A disgruntled youth has revealed an aborate extortion racket by police officers from Pangani Police Station.
The plan involves arresting youth who are trooping home after a long day’s hustle, trumping up charges on them and asking for bribes in exchange for their release
“…once wamefikishwa police station you will need to buy your freedom by paying Ksh 3000 cash,’ a youth told activist Boniface Mwangi.
More as narrated to Boniface Mwangi below.
“I live in Mlango Kubwa ward, Starehe Constituency. Police officers from Pangani Police Station use every Friday night as a time of extortion, and harassing the youth. They normally wait until around 8:00pm, wanakuja na lorry wakichukua watu Kwa barabara wakiwarusha kwa lorry na vita ya mbwa msikitini. They mostly target Ugandans wale wanaishi Mlango Kubwa a place known as Kampala Ndogo. Once wamefikishwa police station you will need to buy your freedom by paying Ksh 3000 cash. If you’re thrown in the cell, you will be released on Sunday at a discounted price of Ksh 2000. Pangani OCPD, OCS and Deputy OCS know about this extortion but they do nothing to stop it since they allegedly get a share of the bribe money.”- Via DM
Mwangi shared the exposé today.
Abusers rather than protectors
Police are supposed to protect rather than abuse. In Kenya, they are feared for their brutality.
According to the International Justice Mission (IJM), one in 3 Kenyans have experienced abuse of harassment at the hands of police.
IJM has documented over 500 extrajudicial killings by Kenya police officers between 2019 and 2021.
IJM is a global organization’s working in 16 countries to combat among other things, police abuse of power. The organisation undertakes this through 31 program offices.