Nairobi County traffic commander Joseph Chirchir is among the top officers who have recorded statements in relation to complaints by their juniors about bribery and forced contributions.
Junior officers, through a letter to the authorities, alleged that Chirchir was demanding bribes and forcing them to contribute money to honour colleagues who recently retired from the service.
Nation.Africa understands that more officers including base commanders within Nairobi County have also recorded statements in regard to the allegations.
The junior officers claimed that Chirchir had registered a phone number using someone’s identity through which he solicited bribes.
On Thursday, Mr Chirchir told Nation.Africa that the matter was under investigation and he did not have much to comment about an ongoing investigation.
“The phone number they claim that I own is in the public domain, just like the bank account. No one has stopped anyone from finding out the facts about the allegations,” he said.
Mr Chirchir assumed office in August 2024 taking over from Mr Vitalis Otieno who retired. A month later, Mr Otieno’s deputy was also to proceed for retirement.
During a meeting when Mr Otieno was handing over to Mr Chirchir, a sports enthusiast who was deployed from Vigilance House, an agreement was reached that a party be held in honour of the two officers.
An officer privy to details of the meeting who spoke to Nation.Africa in confidence as he is not authorised to address the media said that such parties have always been conducted especially when an officer was retiring.
“This has been the norm from the past, we have held similar parties whenever any of the senior officers is proceeding for retirement,” a traffic officer based in Nairobi said.
In a letter which is in our possession, the junior officers said they were being forced to pay Sh2,000 each which was to be given to the officers who recently retired from the service.
“Traffic police officers within the Nairobi area are now coerced and forced to contribute each Sh2,000 to finance an alleged party for those who have retired from the service. This is in order to enable each and every base commander to meet a target of Sh100,000 which should be contributed immediately,” the letter reads in part.
The junior officers wondered where they would be getting the Sh2,000 from amid claims they were to collect bribes from motorists.
According to the letter, the pressure to raise the money has in the recent past seen traffic officers become so strict, especially to motorists both private and those in Public Service Vehicles (PSV).
It further claimed that the officers usually make such arrests on Friday and during the weekends and this would force the owners of the vehicles to part with money instead of waiting until Monday so that they are arraigned in court.
“This is total impunity and it should be stopped. Follow up on this and you will be shocked how much they are getting with the cartel,” the letter further read.
The officers also claimed that Mr Chirchir had been collecting the money from all the base commanders meant for the party through a lady only identified as Ms Linda who has also recorded statements on the same.
According to the letter, the money which would be collected is meant to hire a ground at a cost of Sh50,000 and Sh1.5 million will be used for outside catering.
Minutes from a meeting that was done on the first day Mr Chirchir entered office clearly indicated that the party was discussed and an agreement reached to have it.
An officer privy to the ongoing matter informed Nation.Africa that at some point raising the Sh100,000 per station became hard and the amount was reduced to Sh50,000.
The money was being sent to Ms Linda’s Safaricom’s phone number and at some point when confusion erupted a decision to send back the money to the base commanders who had already sent their cash was made.
“The amount was to be Sh100,000 per police station but this was later reduced to Sh50,000 but when a certain confusion started erupting, a decision to return the money was made and this was done,” said the officer.
The letter also revealed that Mr Chirchir had opened a different Safaricom phone number not in his name and which he was using in collecting cash from officers.
According to an officer who has been in the traffic department within the city for five years now, currently, there are serious infights among officers in the unit.
The officer explained that a number of traffic officers have been making money by allowing areas not designated to be bus terminuses to operate as so.
“These terminuses were part of the reason traffic was being experienced within the CBD, especially during rush hours, Mr Chirchir issued an order that stopped such and it angered some of the officers who were benefiting from the same,” said the officer.
It is worth noting that a recent report by a task force led by retired Chief Justice David Maraga revealed that bribes paid by motorists are shared high up the chain of command.
The report which was presented to President William Ruto in November 2023, Maraga clearly said that the bribes collected by junior officers were being passed to their seniors.
“The corruption allegations against the Traffic Police Unit are deeply rooted to the extent that high-ranking officers in the unit obtain a ‘cut’ from the bribes collected,” the report states.
The Maraga report revealed that the corruption in the Traffic Department cuts across the rank and file in the unit.
From the junior police officers, who mount roadblocks on the roads, to the senior police chiefs sitting in the corner offices, they (police) all benefit from the hundreds of thousands of bribes collected by the rogue traffic cops.
The report said senior police officers sanction the collection of bribes. As a result, the public had lost confidence in the police traffic department, hence the need for reforms.
Maraga pointed an accusing finger at top commanders in the police for failing to take action on officers who have been implicated in corruption.
Failure by police chiefs to prosecute corrupt officers has given credence to claims that some of the police bosses were involved in the corruption.
“It is also significant that despite the reported cases of corruption in this unit, not a single officer has been dismissed from the Service for engaging in bribery on the roads. This very fact points to leadership failure or possible complicity of the NPS leadership in this vice," the report states.
Mr Maraga recommended that the Deputy Inspector General in charge of Kenya Police should disband the current traffic department and create a new traffic unit.
“All officers under the current Traffic Police Unit, and those who have previously served under the Unit should not be redeployed to the new Traffic Control Unit or any other traffic management duties or functions,” the report recommends.
The recommendation, the report states, is aimed at injecting fresh blood and confidence in the department that has for years been perceived to be the most corrupt unit of the police service.
DIG Eliud Lagat, whom the Maraga report places the responsibility of cleaning up the rot in the traffic department, told Nation.Africa he has already started reconstituting the traffic department.
