Mr Boniface Muthini before the panel on Wednesday. PHOTO | WACHIRA MWANGI
By WACHIRA MWANGI, bwachira@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
- Boniface Muthini’s mobile cash transactions stood at Sh35 million last year, translating to an average of Sh3 million a month or nearly 60 times his monthly salary.
- Mr Muthini’s transactions on his M-Pesa account last year are equivalent to what he would earn working in his current position for 58 years.
A traffic police officer earning less than Sh50,000 a
month transacted nearly Sh100 million on mobile money platform M-Pesa
in four years, the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) revealed
during a vetting session in Mombasa.
Sergeant Boniface Kyalo Muthini’s mobile cash transactions
stood at Sh35 million last year, translating to an average of Sh3
million a month or nearly 60 times his monthly salary.
“That is a lot of money to be handled by yourself
alone. You could be having 10 personal assistants for this kind of work.
Am afraid that is what we observed,” the chairman of the National
Police Service Commission Johnstone Kavuludi told the officer.
Mr Muthini’s transactions on his M-Pesa account
last year are equivalent to what he would earn working in his current
position for 58 years.
The commission is on its third day of vetting
traffic police officers in Mombasa where most have been found with huge
M-Pesa transactions.
The vetting has laid bare an elaborate network
through which senior traffic police officers demand huge amounts of
money from their juniors in the course of their duties.
Most of those found with hefty M-Pesa transactions
explained that they were members of merry-go-rounds with their senior
counterparts to whom they were sending money.
The findings are in line with the persistent
ranking of the traffic police as most corrupt institutions whose members
regularly use dirty tactics such as extorting money from motorists,
especially matatus to enrich themselves.
Chief Inspector Safari Katana was on Monday put to
task over his acquisition of assets worth more than Sh64 million. Chief
Inspector Abubakar Bakari was also put on his defence over his Sh50
million wealth, highlighting the millionaire status of officers serving
in the traffic department.
The Sh35 million that Mr Muthini transacted on his
mobile phone translates to Sh3 million a month — or equivalent to what
CEOs of blue-chip companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange
are paid.
Mr Muthini told the panel that much of his
financial dealings are done via M-Pesa and that the millions of
shillings he has transacted is spread over many years.
“You may have seen some bigger amounts but it is
from a longer period. My M-Pesa statement is from 2012 up to date,” he
said, adding that proceeds of a loan borrowed from the police Sacco in
2013 were also transacted through M-Pesa.
“I have used M-Pesa to transact most of my work
since I work far from home and wouldn’t make it there every now and
then,” Mr Muthini added.
A number of police officers were caught trying to
alter M-Pesa statements, which the Kenya Revenue Authority wants to use
to nab tax cheats.
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