The move, according to city hall sources, will see a reduction in revenue collection as petty cases in the city centre, like littering, spitting in public, hawking without a license, prostitution, and muggings, among others, will now be handled at Milimani. Governor Sakaja had argued that the move would be counterproductive as the city could be thrown into chaos. However, a cross-section of Nairobians has supported the move, saying the city inspectorate department has been using the court to harass and extort money from unsuspecting Kenyans
Governor Johnson Sakaja’s attempts to block a move by the Judiciary to transfer City Court services from City Hall to Millimani have failed. Last week, acting County Attorney Christine Ireri was forced to appear before the County Assembly’s Justice and Legal Committee led by Jared Akama to shed more light on why the court was being moved.
The move is in line with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Council of Governors and the Judiciary in 2016 to facilitate seamless enforcement of county laws. Mr. Ireri told the Committee that the Governor had held talks with the Chief Justice to recognize the unique role the court played in keeping order in the city, but the Judiciary rejected the request to let the City Court continue operating from City Hall. Sources at City Hall told The Weekly Vision that the move by the Judiciary to move the court away from City Hall severely affected law enforcement in the county for three days, resulting in the loss of revenue for the county. Following the court transfer, the city prosecution team is left jobless as the services are now being handled at Milimani.
The move, according to city hall sources, will see a reduction in revenue collection as petty cases in the city centre, like littering, spitting in public, hawking without a license, prostitution, and muggings, among others, will now be handled at Milimani. Governor Sakaja had argued that the move would be counterproductive as the city could be thrown into chaos. However, a cross-section of Nairobians has supported the move, saying the city inspectorate department has been using the court to harass and extort money from unsuspecting Kenyans.
City askaris are known for arresting hawkers and traders on flimsy grounds. Some of those arrested are forced to part with huge amounts of money to buy their freedom without being taken to court. Investigations reveal that officers in the Inspectorate and Planning departments harass innocents; the officers from the county seconded to the court have become overnight millionaires.
Senior county security and compliance officers operate a cartel-like team where, instead of using the court to prosecute suspects, they cut deals in their respective offices where money exchanges hands. Officers in the City Inspectorate Department are notorious for extorting money from members of the public. The rule has always been that all arrests are to be booked at the City Court, but that is not always the case.
Leading the team known to arrest and demand bribes from hawkers within the CBD is a group of officers from the Starehe sub-county who work under the command of their boss at City Hall. The Starehe sub-county commander is known to coordinate askaris within the CBD, collecting protection fees from hawkers, part of which ends up in the office of his boss at City Hall. Sources say just a fraction of those arrested are taken to court.
In Eastleigh and Kamkunji, the sub-county commander is known as his boss’s right-hand man, who allegedly uses his office to extort money from hawkers and businessmen in Eastleigh. Many other notorious sub-county commanders are part of the cartel. Investigations reveal that whenever city askaris arrest hawkers, especially those operating businesses without licenses, hotels and restaurants without food handlers and food handling certificates, and those undertaking the construction of houses without approval from the planning department, deals are cut with money exchanging hands instead of booking the cases at the city court. Statistically speaking, in a day with an average arrest of 100, only ten cases end up at the city court; the rest are released after oiling the hands of the officers, who in turn share the loot with their bosses at City Hall. Officers from the Planning, Compliance, and Enforcement Departments have turned the departments into a money-mining cartel where the bosses are known to cut deals with arrested suspects instead of taking them to court to answer charges.
The liquor department is also known to extort money from businessmen in the bar and restaurant business. The most notorious officer is a gentleman who was transferred from liquor and is now in licensing. He is known to have used his position to arrest bar operators, lock them up at Central Police, and then cut deals.
