Fishermen in Lake Victoria’s Marenga beach have said no to the rising cases of corruption in the region, where policemen from both Kenya and the neighboring Uganda have been harassing them in demand of bribes.
To register their anger, the fishermen, in a rare occasion, on Monday locked up an officer in their office, after he reportedly demanded a bribe before releasing their impounded boats.
According to Marenga Beach Management Unit member Patrich Okumu, one of the impounded boats had just arrived from Uganda loaded with foodstuff.
The officer demanded a fee from it despite its owner having paid before it left the other side of the lake and impounded it without a reason when the money failed to come.
“It is too much, we cannot withstand bribing police officers daily. In fact he was very harsh on us that we give him money otherwise the boat would not be released,” he told the Standard.
The fishermen later locked the officer inside and left, forcing him to call for reinforcement from Port Victoria Police Station.
This was followed by the arrival of a contingent of officers in full anti-riot gear, after which they broke the gate and took their colleague away.
“A land-cruiser came full of police with teargas canisters to save their colleagues, they broke the gate and took the officer,” he is further quoted.
Fishermen in the region are blaming the police of neglecting their law enforcement job, terrorizing, and exploiting them instead.
#bizarre