Kenya

Corruption in Our Midst

Today, while driving up Wayaki Way to work, I saw a matatu driver reach out his window and wedge a folded up 50 shilling note under his door handle; he was anticipating being stopped at the semi-regular police traffic stop near Mountain View (about 10 kilometers outside of Nairobi).

As I imagine it’s quite hard to picture, I took a few minutes to recreate the scenario in the Sarit Center parking lot…

Alan with a 50 shilling note
Alan with a 50 shilling note

50 Kenyan Shillings is only about 75 US cents, but if you imagine that the cops stop hundreds of people in a day… wow. And that’s only at that ONE check point, out of hundreds of other ones operating on any given day in Kenya.

4 Comments to “Corruption in Our Midst”

  1. Charity

    True, and very painful.every time I see a matatu driver do that, I stare at him and the cop, hoping that they’ll possibly feel embarassed and maybe stop, but wapi!
    I shudder at the thought that the newly discovered oil in Turkana may only worsen the corruption situation with the filthy rich just getting richer, while the poor mwananchi will continue to wallow in poverty. :-( Already, there’s proof of some sort of ‘insider-trading’ concerning the sale of the oil blocks.

  2. kanty

    no wonder innocent kenyan’s die every day due to unroad worthy matatus coz after giving out the fifty bob the cop wont proceed to check out the state of the matatus which is a dangerous state of affairs to the passengers especially to those in the rural areas did u see the people in kisii being packed into the boot or trunk of a probox ?? when will all this insanity end….

  3. Cassandra

    It takes some skill to secure a bribe note under the door handle of a moving vehicle! Practice makes perfect…

  4. Mike

    hey next time you come back, can you bring a few bills with you? I’ve started collecting random bills from around the world. What ever one you think is the best, don’t care about the denomination.

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