A middle-aged man was on Monday arrested along Kiambu Road for allegedly impersonating a traffic police officer and collecting bribes. Confirming the incidence, Kiambu Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD) Mr Stephen Ng’etich said police officers on patrol came across some drivers who complained that they suspected that a certain ‘traffic officer’ was fake.
He said that the officers went to investigate and found the man along Kiambu Road at the bypass. Ngetich said the man has been impersonating a traffic police officers for four months to take bribes from matatu operators.
He said the impostor had police uniforms that made road users believe that he was a traffic police officer. Mr Ng’etich said the man, identified as Benson Wang’ombe, is a resident of Banana area. He explained that the suspect comes as early as 5am and he stops matatus and collects bribes from them. He conducts this business up to 6:30 am according to police investigations. “I call upon road users not to engage in bribery as it is an offence. You should report any police officer trying to take bribes. This suspect could have been arrested a long time ago if only road users had reported the incident,” said the police boss. However, he hailed the residents for helping police arrest the man who had been portraying a bad image of the police. He said the suspect will be arraigned before a court. Mr Obadiah Kimani, who operates a matatu plying the Kiambu-Nairobi route, said the man was taking Sh100 and above from matatus. He said the man had a scarf that he used to fold around his neck and hide part of his face. “We all believed he was a police officer and most of us could even use other routes to avoid him. He used to check the insurance and driving licence just like the ordinary police officers but in as much as you had everything right, you had to give him Sh100,” noted Kimani