The traffic officers must have licked their lips when they saw the easy pickings approaching — a luxury grey Toyota LandCruiser with United Nations number plates.
In time-honoured fashion, one of the officers stepped into the road on the outskirts of Nairobi, flagged down the vehicle, informed the driver that he had been speeding and confiscated his licence and car keys.
The driver and passenger would be free to go only if they paid bail of R280 and kitu kidogo, ”a little something” of R80.
There was only one problem. The passenger was Colin Bruce, the head of the World Bank in Kenya and an outspoken critic of the corruption that continues to bedevil the country. Bruce denied that his car was travelling over the 80kph speed limit and asked the officers to produce evidence.
When they refused and threatened to tow the vehicle way, Bruce used his cellphone to call Aaron Ringera, the head of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission. A team rushed to the scene and ordered the officers to return the licence and car keys. Several other motorists who had refused to pay ”bail” were also given their keys back.
”It happens to be that policemen in Kenya are cited as the most corrupt and that may be what we were seeing here,” Bruce told reporters during the two-hour stand-off.
Five traffic policemen were arrested, while one was reported to have run away. They later denied demanding bribes, and said that they could not produce any evidence of speeding because videotape in the speed gun could not be rewound.
Under President Mwai Kibaki, Kenya has made significant strides in tackling lower-level corruption. But a failure to prosecute the politicians and businesspeople who are accused of looting vast sums from the state has set a poor example. — Â