In a dramatic crackdown on corruption, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has today swooped on four traffic police officers accused of turning the Nairobi–Nyeri–Embu Highway into a money-minting den of extortion.
Acting on intelligence from furious motorists and long-haul truck drivers, EACC undercover officers staged a daring operation that caught the rogue law enforcers red-handed as they allegedly pocketed bribes from drivers desperate to avoid harassment on the road.
Those nabbed in the sting include Georgina Syokau (service number 85527), Robert Mwenda (service number 84890), and Gladys Cherono (service number 105724), all from the notorious Makutano Traffic Base, as well as Pauline Anyango (service number 96947) of Juja Traffic Base.
The quartet was swiftly whisked to the EACC Integrity Centre in Nairobi, where they spent the afternoon being grilled by investigators before being booked to record formal statements. Sources close to the probe say the officers could soon face corruption-related charges in court as investigators piece together evidence of systemic bribery that has plagued one of the country’s busiest highways.
The sting operation follows a flood of public complaints that matatu crews, private motorists, and truck operators were being fleeced daily in an elaborate pay-to-pass scheme, with drivers allegedly forced to part with money to avoid trumped-up charges.
EACC has vowed to intensify the war on graft within the police service, warning that officers who prey on Kenyans will no longer enjoy impunity.
“This is just the beginning. We are determined to restore sanity on our roads and ensure officers entrusted with upholding the law are not the very ones breaking it,” a senior EACC official confirmed.
The arrests have sent shockwaves across police ranks, exposing once again the deep rot in Kenya’s traffic department — a unit long dogged by bribery claims that refuse to die.
