Loitokitok is more than a place to be but there are some reasons that make Loitokitok a living hell. It all starts with the alleged corrupt immigration lady officer who drivers say is stubborn, arrogant and way out of line when it comes to doing her work which is checking if aliens have proper documents as they travel to our country.
The problem is not how she handles aliens but how she handles the citizens who have not carried their ID’s or in one way or another have their ID’s lost. Earlier the process was easy and swift but since she came, drivers and passengers say that they are facing a lot of difficulty.
It was on a Sunday and I was traveling to Nairobi. On reaching the Loitokitok customs, the lady came and found out that five people didn’t have their ID’s. Without instructing them to step out for further questioning or clarification, she entered the matatu and instructed the driver to drive some 2 or 3 kilometers away from the customs. It was here that she started questioning the people with no ID’s and found a poor couple heading to Emali in which they asked their names and found out that they were even from her tribe. She even talked to them in her language but as if not convinced, she told them to alight the car and go behind the matatu.
I asked the driver what this was all about and he told me that they are used to this. He told me that she is fond of soliciting bribes from poor Kenyans who cannot defend themselves. She went ahead intimidating an old man who was going to church and had left his ID at home. Her questioning skills were unprofessional and way out of line. Seeing that these were just but poor paupers, she authorized the driver to drive back to the customs and told those with no ID’s to alight and their fares refunded.
As we were about to leave with less than five passengers, she again called the driver and after a little chit chat, the passengers went back in. We lost exactly 47 minutes in the process. My question is, why did we have to drive some 2 or 3 kilometers from the customs? Why did she have to instruct those without ID’s to get behind the matatu for another chat? Why did we have to get back to the station?
Rumors have it that she was transferred from Namanga and she was corrupt but all these are allegations. It is with this that we have reported her to the anti corruption commission through their website.
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