An arrangement in which senior police officers demand money from their juniors was exposed on Wednesday during the ongoing vetting by the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) in Mombasa.
The revelations came up after the vetting panel led by NPSC Chairman Johnstone Kavuludi inquired why junior traffic officers were sending huge amounts of money via M-Pesa to their bosses.
Officer Julius Okere revealed that they had to wire money to both regional bosses and those at the headquarters in Nairobi but did not disclose reasons.
“I cannot categorically say why we were requested to remit some particular amounts to the seniors. But once you are told that the senior wanted this amount of money, you just follow the order and send the money,’’ Okere was quoted by the Nation.
He further added that sometimes they had to send their own money to their seniors.
During the grilling, Commissioner Mohamed Murshid said that he believed the money sent to the bosses was for "protection or favours of some kind".
Mr Kavuludi warned officers facing vetting against tampering with their M-Pesa statements as noted when other security officers appeared before the board earlier in the week.
The exercise which resumed on Tuesday targets 238 traffic officers in Mombasa before the commissioners move to Nyanza and Western regions.
