The art of bribery: a closeup look at how traffic officers operate on Kenya’s roads
A
first-time driver on Kenyan roads is likely to think that commercial and
passenger service vehicles are highly regulated. Drivers are frequently stopped
by police officers, who are ubiquitous along Kenya’s highways.
Is
this evidence that the police are keeping road users safe?
Not
necessarily. As my research on police corruption at
traffic checkpoints and roadblocks in Kenya shows, other factors are at play.
One of them is securing bribes.
A
number of reports on police corruption in Kenya have been drawn
up. However, first-hand data on corrupt transactions at police checkpoints and
roadblocks are not easy to come by.
I
examined the techniques, rationales and legal gaps that allow for corrupt
practices and policing misconduct on Kenyan roads.
My
research describes how corruption’s logic, practices and coded languages are
developed, how actors are recruited and regulated, the inventing and concealing
of evidence, establishment of players or networks, and the forming of norms and
normalising of corrupt practices.
I
call this process the art of bribery.
My
findings into how government institutions work can provide insights into
implementing policies that address corruption.
Partners
in crime
In
Kenya’s traffic stops, bribery is a means to cope and fit within the elaborate
network in the police hierarchy. It is an outcome of indoctrination by older
timers. There are set rules of the game, some of which are not clearly defined
or are loosely regulated.
Motorists
pay bribes to circumvent traffic regulations, while the police maximise illicit
incomes for personal and institutional gains. Dissidence is rare and may come
at a great cost, especially within the police service. But even if dissent
occurs in the form of whistleblowing, no significant punishment is meted out on
the culprits.
Even
though this state of affairs paints a grim image of the police, motorists are
equal partners in this corruption racket, especially when they fail to comply
with traffic regulations on issues like vehicle loads or speed limits.
Kenya’s
unstructured public transport sector and confusing traffic regulations
exacerbate bribery at checkpoints, creating a corruption complex that draws in
the police and motorists.
My
research was based on an ethnographic study involving police officers and
operatives of passenger service vehicles (called matatus) on selected busy
routes: Nairobi-Nakuru, Nakuru-Kisumu and Kisumu-Migori. A documentary analysis
of secondary data, like Afrobarometer survey findings and
statutory and media reports, complemented the primary data.
When
asked how bribes are distributed or divided among the police, one police
respondent stated: “Hiyo inaenda mbali na hukuliwa na watu wengi,
hata wakubwa.” Translated, this means that collected bribes
move along the hierarchy to high-ranking beneficiaries at police headquarters.
This
suggests that police corruption in Kenya flows within personal and corporate
networks that uniquely bring together lower cadre and major players in the
police service. These networks are loosely latched onto a well-established and
institutionalised culture of corruption.
In
interviews, one officer painted a hopeless picture regarding the application of
oversight mechanisms in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, when he mentioned that they
sometimes ‘eat’ (share bribes) with some Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission officials.
Additionally,
seasoned players indoctrinate newcomers. As in most conventional corruption
situations, unequal power relations and coercion are the primary drivers.
There
are also police officers, mainly base commanders, on retainer payments. Here,
owners of vehicle fleets pay bribes in exchange for ‘protection’ or to maintain
good relations. The bribery network also involves court officials and
magistrates. This turns court corridors into corruption negotiation spaces.
The
rules of the game
The
rules are clear: don’t involve oversight institutions or lawyers when dealing
with the police. Police officers are averse to matatu owners and operatives who
think they’re connected and know the law.
The
same applies to acts of dissent within the service. The police officers I
interviewed mentioned professional witchhunts and victimisation as outcomes of
whistleblowing.
For
motorists, the legal landscape is too time-consuming and costly to effect their
agency against police corruption. Matatu owners reported that their vehicles
were targeted or their drivers frustrated after a court process, resulting in a
difficult, if not impossible, environment to run a business.
Police
recruits are advised or socialised on ‘how things are done here’. In this way,
institutional structures and culture reinforce corrupt practices.
When
a motorist stopped at a roadblock, a lot could happen. The police officer may
decide to impound the vehicle and confine it to a station. This is a route many
motorists detest because it shifts the grounds of negotiation in favour of the
police.
This
is because, first, the police are in custody of the vehicle. Second, it
involves a bigger fish, such as a base commander, and the issue could end up in
court. Third, one’s offences may change or take a different dimension by the
time the case gets to court.
Considering
the punitive nature of Kenya’s traffic legislation, many motorists make the
choice to bribe at the roadblock.
Essentially,
bribery incomes have become a source of livelihood for many police officers. As
one police respondent in my research stated:
Ukiangalia vile tunaishi (If you consider how we
live), we live in shacks around here. There is no water sometimes and the rooms
are suffocating … to make it worse, the salary is not adequate given the Kenya
of today. What do you expect me to do?
The
way forward
My
research found that corrupt exchanges are regulated by the taken-for-granted
rules of the game. These legitimise police misconduct, curtail detection and
define the scales of bribery.
Likewise,
there are socialisation and rationalisation processes among motorists and
police officers that lead to non-responsiveness in reporting police misconduct.
Furthermore, stricter traffic laws and costly penalties could perpetuate rather
than reduce police corruption.
Tackling
police corruption, therefore, lies in addressing the broader deficits that
hamper the rule of law in Kenya. Corruption is a function of a lack of adequate
legislation, and poor quality of police service personnel and public
leadership.
The
professionalisation of the police should begin by recruiting and attracting
highly qualified and educated individuals. This will change the current narrative that portrays the police
service as a den of academic underperformers only known for dispensing brute force on the citizenry as
in colonial days.
Raising
the academic competency of the service will steer it toward becoming an
intelligent organisation and transform its image. It will also be able to
address current political neglect in the forms of under-remuneration and poor
living conditions for police officers.
Finally,
professionalising the force will create an enabling environment for the ongoing police reforms, which seek to improve
the institution’s effectiveness.
The government must ensure intensive training of the police on the rule of law and citizen rights, conduct public awareness campaigns, and create a less costly and burdensome justice system. This calls for effective collaboration and coordination among state agencies, including oversight agencies and the judiciary.
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