The Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja, has spoken out after the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) nabbed three traffic police officers who were taking bribes along Moi Avenue in Nairobi.
Speaking to the media, Kanja revealed that the government was in the last stages of implementing a digital policing system to minimise contact between the police and the public and avoid corruption.
“When we introduce technology in the policing services, we are also going to minimise the interactions between the officers and the people because mostly, most of the issues that bring people to the police can be handled on technology-aided platforms and that way we can be able to reduce the instances of corruption,” Kanja stated.
Addressing the funding of the said system, Kanja said that there were no concerns for the same as several donors had come out in support of it.
Inspector General Douglas Kanja making an address during the flagging of the fourth contingent of NPS officers for the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSSM), in Haiti on February 6, 2025.
Photo
NPS
“There is no cause for alarm in terms of money. Remember many donors are actually putting their money in that common basket so there is no cause for alarm.”
The three traffic police officers were arrested on Thursday, February 13, close to Moi Avenue Primary and Junior School in Nairobi’s central business district (CBD) after collecting around Ksh48,000 in bribes over two hours.
Once they were caught in action, they tried to escape but the EACC officials ultimately caught up with them, ending the exercise.
Kenyans present during the dramatic arrest expressed their excitement over the arrest stating that they would no longer be terrorised to issue bribes to the notorious officers.
”No more bribes for you in the form of Ksh100, Ksh50, Ksh200, and Ksh30 will be no more for you,” one of the bodaboda riders at the scene of the arrest shouted.
”Thieves, that is a very good job done; put them in there and go with them,” another shouted.
The idea of digitising the system has been floated around for months with the main aim being to minimise the contact between the public and the police to encourage more people to report crimes without fear.Â
On January 14, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen stated that digital Occurrence Books (OB) would be available by April this year.
“Beginning April 2025, you will no longer be required to visit a police station to report incidents,” Murkomen said in the statement.
“Central to these efforts is the introduction of a digital system for processing traffic fines and the implementation of a digital occurrence book.”
Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen interacts with Kenyan police officers aboard a Kenya Airways plane during their flag-off to Haiti on January 18, 2025.
Ministry of Interior