The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has arrested three traffic police officers attached to Sondu Police Station for allegedly soliciting and receiving bribes from motorists along the busy Kisumu–Kisii Highway, in a high-profile swoop that underscores what observers are calling the dawn of a new era of police discipline.
Those arrested are Inspector of Police Rachel Wangetha, Corporal Wilberforce Koffi, and Corporal Shadrack Nerima.
According to the EACC, the arrests followed a targeted surveillance operation launched after the Commission received multiple complaints from motorists and members of the public about persistent extortion at the Sondu roadblock—an area that has seen a surge in traffic during the festive season.
With Christmas and New Year festivities clogging roads nationwide, highways have been flooded with all manner of motorists—private vehicles, public service buses, long-haul trucks, and car-hire vehicles ferrying holidaymakers. The congestion, coupled with the urgency of festive travel, has historically created fertile ground for corrupt officers to turn routine roadblocks into illegal cash points.
EACC investigators say the suspects were caught in the act, actively soliciting and demanding bribes from road users—often without conducting any vehicle inspections or enforcing traffic regulations. Upon arrest, the officers were found in possession of cash in various denominations, suspected to be proceeds of corruption.
Booked, Investigated, Accountable
The suspects were first processed at the EACC Central Nyanza Regional Office in Kisumu before being escorted to Kisumu Railways and Ports Police Station, where they were booked pending further investigations.
The Sondu arrests come barely days after another EACC swoop on Christmas Day, when two traffic officers were arrested at a separate roadblock, reinforcing the Commission’s message that no badge offers immunity from the law—even during the festive season.
The latest operation forms part of a broader nationwide crackdown on bribery and corruption along major roads, particularly during peak travel periods when extortion complaints tend to spike. EACC says it is scaling up intelligence gathering and surveillance across essential public services and corruption-prone sectors to restore integrity and accountability.
“The Commission remains fully committed to enforcing anti-corruption laws and protecting motorists from extortion,” EACC said in a statement, urging the public to report any incidents of corruption through its established reporting channels.
As millions prepare to hit the roads ahead of the New Year, the message from the anti-graft agency is unmistakable: the era of festive-season shakedowns by rogue traffic officers is coming to an end.
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