Paying taxes and separately fueling police vehicles is corruption!

In a country where everything is taxed, whether it is the food we eat, the fuel we use, or the small profits we make from our hustles, the government expects the common mwananchi to meet their obligations without question. Failure to pay taxes is punishable. Failure to file returns attracts penalties. Failure to comply makes one an enemy of the state.

But here is the irony: when it comes to those we entrust with our taxes, excuses suddenly become acceptable. The recent admission by senior government officials that police officers sometimes lack fuel for their vehicles is not just worrying, it is an insult to Kenyans who sacrifice daily to keep this government afloat.

How is it that a government can fail in its most basic responsibility of funding critical institutions like the police service, yet demand every coin from the citizen? If a police officer approaches a citizen asking for money for fuel, and we are told that this is not corruption, then what exactly are we being told? That the government is incapable of providing? That citizens should carry a double burden, paying taxes and still financing some operations separately?

This narrative is dangerous. It creates room for abuse. It opens a wide door for corruption to thrive under the guise of “helping with fuel.” Once police officers know that even their bosses admit to this kind of failure, what will stop them from using it as a convenient excuse every time they want to extort the public? Who will monitor whether the fuel money asked for is genuinely needed, or whether it is just another means to siphon money from wananchi?

The common people have no way of verifying government funding gaps. We do not sit in budget allocation meetings. We do not know whether Treasury released money for fuel or not. So when an officer asks for “chai” to run an operation, we cannot tell if it is a genuine shortfall or just business as usual. Statements like these from government officials don’t just embarrass the country, they normalize corruption.

It should never be the responsibility of ordinary Kenyans to directly fund police operations. We already do that through taxes. What we expect in return is efficient service, security, and accountability. Anything short of that is a betrayal of trust. If the government admits that it cannot finance the basic work of its own officers, then it has failed in its mandate. Period.

The truth is that corruption in the police force has thrived because loopholes are allowed to exist. By making such reckless statements, leaders are creating an excuse that every rogue officer will now cling to. Tomorrow, when an officer flags down a matatu and demands fuel money, he will point to the words of a Cabinet Secretary as justification. Who then will the mwananchi turn to?

It is time for the government to get serious. Fund every public institution adequately. Seal the leaks that drain our taxes. Stop putting the burden of governance back on the shoulders of already overtaxed, overburdened, and struggling citizens. The responsibility of a functioning police service lies squarely with the government, not the mwananchi’s pocket.

We cannot proceed this way as a country, where citizens are squeezed for every shilling while government institutions come to us, hat in hand, asking for more. Let the taxes we pay work. Let the government stop singing and start serving.

We cannot move from "Chai" to "Fuel" it is the very same corruption changing dresses to suit the situation and occasion.

By Sebastian Karani Asava