Detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission have arrested four police officers over allegations of collecting bribes on the Thika- Garissa highway.
In one of the operations by EACC targeting notorious bribe collection points on major roads, EACC has arrested the four near Matuu town.
According to the EACC, the two were openly extorting money from the public in the guise of enforcing traffic laws.
The arrested officers include Inspector Deborah Ngila (Deputy Base Commander), Senior Sergeant Christine Chebon, Senior Sergeant Rosemary Nyokabi and Constable Robert Kabiru.
The four police officers are all from Matuu Police Station. They had allegedly collected Sh12,000 within 30 minutes.
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The arrest of the four comes after the Head of Public Service Felix Koskei met with police commanders across the county to discuss the corruption menace.
EACC says the meeting seemed to have yielded not much owing to the fact that some of the police bosses have reverted to their old ways of soliciting bribes.
"A spot-check undertaken by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) this week shows that it is still business as usual on the highways. The culture of traffic police demanding and collecting bribes from motorists is still rampant," the DCI said.
The Thika-Garissa Road is estimated to have over road blocks and the bribes are collected on a 24-hour basis.
"The EACC arrests are part of the ongoing crackdown on notorious police officers extorting money from motorists along the Major highways in the country," the commission said.
"The Commission conducted surveillance on several major roads. It noted that despite the ongoing efforts to end graft in the country, what most traffic police officers are doing is no longer bribery but extortion," EACC said.
EACC CEO Twalib Mbarak has called upon the Police Commanders across the country to take urgent and decisive measures to end the extortion spree which he says is bringing great shame and embarrassment to the country.
