Kenya – Stop Bribing Police Officers – Ruto Warns Kenyans

By Lisbeth Micheni.Kenya

Kenyan President, William Ruto, in a town hall meeting held in Kisumu, warned Kenyans to stop bribing police officers from arresting them.

According to the president, Kenyans have a hand in the current rise of corruption in the country, especially within the police sector.

However, despite admitting that police officers who extract Kenyans or demand bribes should be held accountable for their actions, Ruto said civilians who dish out money to the officers for favors or to avoid arrests should also be blamed for the increased corruption.

The Head of State, in defense of the men and women in uniform, argued that police officers being humans, may sometimes fail to resist the urge to collect bribes, and thus it should not be deemed entirely to be their fault.

“There is serious impunity, and this is something we must deal with as Kenyans. There are people who actively induce policemen with money. I think it is time that we as Kenyans stopped the culture of bribing the police because sometimes policemen cannot resist the offers and advances made to them. We must deal with this corruption thing from all angles,” he said.

He added: “We must make sure we act on police who ask for the money, and Kenyans who give money must also be told they are part of the problem, and I don’t know who is going to tell them. We need to tell ourselves to stop that culture.”

Consequently, President Ruto has said that the government was working to streamline the police sector by digitizing all its services including the Occurrence Book (OB).

According to Ruto, modernizing police facilities would help to monitor their operations in real-time and ensure cases of lost police records are avoided.

He said: “We have decided that we are going to digitize all police stations and even make sure that OB is digital so that from every place we can know what is happening and that reports don’t disappear.

“There is a program and plan to digitize, first of all, we are piloting the Occurrence Book, so that we are able to keep track of what is going on but then there are also the broader police modernization programs that include equipping and also improving the facilities they have.”

Meanwhile, the Interior Principal Secretary, Raymond Omollo, on his part said the government would set up Closed Circuit Television cameras to increase surveillance of police activities.

“There is a proposal that the gentleman has of Closed-Circuit Television, and I think that even in major cities in Nairobi and Mombasa to help policeman the streets and accountability on the police,” he stated