Police officers demanded bribe to release woman arrested for selling cow cheaply - witness
Ms Dorcas Mugure talks to journalists in Molo, Nakuru County on January 17, 2015 a day she was released after being held at Bahati Police Station for two days. Her brother has told a Nakuru court that two police officers demanded Sh30,000 in order to release her. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Chief Inspector Florence Mbithe and Corporal Anthony Mwiti told Mr Wanyoike they would only release his sister if he gave them Sh30,000.
- The police officers reduced their demand to half the amount when he told them he could not raise the initial amount they wanted.
- The court heard that the officers further reduced the amount by 5,000 which Mr Wanyoike also failed to raise.
- Mr Wanyoike then reported the matter to the EACC.
Two police officers based at Bahati Police Station in Nakuru allegedly arrested a woman in January 2015 accusing her of selling her cow cheaply, a witness has told court.
The officers then demanded to be given Sh30,000 in order to release the woman, the witness, who is her brother, Monday told Nakuru Senior Principal Magistrate Liz Gichiha.
Mr Simon Wanyoike was testifying in the case in which the two officers have been charged with abuse of office by demanding the Sh30,000 bribe.
Mr Wanyoike alleged that the officers demanded the sum from him in order to release his sister, Ms Dorcas Mugure, from the cells.
According to Mr Wanyoike, Mugure contacted him on January 15, 2015 using a phone belonging to a police officer and told him to go see her at the police station where she had been detained.
During the visit, she explained to him how the officers arrested her in middle of the night for selling her own cow cheaply and accused her of not paying tax for the sale of the animal.
Mr Simon told the court that he was shocked by the charges levelled against his sister and requested the officer at the reporting office to show him the officers investigating the case.
REDUCED AMOUNT
The court heard that Mr Wanyoike was introduced to two officers, Chief Inspector Florence Mbithe and Corporal Anthony Mwiti, who told him they would only release his sister if he gave them Sh30,000.
The police officers reduced their demand to half the amount when he told them he could not raise the initial amount they wanted.
The court heard that the officers further reduced the amount by 5,000 which Mr Wanyoike also failed to raise.
Mr Wanyoike then reported the matter to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC).
His testimony was, however, challenged by lawyers for the accused, led by Mr David Mongeri, who accused him of inability to differentiate between a police cash bail and bribe money.
Mr Mongeri further urged the court to drop the charges since the witness could not identify some of the suspects he had said he knew.
