It’s business as usual for shady officers

Video footage shot by NTV Uganda has exposed the full extent of police corruption on Kenyan and Ugandan roads.

In some of the incidents filmed in Kenya, police officers manning roadblocks can be seen shamelessly taking bribes, especially from truck drivers.

The officers do not even bother to check the mechanical condition of the vehicles or to establish whether their drivers and crews are competent, raising doubts about their intention when stopping motorists.

In a series screened this week, reporters travelled with truck drivers from Kampala to Malaba in Kenya to investigate the extent of bribe-taking, despite insistence from the police that the vice has gone down.

The findings dispute this claim.

One driver who agreed to talk anonymously told NTV Uganda journalists how he budgets for bribes every time he travels along the Northern Corridor.

“You spend Sh5,000 between Malaba and Mombasa on bribes alone. They ask for Sh50 and Sh100 (notes). They only want money when they stop you; woe unto you if you don’t have any,” the driver said.

In the footage, the police use flimsy excuses like brakes, muddy wheels or worn out tyres to force a bribe from the long-distance transporters.

Drivers who insisted that their vehicles were in good condition were delayed until they gave in.

In one incident filmed in Kenya, a policeman in a reflective jacket walks to a truck door. The driver sarcastically asks “how much?” The policeman responds with “ten thousand”.

The driver laughs and the policeman adds: “Even if you give me one million I don’t mind…” The driver gives him a note and he walks away.

In another, a policeman in a blue shirt walks up and exchanges a few words with the driver before taking his “share.”

The scenario is the same at almost every roadblock — a police officer starts a conversation that ends up with them receiving a Sh50, a Sh100 or even a Sh500 note.

This truck in question was stopped four times during filming but none of the police officers asked for driving licence, insurance or even checked its condition.

CORRUPTION

The only question asked was where the truck was headed and when the driver responded that it was going to Mombasa, the policeman would take his bribe and let it go.

On the Ugandan side, the situation is the same, with the tactic of obtaining “something small” from drivers being a little more clandestine.

In one incident, two officers, one on a motorbike and another squatting, are caught on camera counting their pickings for the day.

This is an indictment of the police, which has since been renamed the Kenya Police Service.

Two weeks ago, Inspector-General of Police David Kimaiyo told a gathering attended by President Kenyatta that his service was determined to reverse the service’s rating on the corruption index in which it has always run away with the most corrupt agency tag.

“You Excellency, every year, the police is ranked the most corrupt institution in the country. We want to make sure that stops. We have put measures to ensure this ends and are promising Kenyans there will be change,” he said.

Recently, a visibly furious Kenyatta told a gathering of police chiefs and county administrators that the people at Harambee House have been the reason key services cannot be delivered to the public despite millions of money being pumped in.