Corrupt police lie in wait at Imara Daima rail station

People cross the railway line at the Imara Daima station. Police hide at the station and arrest people crossing the line and only release them after they have paid a bribe of Sh1,000. [Photo: David Gichuru, Standard]

A police post at Nairobi’s Imara Diama railway station has turned into a gold mine for corrupt officers deployed to provide security for the commuter service. The officers operate in civilian clothes, giving much attention not to those seeking to board the train, mostly at around 7:15am, but to thousands of passersby who use a path across the rails avoiding the highway.

They strategically position one of them at the station’s entrance while two others observe who crosses the railway line while using their mobile phones.

The officers have turned one of the rooms, which is supposed to serve as their office, into a makeshift cell where they detain those they arrest for crossing while on a call, reading a text message or having their earphones on, presumably listening to music.

The small room has an officer’s desk but has no seats. It appears not to have been cleaned for a very long time as it is dusty and messy. The path is used by a large number of people in a day, most of whom are Imara Daima and low-income settlement area residents as they walk to or from work, or to a place where they can catch an affordable matatu home.

Personal experience

A large number of those using the path unknowingly end up being locked up at the station after they are arrested by the hiding police officers, who hold them up and only release those who can part with at least Sh1,000. On Monday evening after work, I ended up experiencing it after I walked into the hands of the waiting officers. I was holding my phone as if on a call, seeking a taste of the ordeal of the detainees.

“Kuja hapa, mbona unavuka reli ukitumia simu? Hii ndio kazi tunafanya hapa, sitaki kukuweka pingu,” said one of the officers.

He emerged from the Mombasa Road railway underpass next to the station. He silently escorted me to the station’s entrance where he handed me over to a female officer who then took me straight to the room. In the makeshift cell were 13 other men seated on the floor and on noticing that I had a newspaper in my hands, they lamented in desperation.

“They have seen you with a newspaper, be ready for anything. They might not take less than Sh5,000 from you if you have to leave this place now,” said one of the detainees.

No food or toilet

It is 4:40pm, but he had been held since 7:45am for having earphones connected to his phone as he crossed the railway. He had his certificates and documents with him since he had left his house early so that he could catch an interview at one of the companies on Mombasa Road.

As from the time he had been put under arrest, 16 culprits, one of whom had used his phone to receive money from a relative, had been set free.

“His phone did not support mobile money transfer services and his son was to send him the money. He asked madam for her Safaricom number, but she declined and asked him to use one from any of us,” he said.

“Once the money was received on my phone, he went with one of the officers to withdraw the money and never returned. It is the officer that brought my phone. It has the messages,” he added.

Earlier in the day they had been asked to wait until they were 11 before being taken to the police station. But the officers kept coming to the room asking for those who had managed to get money. Their numbers grew to more than 11 but nothing happened. There was no water, food or a chance to go to the toilet.