A weekend operation by the police to nab drunk drivers in Nakuru has drawn mixed reactions from the business community and the public.
In a joint statement to the press, the businessmen said that police officers had taken advantage of the operation to demand bribes in order to set free those found to have exceeded the legal alcoholic limits for drivers.
“This is so unfair because most clients who had booked accommodation did not show up for the night after they were caught up in the operation,” said Benson Mwangi, an hotelier.
He further questioned the morality of the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) and police for conducting the operation just next to social places. This, he claimed, inconvenienced revellers who had wanted to shift to other social places in the course of the night.
The victims interviewed took issue with amount of fines and cash bails being charged for the offences.
The amounts are in the range of Sh20,000 to Sh50,000 depending on the alcohol content displayed by the breathalyzer.
The stakeholders called upon the Ministry of Transport to ensure that the exercise is conducted equally throughout the entire country.
“Currently the exercise seems to be concentrated on certain areas only and therefore unjust to the businessmen caught in the midst,” their statement read in part.