Two police officers arrested for demanding Ksh.100K bribe

Detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) have arrested two Police Constables (PC) stationed at Eastleigh North Police Station for demanding a Ksh.100,000 bribe from a resident businessman.

PC Raphael Nzioka and his counterpart Nancy Kerubu were apprehended on Thursday after reportedly storming a mobile shop in the busy Nairobi neighbourhood and confiscating cellular devices worth Ksh.300,000 without any justifiable cause.  

“Subsequently, the officers demanded a bribe of Ksh.100,000 from the complainant in order to return the confiscated stock of mobile phones prompting the trader to seek help from the Commission,” a source at EACC told Citizen Digital.  

"Upon verification of the allegations, EACC detectives mounted an operation leading to the arrest of the two police officers while receiving the demanded bribe."

The two officers were interrogated at Integrity Centre Police Station before being whisked away to Kilimani Police Station for detainment pending further processing.

Confirming the arrest, EACC Spokesperson Eric Ngumbi noted that the commission has been receiving numerous complaints about instances of extortion and bribery involving police officers.

"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.

"To mitigate this menace and alleviate the pain visited upon citizens by such incidents, EACC expects Police Commanders at all levels to take up the responsibility of ensuring that officers under their command refrain from such despicable acts that are not only criminal but also immoral."