Tedious court procedures, high fines and filthy police cells fuel corruption

What you need to know:

  • Our court processes are generally tedious and time wasting, so a lot of people will do anything to avoid them. Very few of us have the courage to get involved in cases which may drag in courts for months or even years.
  • Under the Traffic Act, failure to wear uniform and special badges will leave a tout Sh10,000 poorer, as will failure to produce a driving licence on demand. Who will be ready to sell his land, cows and whatever property, to settle these fines? Do not forget too, the lawyers’ fees.
  • Again the mere thought of a police cell sends chills of fear down the spines of citizens. Kenyan police cells are filthy, smelly and hardly habitable. Some are full of criminals who will bully you and steal from you. You sleep on cold floors where your neighbours include a bucket of faeces.

A common saying has it that we should not expect different results if we are not doing things differently.

Corruption in Kenya, especially concerning the police, is “inbuilt” and embedded in our minds. The situation is so bad that when a police officer waves down a motorist, for whatever reason or even for no apparent reason, the mind starts calculating how much money to part with, even when the officer has not said a word!

If you are arrested during night patrols, for no discernible reason, most of us will not have the guts to seek an explanation, lest we annoy the officer and get locked up overnight. Many people simply get into their pockets and produce whatever money they can get to buy their freedom.

NOXIUS BEHAVIOUR
So what fuels this noxious behaviour?” The answer to this question is the solution to corruption, which is directly related to court processes, fines and the state of police cells.

Our court processes are generally tedious and time wasting, so a lot of people will do anything to avoid them. Very few of us have the courage to get involved in cases which may drag in courts for months or even years.

Then there are the court fines that are unnecessarily high. Trivial cases attract heavy fines and penalties. For instance, touting offences attract fines of Sh30,000.

Under the Traffic Act, failure to wear uniform and special badges will leave a tout Sh10,000 poorer, as will failure to produce a driving licence on demand. Who will be ready to sell his land, cows and whatever property, to settle these fines? Do not forget too, the lawyers’ fees.

Again the mere thought of a police cell sends chills of fear down the spines of citizens. Kenyan police cells are filthy, smelly and hardly habitable. Some are full of criminals who will bully you and steal from you. You sleep on cold floors where your neighbours include a bucket of faeces.

How many can wilfully spend a night in a police cell instead of parting with some money and spending a night within the comfort of their bedrooms? Bear in mind that as you spend time in a police cell, the lengthy court processes are yet to begin, and they are more hectic.

The high court fines do not help to reduce crime, but fuel corruption. If court fines were reasonably low and instant — say an offender is given a notification to pay in a particular office within a stipulated time, or directly receipted by a police officer — cases of corruption would reduce. Most citizens wish to pay to the government instead of to individuals.
JOHN N. KITOLO, Nzeleka, Mlolongo