By Cyrus Ombati
NAIROBI, KENYA: An immigration officer was on Monday arrested by Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission officers after he received a Sh20, 000.
The officer was arrested after receiving the bribe from a member of the public who had applied for a passport. He is expected in court on Tuesday, officials said.
The department’s communications officer Jecinta Wagereka said the arrest followed an operation after the new director of Immigration issued a directive that all officers adhere to the law while issuing documents.
“This is part of integrity testing recently initiated by the Director of Immigration Service,” she said.
The director, Jane Waikenda, who took office last month has urged the officers to enhance screening of all immigrants to ensure that people who could be a threat to the national security do not gain access to the country.
Her directives came in the wake of revelation that some officers were allowing illegal immigrants in the country.
Last week, an officer based at the Namanga border post, Edward Kabiu Njau, was charged in court for unlawfully assisting Eneke Chimenze to enter the country illegally on July 9. Mr Chimenze had been deported together with the controversial Nigerian drug dealer Anthony Chinedu.
The immigration department, formerly Immigration and Registrar of Persons Ministry, is now under the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government, and Waikenda said that issuance of passports and visas is a security issue.
She has specifically put immigration officers working at the airports and border controls on the spot cautioning that they will be dealt with severely if they allow undesirable immigrants to enter into the country.
The officers are advised to strictly and consistently scrutinise all the primary documents they receive when different clients make different applications for immigration services.
