Two Police Officers Sentenced to Prison for Attempting to Obstruct Arrest in Bribery Case

Two police officers found guilty of accepting a bribe of Ksh 200,000 and disrupting the work of officers from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) at the Kabete Police Station in Nairobi County have been sentenced to prison.

The police officers had detained Mrs. Gong Huan, the wife of investor Pan Xido Yan, at the Kabete police station, aiming to charge her with living in the country contrary to immigration laws.

Chief Magistrate of the Anti-Corruption Court, Mr. Thomas Nzioki, stated that Gong was unlawfully detained at the Kabete police station, with no official record to indicate that she had been held as a suspect.

“This court is angered by the police’s habit of detaining suspects without keeping any records. This is how people disappear and are eventually found murdered, with their bodies dumped. The bodies of these suspects are thrown into forests or rivers, as was the case with the bodies found in the Yala River in Siaya County. The police violate laws regarding the detention of individuals without maintaining any records,” said Mr. Nzioki.

He emphasized that the laws governing the police department are the commands that police officers must follow.

After making these remarks, Mr. Nzioki reached the decision that the presented evidence proved Corporal Julius Onyango Oguma and Constable Charles Macharia Wanjiru guilty.

Mr. Nzioki found Corporal Oguma guilty of receiving a bribe of Ksh 200,000 from Mr. Pan Xido Yan, who had demanded the sum to refrain from charging his wife, Gong Huan, with residing in Kenya without official documentation from the immigration department.

“You, Corporal Oguma, declared yourself above the law and did as it pleased you to detain a suspect and place her under the surveillance of detectives without registering in the Kabete Police Station’s custody register that Gong Huan was in custody,” said Mr. Nzioki.

In addition to Corporal Oguma, Mr. Nzioki also found Constable Charles Macharia Wanjiru guilty of disrupting EACC officers who had come to the Kabete station to arrest Oguma.

Constable Wanjiru pulled out a pistol and fired a shot into the air.

“The sound of gunshots was heard in the parking area of the Kabete Police Station. This court was informed by witnesses,” Mr. Nzioki said.

The court stated that during the commotion, Corporal Oguma escaped with the bribe and concealed it, but he was later apprehended.

Of the Ksh 200,000 received as a bribe, Ksh 100,000 had been marked by the EACC.

The money was identified in court, and the voice of Corporal Oguma was captured by EACC officers.

As they were led away to prison, Mr. Nzioki also acquitted two other police officers, Samuel Yunah Kukhuvillo and Joseph Kigara Gatheca.

The magistrate stated that there was no evidence that they were at the Kabete police station when the crime occurred.

The police officers left the dock, but Gatheca shed tears for a long time.

Corporal Oguma and Constable Wanjiru will be brought back to court on November 29, 2023, for sentencing, with their lawyer, Njenga Kiarie, presenting their mitigation.

Corporal Oguma and Wanjiru were charged with committing the crime on November 28, 2018, at the Kabete Police Station in Nairobi.