'It was an attempted coup': CS Kipchumba Murkomen says over June 25th protests

In a press briefing, CS Murkomen alleged that the organisers of the protest sought to destroy properties and loot businesses and homes belonging to politicians allied to the government. 

Further, he claimed that the police retrieved footage of vehicles carrying loads of cash to bring to the protesters, terming it a well-orchestrated plan to hound the current regime out of office. 

The CS defended the police officers, citing that no excesses were committed during yesterday's demonstrations. He added that the police were the victims during the melee, as most were targeted by the protesters. 

"This has nothing to do with protests, but an unconstitutional attempt to change the regime. The police were able to foil an attempted coup. Our security agencies exercised remarkable restraint amid provocation. I want to say to the brave officers injured while protecting property against rioters and hired thugs. We feel your pain and sacrifice that embody patriotism," he stated. 

"No church member will speak about how the police were attacked and suffered immense pain. I also know no diplomat will defend our police because it's not in their interest for Kenya to be safe. They prefer anarchy and chaos at the expense of peace. I thank you, police officers, for a job well done."

CS Murkomen vowed that his ministry would not relent in apprehending the organisers and financiers of the protests, stating that "Make no mistake, we will come for you."

He also promised to support all officers from recent threats posed by the public over police brutality. 

"If you are a police officer and you're threatened by some characters, there's no officer who committed any excesses; they foiled a coup," he said.

"They don't carry guns as toys. When you threaten an officer, you want to kill them. When you burn a police station, you want us to celebrate you and bring you a birthday cake? We must be serious as a country."

Addressing the 'coup' plotters, Murkomen claimed that their plan to enact chaos and take over power did not succeed but rather exposed their motives. 

"It's clear the coup plotters are not sleeping. When they were going around campaigning against policemen for the last 3 weeks, they wanted to scare officers so they could have free passage to commit the crimes that we saw yesterday. If it were not for the police officers, we would not have a country today," said Murkomen.

According to the Interior CS, some of the properties or items torched include police stations (5), police vehicles (88), county government vehicles (27) and private cars (65).

He cited that businesses lost billions amid the chaos and massive looting that occurred during the protests.