On 24 January 2006, Kusherbayev was appointed as the akim of Mangystau Region. Following the Zhanaozen massacre where 14 oil workers in the city square were killed by police on 16 December 2011, during the Independence Day celebration, Kusherbayev stated "Let the journalists see with their own eyes what the criminals have done. They have already crossed the line, blood has been shed, human casualties have appeared. Now they have to answer to the fullest before the law." Shortly after the tragic event, on 22 December 2011, Kusherbayev was dismissed from his post by President Nursultan Nazarbayev and was succeeded by a Senator and Former Minister of Internal Affairs Bauyrzhan Mukhamedzhanov.