Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai has warned motorists who bribe traffic police that they will be arrested alongside the officers.
The IG said it takes the two parties to execute a bribery offence and warned that anti-graft officers will now pay more attention to the giver as one way of curbing the vice.
“In any bribery deal there is a giver and a taker. I will not single out my officers; even members of the public are part of the problem since they are the givers of the bribes. My message to them is that anyone found giving out money will be the first to be arrested even as we deal with the officer,” he said.
Mutyambai spoke on Wednesday at Athi River Police Station, when he officially received five houses put up by the Machakos County government for senior officers in the area.
Governor Alfred Mutua presided over the ceremony that was attended by county commissioner Esther Maina and county Assembly Speaker Florence Mwangangi, among others.
The IG decried rampant cases of graft along the country’s roads, saying he has instructed all senior traffic officers not to tolerate any of their officers found engaging in corruption. “I have called all my officers and stressed to them that we must become zero-tolerant to officers who are corrupt on our roads,” he said.
He said the police service was in the process of reducing the number of road blocks on the roads to curb corruption after receiving several petitions from members of the public.
He added that there are plans to introduce instant fines for traffic offenders. Mutua said his government would continue to partner with security agencies to ensure peace and security. – KNA