Is speeding a charge ploy to rush into motorists' pockets?

Driving on the Nakuru-Eldoret highway on Friday morning, I was literally fished out of a long convoy of vehicles by a traffic policeman at Salgaa trading centre, my driving licence impounded and ordered to drive to the nearby police post to face a trumped-up charge of speeding alongside scores of other suspects.

To the consternation of the many people in the crowded wooden enclosure, the officer preparing the charge sheet began by asking for the make, colour and registration number of my vehicle! On what basis had I been arrested in the absence of all these pertinent details? What had their speed-gun captured to warrant the arrest?

Demands for proof fell on deaf ears and I was hustled to a crowded 10x10 feet cell where we baked for three hours, before being driven to Molo law courts, some 10 kilometres away.

Unsurprisingly, only a handful of drivers from the scores that were arrested at Salgaa travelled to Molo, others having gained their freedom along the way. For every one kilometre over the speed limit, the suspects would part with Sh1,000 to avoid the Sh10,000 they risked if they proceeded to court. Added to the hazards of lost time and the risk of being locked away till Monday, many of my hapless colleagues were cowed to submitting to police extortion that must be earning the shameless men and women in uniform millions of shillings daily.

After my session at the court that culminated in a Sh2,000 fine, I was left wondering whether the courts are complicit in this racket, considering the prompt admission of the charge sheets in their totality with no questions asked.