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EXPOSED: Police cartel minting Sh37m through M-Pesa bribes on Thika highway


At least 30 police officers are under investigation after two of them were found to have received bribes amounting to Sh37 million through M-Pesa.

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) Chief Executive Halakhe Waqo said the officers under investigation were based on Thika highway.

The policemen are believed to be part of a racket extorting bribes from motorists on the highway.

According to the EACC boss, one of the two officers was found to have transacted Sh30 million using his M-Pesa account in a period of seven months.

His suspected accomplice had on the other hand transacted a total of Sh7.8 million using his M-Pesa account during the same period.

He said the money was sent to the officers’ M-Pesa accounts by a boda boda rider suspected to be part of the cartel.

SEND BRIBES

The cartel’s victims would send their bribes to the boda boda rider’s M-Pesa account and he would in turn forward the same to the officers who would quickly withdraw it.

“The cases are now being handled by the Thika court as we continue to follow the others who are part of the cartel,” Mr Waqo said in an interview with reporters on the sidelines of the governors’ summit at Diani Reef Hotel in Kwale County.

The revelation came after the governors raised concern over continued harassment by officers from the anti-graft agency. The governors complained that the agency was targeting them in the war against corruption.

Mr Waqo said the commission was overwhelmed by the high number of corruption cases given its lean staff.