Traffic police officer, civilian nabbed by EACC
By Nyaboga KiageA traffic police officer was on Thursday, January 19, 2023, arrested within the Central Business District (CBD) as he was collecting bribes from Public Service Vehicles (PSV).
The officer, identified as Douglas Mwandihi, and a civilian, identified as John Kuria Wanjiku, were arrested by officers attached to EACC.
According to the EACC, police officers have improvised ways of collecting cash from PSV touts.
“They now use civilians to collect the cash from the matatus but we have now realised the trick,” the EACC said.
By the time they were being nabbed, the two had collected Sh7,050 in denominations of Sh50, Sh100, Sh200, and Sh1000 notes.
After they were taken to the EACC Headquarters, the officials released them on cash bail pending the completion of the investigations.
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EACC began probing the traffic police after receiving several complaints from members of the public who have been affected by the new method of collecting cash.
This comes when the National Police Service has been listed as the most corrupt in the civil service.
Three days ago, the EACC said that most Kenyans prefer taking bribes, making it the most common form of corruption in Kenya.
The report, released on Monday, January 16, 2023, further revealed that out of 5,048 reports on corruption, 1916 were considered relevant to the commission’s mandate, and investigations were launched.
The number put under investigation represented 38 percent of reports received.
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Taking bribes was ranked as position one and had a 33 percent representation, while embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds were at position two and 18 percent.
At position three, unethical conduct was at 13 percent, and position four was the fraudulent acquisition and disposal of public property.
Position five was taken by abuse of office which was at eight percent, while position five, again, was public procurement irregularities at eight percent.
Unexplained wealth (five percent) was at position six while at 3 percent, conflict of interest and others were at position seven.
The current status of investigations clearly shows that 457 cases “were under investigations for corruption, economic crimes, bribery and unethical conduct.”
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