[INDENT]On Thursday, June 14, I was stopped by a police officer on the Southern Bypass for doing 114 kph in a 100 kph area. I stated that I had no money on me and, after a long wait, was given a free bond with threats of arrest if I did not show up in court.[/INDENT]
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[INDENT]By 7.45am on Monday, I was at the Milimani Law Courts, where I found a small crowd waiting at the gate. A guard informed us that an approaching police officer would assist us. The officer greeted us with charm and asked us to follow him into the court.[/INDENT]
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[INDENT]Outside room 9, he examined our notices and told us that our fines could be Sh13,000 upwards but he could take Sh10,000 from each of us and the matter would end. We declined his ‘help’. He told us to wait as the judge would come at noon. It was 8am.[/INDENT]
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[INDENT]At 10.30am a magistrate walked in. He was polite and listened keenly. He was not assigned to us and left shortly thereafter.[/INDENT]
[INDENT]The prosecutor studied our traffic offences and commented how high the fines would be. She stood there awkwardly and left. A driver informed me that that was a way of asking for a bribe.[/INDENT]
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[INDENT]Then the doors were opened and many people walked in. The policemen with them were rude. They walked around the benches asking people what their of-fences were and stating how high the fine would be. They were willing to ‘help any willing person’.[/INDENT]
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[INDENT]People gave out their notices to the policeman who ‘worked’ our bench. “Yours will be 30,000,” he informed a matatu driver.[/INDENT]
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[INDENT]He quoted figures that had people squirming in their seats. A matatu driver approached him but was soon back on his seat; maybe the bribe was too high.[/INDENT]
[INDENT]The officers had many ‘seeing’ them. The numbers had reduced by the time the magistrate walked in at 12.45pm. The court clerk began calling out names. Those caught without seatbelts were heavily fined on acceptance or granted a significantly higher bond for saying “no”.[/INDENT]
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[INDENT]“Do you accept or deny the charges?” the magistrate would thunder. “I accept,” they replied timidly. “Any mitigating issue?”[/INDENT]
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[INDENT]No one responded and all were fined the maximum Sh500.[/INDENT]
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[INDENT]I was fined Sh15,000. Matatu drivers who denied the charges were granted bonds of Sh30,000 to Sh50,000. The magistrate exited and we began paying fines.[/INDENT]
[INDENT]A policeman told me I would be on the bus to Lang’ata Women’s Prison as it was leaving at 2pm. I paid the money soon after and was asked to sit down as the receipt was written by the cashiers and the rude officer. I promptly informed them that I would only sit down once I had seen my receipt being written.[/INDENT]
[INDENT]A long wait then ensued filled with police harassment including being asked one’s tribe.[/INDENT]
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[INDENT]I finally left the courtroom at around 5 pm, having gained a world of experience in the way the Judiciary and police work in Kenya. Every blue uniform I saw on my way home seemed like an alien life form waiting to cannibalise the unfortunate Kenyan who crossed their paths.[/INDENT]
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[INDENT]BEATRICE W. MBUGUA, Nairobi[/INDENT]
Sorry kwake. Mimi gari lasima akue na at least 10k cash. Those guys when they say they mean. But it doesn’t mean I’m always on the wrong. Unfortunate happens.
It’s always advisable to obey the traffic rules. Sasa over 100km/h onakimbia wapi yawa na ni hapa bypass.
Hapa ndio mimi najua iko cartels. Made up of Magistrates, police officers, court clerks. Hata kama hakuna evidence, they always find you guilty, unless you fix the case.
The judges and clerks don’t even care about the bribe. But to get a certain number of quota so they can receive a bonus at the end of the year for the number of prosecuted cases. The higher the cases the more clout and experience the judge builds within the hall of justices.
On that matter, I think more Kenyans need to start learning the laws. How do you go to court without a traffic lawyer? Even here in the states, you are squeezed at traffic court. I discovered when you hire a good traffic lawyer you pay little to no fines and you continue with your day…
One Saturday morning last year i decided to test the waters (corruption rot)…drove to Uhuru parks, just behind the dais (where baba was sworn), there is a semi-demolished building. Nikaamua kukojoa,
Kanju askaris walikuwa wamejificha ndani…punde sio punde I was surrounded by atleast 7men.
Told them, since I was already on the wrong let me “finish” of which they agreed.
After which i was frog matched but on my own terms (not to be harassed). Was locked to a Pickup cell.
In there i met several maasai’s and another - funny guy @Tommy Lee Sparta ‘arrested’ for having a mzinga with the intention of consuming in public.
Corruption/bribing is real, I can confess these guys take atleast 20k each a day. Out there its real and SAD!!!
Early this mo month I took a patient to Nairobi Women Hospital, Adams Arcade with renal related issues. She could barely walk but Her appetite was healthy. She could hold a conversation.
They started with the tests. The first where chest and stomach CT Scan, Hiv. They said the patient was highly unstable and needed urgent HDU care. Yet she had been in that condition for over a week and she never had an issue. I called a doctor friend who came the next.
By then the bill was Kshs. 150k. He went through it with the cashier and head surgeon /resident doctor. It came down to 70k.The main challenge being since they had put HDU medical charges you can’t acknowledge or deny if the medicine Where administered. We stopped further treatment and requested referral letter.
Fast forward to the following day. The bill was 200k. My patient had no cut yet they had 50k for surgery. They claimed she was liw on blood so she had received 3 pints of blood yet Her HB was still low. My doctor friend got busy. He couldn’t make it. We really struggled. They even couldn’t avail the results of the tests done on the day she was admitted. I wanted to sue. After seeking the opinion of a lawyer and several doctors. I realized several people have gone down that road and none has been successful.
Rejected what I understood paid the balance hastily and took my Patient to another Hospital.
Same case for my friend who was admitted at Avenue Hospital - in a month the Bill was clicking Kes1.2m. Doctor fees ilikuwa in 4 caterogies. Medication alone Kes 600k!! na bado hajapona.
This is how some people are killed in our hospitals. Una enda na headache unatoka with amputated limbs because the greedy hospital admin want to make more money.
Cartels in the medical sector make our politicians look like amateurs, and it’s a worldwide phenomenon, except maybe in market controlled countries like Cuba. I was reading yesterday about this South Korean family that went on vacation in the US. Their baby fell and hit his head in their hotel room, so they took him to hospital, just to make sure everything was okay. The baby was allegedly treated with “a nap and some formula”. For their 3 hour stay in the hospital, they were hit with a $18000 bill. Of this amount, $15000 was allegedly for “trauma activation”. The baby got no specialised treatment whatsoever, just formula and a nap. Their holiday insurance package only covered $5000, so they have to come up with the rest.
Ata hapa Kenya ukiona Red Cross ambulances rushing to respond to every disaster in the country, they don’t do it because they care about those people, rather it’s a way of receiving free publicity for they services. Notice how phone numbers are always written prominently on the side of the ambulances. When something like Westgate happens, and all major news networks are covering the event, people are more likely to see and save the phone number written on the side of the ambulance. Ile siku utabebwa na hiyo ambulance ata dakika tano ndio utalijua jiji.
Really!!! What is the purpose of the speedometer? This is how we end up with so many tragedies on the roads.
If a person can’t tell that the car they are driving is doing over 100km/hr, they pose a great danger to other drivers on the road and should not be behind the wheel.
Perhaps people should start carrying hidden cameras to capture the scandalous dramas.
Over-speeding is a traffic offense which puts other drivers and pedestrians at risk. The fines appear reasonable, perhaps the money was put in the pocket as soon as they left, there are counterfeit receipts.