The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) announced that a man working in the immigration department at the Nyayo House collapsed after he was arrested on allegations of soliciting bribes.
In a statement on Thursday, October 5, DCI said six Department of Immigration Services staff including an intern and nine suspected brokers have been arrested in the ongoing operation, which was launched on Monday, October 2, 2023.
The man, who was among the six suspects, is said to have suffered a heart attack and high blood sugars after his arrest.
According to the DCI, he was rushed to a hospital along Kiambu Road in Nairobi and subsequently released on bail to seek medical attention.
“Confronted by the facts of the allegations laid against him, Mr Muide (the suspect) unfortunately fell ill and was rushed to AAR Hospital along Kiambu Road where he was diagnosed with heart attack and high sugar levels,” the statement read.
DCI Arrests Intern
In addition, the directorate arrested more suspects working at Nyayo House, among them an intern.
DCI explained that the staffers in collaboration with brokers continued to solicit bribes, making the process of citizen registration an unbearable process for Kenyans.
The arrests, according to DCI, followed thorough investigations in a bid to address complaints from members of the public.
“After days of meticulous forensic analysis and profiling of the identified suspects, the detectives raided the Department of Immigration Services on Monday, October 2, where five suspects (four staff and a broker) were whisked away for interrogation,” stated DCI.
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DCI Subsequent Arrests
Moreover, eight brokers were arrested in a subsequent operation at Nyayo House and the Central Business District (CBD).
As per the statement, DCI investigations discovered a trail of mobile money transactions which detailed the flow of money sent as bribes.
“A trail of transactions by the suspects on their mobile money and bank accounts indicating how money was remitted to the immigration officers and their proxies has since been obtained, with the view of presenting water-tight evidence during prosecution,” explained Nyayo.
The arrests came barely six weeks after four other suspects were arrested on August 25 for soliciting bribes in the issuance of the passports.
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Kindiki Nyayo House Promise
In addition, it comes weeks after the Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration Prof Kithure Kindiki directed those investigations be conducted following public outcry.
CS Kindiki made several impromptu visits to Nyayo House to find out why there accumulated a backlog of over 40,000 passport applications and establish measures of clearing the same.
The CS, who gave a 10-day directive for the pile up to be cleared promised to clear corrupt individuals at the Immigration department.
“We will clean up this place from corruption cartels on anyone asking for bribes here. We will arrest and prosecute them. We have already made some arrests and I want to make it clear that this space is not available for corruption,” said Kindiki.
Prof Kindiki had noted that despite some immigration officers working tirelessly to attend to the citizens based on “first come first served” (as should be), the corrupt ones who run a well-organized criminal ring was a let-down, a cartel he swore to sweep away.
