Six Immigration Staff, 9 Brokers Arrested For Soliciting Bribes To Issue Passports At Nyayo House
15 individuals have been detained by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on suspicion of soliciting bribes from citizens to expedite the issuance of passports at Nyayo House in Nairobi.
This comes following a directive from Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof. Kithure Kindiki that followed public outcry, after which he visited the facility and deemed it “a crime scene” vowing to clean it up.
Detectives from the DCI’s Transnational Organized Crime unit say that among the 15 individuals arrested are 6 Department of Immigration Services employees and 9 suspected brokers.
They added that the search for additional suspects who fled the scene after learning of the operation is ongoing and that they will soon be apprehended.
“In the classic case of grand corruption, members of the public and foreigners seeking passports and work permits respectively have been forced to part with huge sums of money to access services, after the rogue officials took advantage of a temporary system downtime to satisfy their sheer greed for extras,” DCI noted in a statement.
“The crooked officials went ahead to plant brokers around the facility, to entice and collect funds from desperate applicants with emergency cases, as well as persons of means who were able to influence special treatment at the expense of ordinary Kenyans who procedurally tendered their applications.”
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The investigation agency stated that the operation conducted on Monday, following “careful forensic analysis and profiling,” resulted in the initial arrest of four staff members, including an intern, and one broker.
The personnel consisted of Nicodemus Muide, Aloise Gitonga Kiura, Stephen Makokha, and Esther Ogega Nyambura aka Pauline Nyangara Ogega, while Mohammad Khalif Maalim was the broker.
“Confronted by the facts of the allegations laid against him, Mr. Muide, unfortunately, fell ill and was rushed to AAR Hospital along Kiambu Road where he was diagnosed with heart attack and high sugar levels,” DCI stated.
“He was released on bail to continue with treatment as detectives sought custodial orders for the rest of the suspects at Kahawa Law Courts to complete investigations. The suspect has since recuperated.”
The detectives then conducted a second operation in which they arrested Joseph Ireri Karani, a member of the staff, along with eight brokers: Abdullah Abdirahman Ali, Bashir Ore Ibrahim, Damaris Kwamboka Bosire, Charles Mucheru Mwangi, George Karancha Obare, Domiciano Makori Oketch, Isaac Mbulo, and Luke Lang’at.
Investigations have since uncovered evidence of a money trail involving immigration officers and their intermediaries, which the detectives intend to use in the prosecution of the suspects.
The apprehension of the fifteen follows the arrest of four other suspects on August 25, 2023, for soliciting bribes in connection with the issuance of passports.
Six Immigration Staff, 9 Brokers Arrested For Soliciting Bribes To Issue Passports At Nyayo House