Police must stop taking bribes on Kenyan roads
Traffic police officers mount a roadblock on Langata Road in Nairobi in mid-April 2021. The EACC has urged commuters who witness police officers taking bribes from public service vehicles to report them to the anti-graft agency.
Bribery • The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) investigating team’s recording on camera of police officers receiving bribes on the Maai Mahiu road just captured a common daily occurrence, says David Kiptum. “Bus and matatu drivers and conductors must part with Sh50 or Sh100 at every checkpoint. It is a really sickening manifestation of corruption.” His contact is [email protected].
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Water woes • A Nairobi resident, who has asked to be referred to simply as a ‘Frustrated customer’, can no longer keep quiet after suffering for more than six years. His grouse is about unreliable water supply. “It’s really frustrating to live in this capital city without water. Many visits to Nairobi Water Company’s offices have yielded nothing.” His account is No 523111 and email [email protected].
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Sloth • A recent visit to the National Registration Bureau in Nairobi left Samuel Gachwe quite frustrated about the sluggish service by the officials. Says he: “It’s terribly frustrating having to go to the bureau’s offices. The application for a national identity card is slow. The department concerned with this should prioritise and ease the registration for the IDs.” His contact is [email protected].
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Taxes • Reading the oppressive history of the colonial administration in Kenya, Henry Ruhiu says, several taxes were imposed on people, causing them to riot. The most obnoxious, he adds, was the hut tax. Henry poses: “Could history now be repeating itself with the imposition of the housing levy by President William Ruto’s year-old Kenya Kwanza Alliance government?” His contact is [email protected].
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Graft • Was interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki really serious about removing police roadblocks, asks Jim Okwako, amused by the reluctance by the officers to comply with the directive. “On the Busia-Kisumu highway, the roadblock near the Sio River Bridge is still there and one or two uniformed officers always stand right opposite Bumala Police Station. Or was the order quietly rescinded?”
Have an enforceable day, won’t you!
