Kenya’s Interior Cabinet Secretary, Kipchumba Murkomen, has announced that security forces have seized more than 2,000 illegal firearms from bandits and terrorists, according to a report by standardmedia.co.ke. The announcement was made on Thursday, August 6, 2026, as part of a broader update on the country’s ongoing security operations.
The seizures are tied to a wider crackdown on criminal activity, particularly in the North Rift region, which has seen persistent violence linked to banditry. Standardmedia.co.ke reports that Murkomen has also tasked elite Special Operations Group (SOG) officers with taking a leading role in countering terrorism and organized crime threats. A new cohort of these specialized officers has recently graduated and is being deployed to address emerging security challenges, as noted by The Eastleigh Voice.
The Interior Minister has also pledged to shield security agencies from political interference, according to KBC Digital. This comes amid calls from some quarters, including an editorial in standardmedia.co.ke, urging Murkomen to focus on ending the terror in the North Rift rather than engaging in political disputes.
The reported figure of over 2,000 seized weapons underscores the scale of the illegal arms problem in the country. The government’s strategy appears to center on using the SOG as a rapid-response unit to dismantle networks that supply weapons to bandits and militant groups.
What to watch next: Whether the deployment of the new SOG cohort leads to a measurable drop in violent incidents in the North Rift and other hotspots.
