At least 14 senior officers from the Civil Registration Bureau (CRB) were on Friday arrested for allegedly soliciting bribes from the general public before rendering services.
In a press statement issued on Friday afternoon, Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai stated that NPS acted following persistent complaints from the members of the public on corruption and delay of services at ACK Bishop House offices in Upper Hill.
Among those sought were CRB regional coordinator Paul Kagiri, principal records officer Charles Akwoni, principal civil registration officer Charity Mwadime and her assistant, Jane Maina.
Others are Patrick Silla and Peter Nganga, both civil registration officers; Joyce Keitany, an assistant and assistant office administrator, Maxmilla Ouma.
Another statement released by the Ministry of Interior stated that the officials deliberately subverted services to genuine citizens so as to create avenues for corruption and issuance of birth and death certificates to illegal immigrants.
Officials probing the bribery claims raised by citizens, according to CS Fred Matiang’i, found out that problems with the ICT system had been deliberately created to slow down or jam processes hence creating an artificial backlog.
Read: Two Interdicted At ACK Bishop House After Kahawa Tungu Exposé On Corruption
This meant that those who wanted to be cleared quickly had to part with a certain amount of money as a bribe.
“Those who don’t, remain a frustrated lot, suffering the consequences of endless excuses and months of waiting for their documents, ” the statement signed by Matiang’i and ICT CS Joe Mucheru reads in part.
A multi-agency team carrying the operation also raided several hospitals in the city believed to be “part of the cartels aiding and abetting the irregular and illegal issuance of birth certificates”.
The developments come two days after two employees at the registration bureau were interdicted over corruption allegations.
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The two are the deputy chief of bureau only identified as Mwadime and the chief of bureau Kagiri.
Matiang’í stated that the two had been tainting the image of the department, after being greatly mentioned in corruption claims.
“Already, two senior officers at the CRB have been interdicted and investigations into the facilitation of corruption into the issuance of certificates are ongoing,” he said.
Matiang’i and Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho have been inspecting work at ACK Bishop House offices in Upper Hill since last week, sending shivers down corrupt staffers.
“We have been here since last week including the weekend to respond to the cries of Kenyans due to the delay in issuance of birth certificates,” Matiangi said.
The CS promised to pitch camp at the House until all services are streamlined.
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“Corruption has no place in the Ministry of Interior and the Government. It will be dealt with accordingly. If you see any brokers outside these premises, they should be arrested immediately,” he added.
He also promised that there would be a system upgrade in the facility to speed up printing of certificates and infrastructural changes to accommodate members of the public who come to the house to seek services.
“ In response to this, we have contacted the PS in the Ministry of ICT, Jerome Ochieng, and asked him to immediately dispatch a team of experts to oversee the installation of a new system. We need to upgrade the capacity of issuance and upgrade the application process with the aim of modernizing the CRB,” he said.
Last month, this desk wrote an exposé on how staffers at the bureau were frustrating members of the public seeking services by demanding for bribes.
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