A traffic policeman in Nairobi will be forced to part with Ksh1 million or serve one-year jail term over a bribery deal gone wrong.
This is after the court found the suspect Dan Mburu culpable of taking a bribe worth Ksh5,250 from Public Service Vehicle (PSV) operators.
Chief magistrate Douglas Ogoti of the Anti-corruption court fined Mburu for the offence and for abuse of office as reflected by him receiving the bribes.
[caption caption="A traffic police officer speaking to a driver in Nyeri in a past event"][/caption]
The officer was based at the Makongeni police station under the sub traffic base and obtained the cash at Muthurwa.
Testifying in court, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) indicated that the officer was arrested in a "sting operation" involving undercover officers along Muthurwa Access Road on November 9, 2017.
"He was notorious for demanding and receiving bribes from PSVs as an inducement and to overlook traffic offences," EACC indicated.
EACC further added that the officer has been harassing and demanding for bribes from matatu crew plying city routes until he was nubbed.
Traffic police department has been in the past been highlighted as one of the most corrupt state organs with some bosses unable to explain the source of their massive wealth during vetting.
Corruption has become a thorny issue with mega scandals amounting to billions of shillings being exposed in the recent past.
[caption caption="Policemen manning traffic"][/caption]
However, President Uhuru Kenyatta has expressed his resolve in rooting out the corruption menace and ordered for lifestyle audit for all government officials.