Detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) have arrested Busia Land Registrar Collins Aiela Liyayi for allegedly demanding and receiving a bribe of Ksh10,000.
In a statement on Wednesday, September 24, EACC said the suspect demanded the bribe to release a title deed.
The commission noted that Liyayi had processed the complainant’s title deed but withheld it, demanding a bribe.
The Busia Land Registrar was arrested on Tuesday, September 23 afternoon in an operation mounted by EACC’s Western Regional Office.
“The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), through its Western Regional Office, on Tuesday afternoon arrested Busia Land Registrar Collins Aiela Liyayi, who demanded and received a bribe of Kes 10,000 from the complainant in order to release a title deed he had processed but withheld pending payment of the bribe as ‘release fees’,” EACC stated.
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The commission said it had received multiple complaints from Busia residents that the Land Registrar withheld titles at the Lands Registry and demanded bribes before releasing them to the owners.
Following the arrest, Liyali was escorted to the EACC Western Regional Office in Bungoma, where he was processed and later booked at Bungoma Police Station.
The Busia Land Registrar is set to be arraigned in court to face bribery charges.
Further, EACC said the operation is part of the ongoing crackdown on bribery in public service delivery to improve access to quality services for all citizens.
“The Commission will continue to scale up intelligence gathering and surveillance targeting public institutions that provide essential services and are prone to bribery,” EACC added.
On September 5, EACC officers arrested three Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) employees in connection with bribery.
In a statement on Friday, September 5, EACC said the three suspects, Jeremiah Onchuru Omwenga, Jeremiah Omondi Masiwa, and John Mutuku Mutua, demanded money from clients as inducements to provide electricity-related services.
Omwenga, who is an accountant stationed at Electricity House, had solicited a bribe of Ksh200,000 to alter a disputed electricity bill of Ksh346,000.
Masiwa and Mutua, on the other hand, asked for a bribe of Ksh10,000 from a resident of Woodley Estate in exchange for the irregular reconnection of the electricity supply.
