Top officials under probe on bribery at weight checks
What you need to know:
- Early last month, EACC detectives escaped death narrowly when police officers manning Mariakani weighbridge shot at them during an anti-corruption operation.
- Nineteen police officers and a station staff found taking bribes were arrested at Mariakani and Mlolongo weighing stations.
The anti-corruption commission is investigating senior government officials linked to massive corruption at weighbridges.
Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) chairman Mumo Matemu said investigations have revealed that the cartels involve both the small and big fish in the police and other government agencies.
He said the recent crackdown and arrest of officers involved in bribery to allow overloaded trucks to go through took the commission over four months of tracing the money trail.
“What is happening at weighbridges is massive corruption and not petty as people may want others to believe.
“We are talking of huge amounts of money in form of bribery with investigations revealing that between Sh300,000 and Sh500,000 changes hands every day at the major weighbridges of Gilgil, Mlolongo and Mariakani,” he said.
FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION
Mr Matemu was speaking at Integrity Centre in Nairobi on Monday after meeting a team from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to review Kenya’s progress in the fight against economic crimes.
Early last month, EACC detectives escaped death narrowly when police officers manning Mariakani weighbridge shot at them during an anti-corruption operation.
The detectives had attempted to arrest four armed police officers manning the weighbridge when two of the officers resisted arrest and fired at them, forcing them to retreat.
Nineteen police officers and a station staff found taking bribes were arrested at Mariakani and Mlolongo weighing stations.
The operation was a culmination of four months of undercover investigations by EACC detectives assisted by private enforcement firm, SGS.
