said.

The DP said 24 months of hard work by frontline multi-agency formations embedded deep in the Boni forests enclave has paid off with two years of calm.

“Sacrificial fighting power of elite police formations in the Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) spread along the risky frontier areas of Liboi, Fafi, Diff, Kotulo and such-like areas have resulted in two years of great victory over dangerous terrorists who would have otherwise hurt Kenya and its people,” said the former Interior CS.

“Each moment I had a chat or shared a meal or even took a selfie with security officers in the frontline of the war against terror, there was always a profound surge of pride in the knowledge that a dedicated and patriotic cohort of our security forces remain alert day and night to prevent terrorists and other dangerous criminals from accessing Kenya to cause harm to its people,” he added.

Further, Prof Kindiki prides himself for revolutionizing the production and supply of Kenyan passports in the ministry.

He said that when the Kenya Kwanza administration clinched power in 2022, the process had completely collapsed due to the breakdown of printing equipment, huge supplier debts and chronic corruption cartels that took advantage of the situation to extort money from desperate applicants.

“After many months of reorganising the financing arrangement as well as personnel deployment at the Immigration Department, I'm proud to report that as I leave the ministry, the government has been able to acquire modern printers and all the pending supplier debts have been paid. The passport production and delivery waiting period has been reduced from more than 12 months in 2022 to seven(7) days at present,” Prof Kindiki said.

The DP said a backlog of 724,000 passports has been cleared and that the challenge currently is to expedite the delivery process to clear the 85,000 uncollected passports that are ready.

“As I leave the reins of the ministry, I'm proud to report that the corruption cartels of staff and members of the public that used to harass passport applicants have been dismantled and 17 ringleaders, including immigration officers, are facing ongoing criminal prosecution,” said Prof Kindiki.

“As I exit, I am convinced beyond doubt that the milestone of reducing the waiting period from the current 7 days to 3 days by the close of this year remains feasible. In the days ahead, we must confront and succeed in reforming the institutions of our national security,” he added.