By Peter Ochieng
A Chief was arrested and freed on police bond for allegedly extorting money from refugees in Garissa County.
Abdirahman Shafe Yussuf, the Chief for Bulla Mzuri location faces charges of alleged extortion of money from refugees seeking service from his office.
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) in a statement said the suspect was caught in the act during an operation mounted by EACC Garissa Regional Office, “following an inquiry into numerous complaints from victims.”
“The Chief has reportedly become notorious for bribe demands in an ongoing de-registration of fingerprints from the UNHCR system. Before permitting the process, he allegedly requires every service seeker to pay him Sh3000 as ‘consultation fee’ and a further Sh10,000 in ‘facilitation fee’ despite the service being free of charge.”
“Before the EACC intervention, all service seekers were required to first pay the illegal charges to the Chief’s accomplice operating from Motor Vehicle Registration Number KCY 656W (White Probox) parked outside the vetting hall, as a mandatory condition for one to be processed for the service,” added the anti-graft agency.
The Commission recovered Sh139,000 from the Chief, believed to be part of the day’s collection and a list of 85 double registered applicants indicating the amount paid by each.
The National Government Administration Officer (NGAO) was processed at EACC Garissa Regional Office and freed on police bond pending finalization of the probe.
Elsewhere, a middle-aged barber has been sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for defiling a 12-year old girl. The accused was found guilty of repeatedly defiling the young girl on diverse dates in 2022, in Busia County.
The prosecution called in a total of 6 witnesses whose testimonies proved the perpetrator committed the heinous act on the minor.
The victim in her testimony told the court that the accused, would always defile her whenever she went to his barber shop to shave her hair.
Busia Resident Magistrate Hon. Serem in her judgement said the sentence was informed by the age of the victim in comparison with that of the accused.
The magistrate added that the accused knowingly ignored the age of the victim and also took advantage of his services, to defile the girl and still appeared undeterred.