Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has lauded the Kenya Kwanza administration for formally integrating village elders into the country’s national administrative structure. He described the move as a historic milestone, fulfilling President William Ruto’s bottom-up governance agenda.
Speaking at State House, Nairobi, where the Head of State hosted village elders from across the country, Murkomen explained that the decision followed extensive nationwide public consultations through the National Security Forums, also known as Jukwaa la Usalama. During the forums, he disclosed that the issue of facilitating village elders consistently featured strongly, with calls for them to be granted recognition.
“Before we had even visited ten counties, Kenyans, chiefs, wananchi, and village elders were unanimous that village elders should be formally recognised and supported with something to help them carry out their responsibilities,” he remarked.
Murkomen noted that President Ruto immediately directed the Ministry to develop a policy framework to formalise the position of village elders, even before the nationwide consultations were completed.
The Interior CS elaborated that the new framework formally integrates village elders into the national administrative structure, defining their eligibility requirements, responsibilities, and operational guidelines.
“We now have a legal framework that formally recognises village elders. It clearly defines their roles, eligibility criteria, and how they will carry out their duties. Our goal is to enable them to serve communities more effectively at the grassroots,” he affirmed.
Under the policy, the Interior CS says village elders will support the Government in various capacities, including maintaining national security, resolving land disputes, promoting climate action through tree planting, enhancing public health awareness, supporting agricultural programmes, and assisting with community data collection.
Murkomen described village elders as indispensable grassroots leaders whose profound knowledge of their communities makes them critical partners in governance and security.
“Village elders possess remarkable local intelligence. There is very little they do not know about their communities,” he said, recalling his personal experience working alongside a village elder during a national census exercise.
He added that formal recognition would also integrate village elders into local governance by creating an official administrative link between the national government and every village across the country.
“There will now be structured support for village elders and formal integration into local governance, creating a recognised link from the national government all the way to the village,” he confirmed.
Murkomen announced that the Government has completed the registration and verification of villages nationwide, identifying approximately 106,000 villages served through 9,700 sub-locations, each to be represented by a village elder.
He further stated that the Ministry would begin nationwide digital literacy and leadership training for village elders to equip them for their expanded responsibilities.
The Cabinet Secretary urged the elders to leverage their influence to promote national unity, reject ethnic division, and work closely with security agencies to prevent young people from being recruited into criminal gangs and politically instigated violence.
“I request our elders to become the cornerstone of the unity of our Republic and reject leaders preaching division and tribalism. Let us also work together to ensure our youth are not drawn into hooliganism or political violence,” he appealed.
Murkomen said the reforms demonstrate the Government’s commitment to President Ruto’s bottom-up agenda by empowering the country’s lowest administrative unit and bringing public services closer to citizens.
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