Policemen to face robbery, bribery, extortion charges
Kasarani Police Station in Nairobi in this picture taken on January 14, 2024.
What you need to know:
- The officers who were arrested on Thursday are accused of extortion and obtaining bribes.
- One officer attached to Parliament Police Station allegedly demanded Sh40,000 from a man.
Eight police officers are in custody on accusation of engaging in crime, including robbery with violence.
The officers, who were arrested on Thursday, are also accused of extortion and obtaining bribes, according to police records.
One of the officers, who is attached to Kayole Police Station, was among the detectives who arrested Ian Njoroge, 19, the university student charged with assaulting a traffic policeman early in the week.
Four of the officers are being investigated for the theft of Sh2.2 million belonging to Rophine International School, Utawala.
Three are Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers attached to Kasarani Police Station while one is based at Ruai Police Station.
The group was found with Sh473,000, believed to be part of the cash stolen from the school. They were arrested alongside two civilians.
A school accountant told detectives that he withdrew the money meant for casual workers’ pay from a bank on Monday.
“Two suspects trailed him from the bank to the school before stealing the money,” a DCI officer said.
The accountant said in his statement he had left some of the money in his vehicle outside the school.
When he returned to the car, he found it had been broken into and the money taken. The theft was reported at Mihang’o Police Station.
With the assistance of security cameras, DCI detectives conducted a search in Utawala on Wednesday.
It later emerged that the four officers had taken the suspects to Kasarani Police Station.
The team that was after the two suspects found the vehicle believed to have been used during the robbery at a parking yard.
Inside were six occupants who included the four officers and the two suspects. Some Sh473,000 was found in the car. The six were immediately arrested.
Police bosses at Kasarani station said the three officers had not been given any assignment in Utawala.
In another incident, an officer attached to Parliament Police Station was arrested by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission detectives for reportedly demanding Sh40,000 from a man.
The policeman is accused of extorting a person who has an outstanding issue at the station.
According to Mr Eric Ndumbi of EACC, the complainant reached out to the commission as he felt he was being frustrated.
“He had been arrested but when the file was forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions, the DPP directed that the complainant be freed and the matter settled out of court,” Mr Ndumbi said.
The police officer is said to have demanded Sh40,000 from the complainant, threatening to ensure that he is taken to court on trumped-up charges.
The officer is out on bond after he was booked at Kilimani Police Station.
The EACC also had two police officers in Nairobi arrested for demanding bribes.
The officers attached to Capitol Hill station had arrested a motorcyclist they accused of operating without a licence.
They reportedly demanded a bribe and the motorcyclist reported the matter at EACC.
A police officer was also implicated in a robbery on the Nairobi-Mombasa highway. A lorry loaded with 522 bags of rice was attacked by a gang of five.
According to police reports, the gang tied the 46-year-old driver and threw him out of the vehicle.
The driver reported the assault at Machinery Police Post after being rescued by a motorbike rider.
Police officers found the lorry abandoned in Manyanga with only 418 bags of rice.
