EACC arrests two police officers in city extortion ring

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has arrested two junior police officers for extorting money and goods from a businessman operating a mobile phone shop in Nairobi’s Central Business District.

The two, constables Raphael Nzioka and Nancy Kerubo, based at the Eastleigh North Police Station, were apprehended on Thursday evening for extorting Sh100,000 from the shop owner to release stock they had confiscated.

According to EACC, the suspects reportedly visited the complainant’s shop and confiscated stock of mobile phones valued at Sh300,000 without any justifiable cause and went away with it.

Later, the officers demanded a bribe of Sh100,000 to return the confiscated stock, prompting the trader to seek help from EACC.

EACC detectives mounted an operation that led to the arrest of the two police officers while they were receiving the bribe. 

EACC spokesperson Eric Ngumbi said cases of extortion by police officers are on the rise. 

“The emerging trend shows that in most cases, it is no longer bribery to forbear law enforcement action, but pure extortion of money from citizens who are not facing any legitimate accusation of violating the law,” he said.

The suspects were interrogated at the Integrity Centre Police Station and later detained at the Kilimani Police Station.

EACC meanwhile has been training 1,300 senior police officers drawn from various stations across the country on police integrity standards, ethical leadership, anti-corruption legal frameworks, overcoming ethical dilemmas in police work, corruption reporting, and other reform issues at the Kenya Police Training College in Kiganjo.

This is one of the initiatives under implementation in the quest for anti-corruption reforms and culture change in the management of traffic on Kenyan roads. 

In recent weeks, EACC has noted that corruption on the roads has changed to extortion of money from motorists and has arrested multiple police officers caught extorting from motorists across major highways. 

“It is not only hurting the victims but is also ruining Kenya's image globally. In the last five years, the commission has received and processed 4,041 reports relating to the National Police Service (NPS). Of these, 2,481 are on bribery and 90 percent involve traffic police officers,” the commission said in a statement.

EACC revealed to the officers at the training that the graft culture of the Traffic Police Department is the sole reason that the National Police Service has consistently been ranked as the most corrupt government department in all national surveys on corruption undertaken.

The commission, represented by Deputy Director of Ethics Compliance Patrick Owiny, urged police officers not to see EACC as an enemy but as a close ally committed to assisting them in overcoming the challenge of corruption that has soiled their reputation nationally and internationally.

Owiny further called on police commanders to ensure officers under their command refrain from corruption.

“The commanders, too, should not be the cause of such extortion under the pretext of criminal law enforcement,” stated the agency.