Boniface Mwangi: If you slit Kenya’s throat, it’ll bleed corruption

 Everyone walking around, immigration, customs, health officials and police are looking for an opportunity to shake you down.

A friend of mine who is a senior intelligence officer in a neighbouring county, once remarked that Kenya is so irredeemably corrupt that a terrorist could easily drive through our borders, declare he is carrying a bomb, offer a hefty bribe, and be offered safe passage into Kenya for the right price.

Truth is, we are a corrupt nation.  But contrary to common assumptions, scarcity of integrity is not an African problem. If you travel across the continent, you occasionally breeze into a country that is so orderly that you are tempted to cry for your beloved country. 

A case in point is my recent pleasant experience at The New Kotoka International Airport Accra, Ghana.

Kotoka is clean, organised and lit. My best experience at the airport happened at the Departures. Unlike in many airports I have been to, here you are allowed to tag along your entire family up to the check in counter.

It is not criminal to take pictures right inside the terminal with your entourage of relatives who have come to say goodbye. And your family will be with until the immigration point.

Airport officials harassing travellers are a bad rumour. Between the check in desk and our plane there was only one search. What is incredulous is that this airport has direct flights to the United States.

So can Kenya blame the stringent security measures we have put in place at JKIA on our direct flights to the USA? Of course one cannot rule out heightened vigilance due to our proximity to Somalia, and our engagement with al-Shabaab. But I would wager that the reason Kenya has so many security checkpoints is corruption.

When I landed at JKIA, a Kenyan who had misplaced her yellow fever certificate while in a foreign country still waded her away home. No prizes for guessing how she squeezed her way in.

As we queued at immigration, a high-ranking government official was saved the hassle of immigration when his passport was simply stamped without the mandatory finger printing process.

He had in his hands six litres of serious liquor. Customs only allows two litres. The man breezed through security, customs area without being stopped. I confronted the customs officials and they said they cannot do anything.

If they stop him, he will report them to their bosses for harassment. In Kenya, laws don’t apply to the rich and powerful. They squash the poor.

And it is laughable that land belonging to our international airport was corruptly hived off. Yes, some well-connected individuals obtained title deeds of an international airport and used it to get loans. That’s Kenya.

At JKIA, passengers and cars are screened a kilometre away from the airport. Those searching the cars invariably ask for “tea”, irrespective of whether it is a taxi or a private car. Between the gate and the plane, one goes through metal detectors at least four times.

Once you drive in to the drop point off, you are constantly alert and afraid. Armed Police officers, traffic police and officers in plain clothes are busy looking for motorists to arrest for the smallest infraction.

They shout, harass and intimidate. For families waiting to welcome their loved ones home, the meet and greet area has no all-weather shelter, and police officers push and harass people all the time. So we have a planning disaster that is exacerbated by rude, mean officials.

What is criminal is the level of extortion here. Everyone walking around, immigration, customs, health official and police are looking for an opportunity to shake you down. All those annoying and endless checkpoints have been put in place because even Kenya law enforcers don’t trust each other!

The writer is a human rights activist.

Would you like to get published on Standard Media websites? You can now email us breaking news, story ideas, human interest articles or interesting videos on: [email protected]