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Nairobi — Owners of bars and liquor outlets in Embakasi area are now lamenting over increased police extortion saying the trend is now threatening to cripple the businesses.
Becky Chebet, a bar owner in Embakasi South constituency, told Capital News on Wednesday that the police had made it a norm to collect monies ranging from Sh50 to Sh200 on a daily basis, whether they have made a sale or not.
Chebet said police drawn from different stations storm their premises daily, just to collect the money.
“It has become difficult to run this business, they come anytime of the day, even weekdays when the bar is half empty or when a sale is barely made, and you have to give them or you find yourself in trouble,” she said.
To make matters worse, Chebet said several officers take turns demanding the collection.
She said if one fails to remit the daily collection, police officers always find a reason to arrest the attendant or confiscate bar items and stock including drinks.
Chebet said that some officers would understand if you tell them to “wait for tomorrow” but there are those who insist of being given “their share”.
“I am a victim, recently they took my KEG pump because I didn’t have the Sh50 bribe,” she said.
She said operators go through all this despite having paid all the necessary licenses to run the business, a situation that has had many outlets left with no option but to close down since the businesses are no longer profitable.
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“It’s even a trigger to them if you show that all your licenses are in order, they will still find something to frustrate you,” she said.
Another liquor trader Grace Linda Atieno painted a similar scenario, and called upon government agencies to rescue their business by taking action against rogue officers.
Their complaints come a month after an Officer Commanding Station in Kitengela, Kajiado County was transferred to a new station after similar complaints were made by liquor and bar owners in Kitengela.
The issue was raised by a female liquor trader Marceline Atieno, who narrated how she had to part with a protection fee of Sh5,000 every month, given to the OCS by the fifth of every month without fail.
Unable to keep up with the police appetite for bribes, Atieno went public on the matter, sharing her tribulations on social media.
She narrated how police on patrol collect between Sh50 to Sh200 from their liquor businesses. Those who make rounds on foot in the evening were said to be “paid” Sh50 each, while those in police patrol cars received Sh200.
