Police harassment rampant at border
Daily Nation, Kenya - Nov 15, 2007
My recent trip to the Moyale border town from Marsabit by a lorry exposed me to police misconduct and lack of professionalism.
The trip took me through four police checks that operated like toll stations.
Vehicles and passengers were searched for reasons other than security concerns or roadworthiness.
Of the four check points, Wolda, Turbi, and Marsabit Town KBC transmission station were the worst.
Drivers and their passengers were not allowed to go past the metallic barriers before paying bribes.
I and a local councillor aboard the same lorry had rough time trying to speak for the innocent passengers harassed by the police.
The officers have apparently introduced a new system to identify travellers. Proficiency in Kiswahili language and vaccination marks have apparently become the basis for identification, instead of national identity cards.
At Marsabit KBC station, a woman with a baby strapped to her chest was ordered to alight from the lorry for not being fluent in Kiswahili.
The civic leader and I, had to intervene and save the woman from being taken to an extortion corner to negotiate for her freedom.
It was a shame and embarrassing to note that the professionals from Kiganjo were using smallpox and chickenpox vaccine scars to identify Kenyans, not knowing that the vaccines are part of a global campaign against the highly contagious diseases and are freely administered to individuals, irrespective of their nationality.
At Turbi, a travellers resting centre, the experience was the same. Here, all the passengers were ordered to alight from the vehicle and lined for identification parade.
Those who ‘‘failed’’ were rounded and taken to nearby building, which the passengers later identified as a “slaughter house”.
Many transporters operating on this road conceded that they were making losses due to rough roads and constant breakages coupled with exorbitant police cost. Is the police commissioner aware of this deplorable situation?
JIRMO SAPANZA, Marsabit.