Traffic department suffers major blow after vetting
Homa Bay Base Commander Inspector Rose Muthoni Ndwiga answers questions during vetting at Tom Mboya Labour College in Kisumu on June 9, 2016. Many traffic police officers were fired after vetting by the National Police Service Commission. FILE PHOTO | TONNY OMONDI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Some of the reasons for the removal of the officers were unexplained financial transactions.
- Officials at police headquarters have said the government had adopted a multi-pronged approach to contain corruption in the Traffic department.
The Traffic department has been hit hard, with many officers being dismissed after vetting by the National Police Service Commission.
Commission chairman Johnson Kavuludi last month said the clean-up had revealed the extent of the rot in the department.
This prompted the recent reorganisation, which, among other things, led to the department being devolved to the counties to facilitate closer supervision by county commanders.
Some 127 traffic officers, out of the 904 vetted, were dismissed, raising 14 per cent the number of officers found unsuitable, up from 4 per cent.
“This is a clear demonstration of how endemic corruption is in the Traffic department,” Mr Kavuludi said.
MONITORING DISMISSED OFFICERS
The commission, however, said sufficient mechanisms had been adopted to monitor officers who have been dismissed to ensure that they remain law-abiding.
Some of the reasons for the removal of the officers were unexplained financial transactions, including sending and receiving money from fellow police officers in the Traffic department, operating matatu businesses or receiving money from transporters and operators of towing services.
Other officers were dismissed because of professional misconduct.
SPECIAL ANTI-GRAFT UNIT
Officials at police headquarters have said the government had adopted a multi-pronged approach to contain corruption in the Traffic department.
Two months ago, police formed a special unit to net corrupt officers.
The unit, based at Vigilance House and headed by an officer of the rank of a senior superintendent of police, is made up of 300 officers from the General Service Unit and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
Also last year, the Judiciary, the National Council on the Administration of Justice and the police issued directions on traffic cases, a move that was also aimed at reducing corruption.
