UPDATE: Coast Regional Police Commander Rashid Yakub, on Tuesday, April 14, announced that the officer captured on video drawing a gun and demanding bribe from boda boda operators has been fired.
He went on to reveal that the officer is set to appear in court later in the day.
The attention to the incident that went viral was raised to the police by Deputy President William Ruto, who stated that he had received the information from Magarini MP Michael Kingi.
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Hilary Mutyambai, on Tuesday, April 14, ordered the arrest of a police officer caught on camera while demanding a bribe at gunpoint
The footage of the police officer drawing his gun on charcoal vendors emerged on Monday night, April 13, sparking an uproar.
Deputy President William Ruto has since weighed in on the disturbing incident, going on to reveal that the government would be swift in effecting justice.
"The IGP has ordered the immediate arrest of this police officer & will shortly appear in court. There is no room for impunity even during this time when all systems are geared towards dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Citizens must keep vigil as they adhere to the directives of the Ministry of Health (MoH).
In the video that was reportedly shot in Magarini (an electoral constituency in Kilifi County), two boda boda operators ferrying charcoal gang up and try to rough up the police officer who swiftly pulls out his gun.
"Nipe pesa! (Give me the money)," he repeatedly demands of the vendors.
The charcoal sellers comply and hand him the bribe and ask him to leave. However, one of the traders irks the rogue officer and keeps taunting him to go ahead and shoot him.
The argument heats up for several minutes before the officer finally drives off in his police cruiser, his bribe in hand.
However, the traders appear to have planned the entire incident, as they are heard asking the one tasked with capturing the entire incident on camera if he got the whole thing the moment the officer drives off.
During the incident, one of the vendors can also be overheard asking the officer to refrain from conversing in the local dialect, which could imply that they had hatched the plan to expose the corrupt police officer.
Watch the dramatic scene at Magarini in Kilifi below:
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