Benson Akasi Ambani is the man behind Nairobi City County’s Sh1 billion extortion ring.
And while this is his real name, to hawkers, he is better known by his ominous alias ‘Wasiwasi’ — Kiswahili for worries.
‘Wasiwasi’ oversees an intricate web of bribery and extortion weaved by Nairobi City Inspectorate officers. The hierarchical network, which is well organised, has for years been plundering the paltry income of hawkers and informal traders with impunity.
With his retinue of foot soldiers, ‘Wasiwasi’ rules ‘Kanjo Kingdom,’ a dominion comprising of a vast territory from Eastleigh, down to Pipeline estate, across town to Kibera, and all the way to Westlands.
Through a bastion of rogue inspectorate officers, he has managed to instil a palpable sense of fear among hawkers. No one refuses to remit the money due to him. It is perilous to defy him.
Over the year and a half that the bribery and extortions were secretly recorded, the name ‘Wasiwasi’ came up again and again. The video footage shows him collecting bribes with efficiency and presumption from subservient hawkers.
Whereas sometimes he collects in person from each hawker, most times he has the hawkers themselves do the collecting. Thereafter, he collects the accumulated amount from one of the hawkers. This hierarchy is established wherever he goes.
“I normally collect the bribes from my fellow cooks twice a week and hand it over to him when he comes. He says the money caters for health and sanitation,” a female cook at Ngara Market told us in confidence. According to her, each City Inspectorate vehicle must collect and remit at least Sh30,000 to City Hall every day.
The other cog in the wheel of unchecked impunity is Julius Ochieng.
He operates at Ngara area and the Central Business District using vehicle registration number CI 161. According to the footage from our whistle blowers, he is ‘Wasiwasi’s’ right hand man. On one occasion, he is seen stopping by an area within the CBD where two of his colleagues often collect bribes. He then waves a robotic hello to hawkers selling their goods outside, as he waits for a specific vendor. Shortly thereafter, the vendor emerges and wastes no time in giving him what he came for.
Julius then leaves, but not before relaying concise instructions from his superior.
He appears to be friendlier to the vendors than most other inspectorate officers. Ironically, some vendors openly display their willingness to be part of this illegal taxation scheme. In a cozy conversation, they discuss with Ochieng the prospect of being moved to a different location to sell their wares.
The remaining two officers, a man and a woman, often go by their respective nicknames – Jackline, alias ‘Kamatha’ and ‘Gathauthau’, a slang name implying his penchant for money. ‘Kamatha’ is associated with city inspectorate vehicle registration number CI 161, and operates in Ngara area and the CBD. On most occasions, she goes from shop to shop collecting bribes of up to Sh500 from shop owners.
On the other hand, ‘Gathauthau’ operates along the same street as ‘Kamatha’, but with a different style. His bribes are often fished out quickly — he comes and goes. On one occasion, he is captured upbraiding hawkers and vendors who have delayed his dues. In another clip, recorded on the week of September 15, 2015, he swoops through his usual route, hardly stopping to talk.
The five city inspectorate officers collect bribes with business-like efficiency. They start off in Parklands, running a gauntlet that takes them to Ngara’s Fig Tree area, into Ngara and down into the CBD. Thereafter, it mostly winds up in four areas: City Hall’s County Council office, at the Fire Station on Tom Mboya Street, at Odeon Cinema hall further down the road, and at the Inspectorate yard near Wakulima Market.
Although this illegal practice has been going on for years, Nairobi City Inspectorate Director Hilary Wambugu scoffs at the idea of its existence. In an interview with Africa Uncensored CEO John-Allan Namu, he candidly absolved his officers from any illegal practice.
“As far as I know, no particular individual has complained about the alleged bribery and extortion. If you feel aggrieved by the actions of our officers, you are supposed to come and let me know,” said Wambugu.
Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero did not deny the existence of bribery and extortion in his administration and appealed to victims of extortion to report directly to him. The governor warned that perpetrators would face the law.
“Besides sacking them, we will arrest and make sure they are jailed,” Kidero stated.
A study by the Independent Medico-Legal Unit in 2014 identified fear of victimisation as one of the major reasons why hawkers hesitate to report their grievances. Twenty one per cent of the respondents saw no need to report as nothing would change. While 8.2 per cent of hawkers opted to settle the matter informally with the officers, 7.2 per cent felt one could not report a “government to government”. Additionally, 4.5 per cent lacked proper business documentation and therefore forfeited their right to report.
In the same year that the study was conducted, City Inspectorate officers headed by ‘Wasiwasi’ allegedly burned bundles of goods confiscated from hawkers. This was an outright violation of the law. From the secret recording, ‘Wasiwasi’ is seen sitting pensively beside the fire blaze as he watches the goods go up in smoke.
After the officers are done, he struts on the street seemingly satisfied with his accomplishment. When he hears cries and taunts from hawkers, he looks in their direction and flashes his right thumb across his neck.
Dennis Mbae is a reporter and researcher with Africa Uncensored.
Twitter : @MbaeDennis
