The Officer-in-Charge of Zimmerman Police Post in Kasarani Division is awaiting arraignment after anti-graft detectives arrested her on bribery allegations.
According to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), they arrested the officer, of the rank of Inspector on Thursday, and will face corruption charges.
In a statement, EACC stated that the arrest came after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) concurred with the recommendations of EACC to charge the Police Inspector with two counts of soliciting and receiving a bribe from the complainant to facilitate the release of his pregnant girlfriend.
In addition, EACC noted that they processed the suspect and released her on cash bail. The said officer, however, failed to appear at the Milimani Anti-Corruption Court on Friday, July 28, for plea taking.
“The Court granted an application by the suspect’s Advocate to defer the plea for 2 weeks. Counsel informed the Court that when the suspect left EACC on Thursday evening, she fell ill at night and was subsequently hospitalized hence unable to appear in Court,” read part of a statement from EACC.
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Further, the Court ordered that the matter proceeds on August 9, when the suspect will be charged with the offences.
War on Graft
In its statement, EACC sought to assure the public that it does not discriminate in the war on graft.
“Corruption, whether petty or grand, hurts the public and impedes national prosperity in many ways. It leads to high cost of living, breakdown of the rule of law, poor infrastructure (roads, water, hospitals), high levels of unemployment and delay or denial of justice,” the agency noted.
The arrest of the police officer however sparked mixed reactions from Kenyans, including senior lawyers, who castigated EACC for being obsessed with minor corruption cases.
Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi accused the Bishop David Oginde-led commission of acting maliciously and targeting the police in its fight against graft.
“All Kenyans of goodwill, led by Inspector General of Police Mr. Japhet Koome must fight and stop this malicious and discriminatory scheme that targets the police. Why is EACC obsessed with police officers who earn Ksh30,000 a month?
The vocal lawyer also held that EACC was ignoring grand corruption in ministries, county governments and in the judiciary and diverting its energy to what he described as small fish.
“What is this madness and obsession with the small fish? When will EACC go after the Governors, judges, Cabinet Secretaries of this government and the previous administration?
Omena is easy to fry – Oginde
According to Bishop Oginde, it is easy to convict a thicken thief than a grand thief because of the complexity of the cases.
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Oginde, in a media interview, opined that masterminds of multibillion shilling scandals are smart and do their execution with precision, making it hard to prosecute them.
“The person who has stolen chicken, you don’t need much to prove that. The chicken is lost, we have caught the person who stole it. It is a straightforward open and close case,” Bishop Oginde said.
