How police, NTSA manipulate gadgets to terrorise drivers

Joshua Murimi always sets his car at 95 kilometres per hour (km/hr) when driving through Thika Road and between Makuyu and Sagana.

But he was recently flagged down for allegedly speeding above the 100km/hr limit on these sections of the highway. When he challenged the police to join him for a ride to confirm he was not speeding, they declined and let him go.

“The traffic officers at JKUAT along Thika Road are notorious. One officer threatened to shoot me for defying his orders. I remember my wife almost fainted,” says Salim Mwadumbo, another victim of irrational traffic enforcers . It is the experience of Murimi, Mwadumbo and thousands of other motorists in the hands of National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) officials and traffic police officers that has put to question the integrity of speed-guns deployed on Kenyan roads.

Under sharp focus is the union of NTSA and police officers in terrorising motorists through selective deployment of the guns, improper handling of complaints and inability to sustain court cases. The collapse of two particular court cases related to speeding imply that some police officers and NTSA officials could be colluding to steal from innocent drivers. The Standard on Sunday has learnt of multiple incidents where motorists were assigned higher speeds against what they were actually driving on. Those who held their ground were let off the hook while those who faltered ended up paying heavily.

Users of high-end vehicles and private motorists are particularly a troubled lot under the NTSA regime. Their cars are targeted for purely extortion purposes as opposed to restoring sanity on the roads.

“Be wary of the speed cops at Thika. I had set my vehicle on cruise control but they flagged me down alleging I was driving at 147km/hr. They demanded Sh20,000 cash bail. I vehemently denied speeding and challenged the Inspector to drive my car through the speed gun with the same settings on. This time round the gun accurately captured the speed and they let me go,” lawyer Peter Wanyama wrote on a social media platform on November 11.

Wanyama believes the officers who operate the speed guns tamper with them and radio the wrong figures to their colleagues. He also believes they target high-end vehicles whose owners would rather pay cash bail and not show up in court.

“Your guess is as good as mine on what happens to the cash,” he wrote.

Wanyama’s post opened flood-gates of similar claims as many more motorists offered their experiences. Mark Ndung’u said he has been flagged down twice along the same route when he had engaged speedtronic system to cap his speed at 100km/hr. On both occasions, police insisted he was speeding. On both occasions he showed them how speedtronic works. On both occasions they let him go.

Glaring gaps

Perhaps the most interesting cases involved lawyer Kipkoech Ng’etich and Mr Sam Akwale Ashene. In Ng’etich’s case, police flagged him down for driving at 114km/hr along Nakuru-Kericho highway and confiscated his licence and car keys. The matter eventually ended up before Kericho Senior Resident Magistrate Catherine Mungania where police failed to turn up for the hearing twice. They also failed to provide the court with the manufacturer’s prospectus of the speed gun which was allegedly used to record the speed or gadget’s maintenance chart.

With these glaring gaps and boxed into a tight corner, the case was withdrawn on November 14. Ng’etich has since moved to the High Court where he is seeking Sh10 million damages.

Upon being arrested for driving at 104km/hr by officers from Kondoo police station near Eldoret, Akwale’s matter rightfully ended up in court where he denied the charge. After four attendances during which police skipped court, the prosecution withdrew the charges. But Akwale would not let the matter end there. He complained to the Independent Police and Oversight Authority (Ipoa) about malicious prosecution but his matter was dismissed in circumstances which appeared defective on the very face of it.

“After a careful consideration of the said complaint, the authority regrets to inform you that your complaint has not been admitted for investigations as it was a matter before court,” a letter signed by a mr DM Watila for director complaints said.

Last weekend, Kenneth Sambu went through an agonising experience in the hands of the traffic and NTSA officials at Burnt Forest for allegedly driving 89km/hr beyond an alleged limit of 80km/hr. Sambu held his ground, refused to surrender his licence and car keys and demanded proper justification for his arrest.

When it came, it was in the form of a video footage which he says was captured outside the 80km/hr jurisdiction and which showed a public transport vehicle ahead of him driving at a faster speed than his 89. The PSV was not stopped.

“I am a regular of the area. It has always been limit of 100km/hr but suddenly it changed to 80km/hr. When I demanded answers they turned hostile,” Sambu said.

After back and forth argument during which NTSA officers started to disagree with the police, the latter who were buying into his arguments, Sambu left the place in a huff:

“They kept threatening me. At some point in time they wanted to leave and I told them I would leave as well. And that is what happened,” he says.

Alex Kipkemboi claims he was frog marched to Naivasha Police Station for doing 157km/hr near Gilgil town. At the courts, he was freed on a Sh40,000 bond. At at the hearing stage, traffic police claimed a computer with the speed gun print out had been stolen.

No evidence was adduced to confirm the alleged theft. In the end, Naivasha Senior Resident Magistrate Elizabeth Kimilu pulled down the case in March.

“The arresting officers asked for a bribe of Sh10,000 and I declined. They advised me to plead guilty when it goes to court rather than go through long trial,’’ said the driver.

Motorists’ rights

Rift Valley Enforcement Traffic officer, Joseph Muthee now says those suing the state over traffic offences are engaging in exercise in futility. He particularly singled out lawyers for imagining that they are law unto themselves. “Do you expect me to give you details of speed guns in our possession? Never. Whoever came up with that request must be joking,’’ said the senior police officer.

The lack of clear guidelines on what should happen once motorists are flagged down for speeding, the options available to them and the rights due unto them has further complicated matters. A Kericho based journalist claims he was referred to Nairobi for proof that he was driving at 113km/hr.

Instant fines gazetted by the Transport ministry for minor traffic offences were suspended by the courts just two weeks after they were promulgated. The rules, gazetted on September 23 and enforced by NTSA, had introduced instant fines ranging from Sh500 to Sh10,000 for offences such as talking on the phone while driving or exceeding speed limits

Among the questions police were unable to answer by the time of going to press was why they are unable to sustain the speed gun cases in court and why they let go those who challenge them. Both NTSA and police was unable to vouch for the integrity of the speed guns and of the officers manning them.