The Chief for Bulla Mzuri Location in Garissa County, Abdirahman Shafe Yussuf faces graft charges for alleged extortion of money from refugees seeking services from his office.
The suspect was caught in the act during an operation mounted by the EACC Garissa Regional Office following an inquiry into numerous complaints from the victims.
The Chief has reportedly become notorious for bribe demands in an ongoing exercise for the de-registration of fingerprints from the UNHCR system.
Commenting on the matter, the Commission, through its Spokesperson Eric Ngumbi, revealed that preliminary investigations have established that the Chief requires every service seeker to pay him Ksh 3000 as a “consultation fee” and a further Ksh.10,000 in “facilitation fee” as a mandatory condition for the ongoing de-registration of fingerprints 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, for one to be processed for the service.
During the operation, the Commission recovered from the Chief Ksh139,000 believed to be part of the day’s collection and a list of 85 double-registered applicants indicating the amount paid by each.
The suspect was processed at EACC Garissa Regional Office and freed on a police bond pending finalisation of the probe.
“The Commission condemns such despicable actions by public officers who take advantage of vulnerable service seekers to extort money from them in breach of public trust. Service seekers and other persons visiting service delivery points are encouraged to continue exposing public officials demanding bribes in order to provide the very services they are employed to deliver through Toll-Free No. 1551” EACC advised.
