Eastleigh’s police extortion rings

By Boniface Ongeri and Adow Jubat

On the pavement of a restaurant on Eastleigh Sixth Street, we are chatting just before dusk with three friends, a Kenyan and two Somali refugees.
A white saloon vehicle comes to a screeching halt near the restaurant.

Two mean-looking men get out and pull Gelle Abdinur, one of the Somali men. Then the car speeds away with Abdinur, a refugee.
Interestingly, many of his colleagues who were nearby appeared unperturbed by the turn of events.
"They will release him. Raising alarm will worsen the situation," Ali Mohammed Yussuf, the Kenyan says
as he explains that those are police officers known to them.
True to his word, the vehicle soon stops at a corner and the man comes out. When he returns, he explains that he had to pay Sh3,000 to buy his freedom.

A crowded section of Eastleigh Estate. Police target refugees living here asking for bribes. Photo Evans Habil/Standard

This is the life Somalia refugees living in Nairobi’s Eastleigh Estate face daily as they struggle to eke out a living in a foreign land where they sought refuge. Kenyan Somalis are also not a lucky lot.
"If you identify yourself as a Kenyan by producing an identity card, they hurl blows and kicks at you before warning that citizenship is not a licence to ‘loiter’ at odd hours," Mohammed says.In 2006, the Government asked all unregistered refugees in Kenya to register so that they are issued with alien identity cards. Abdi Hussein heeded to the order.
"Back then we thought it would mean the end to frequent police harassment," he says.

Marked man

Three years down the line, Hussein Abdi feels like a marked man.
"The cards don’t mean anything because they are used by police to mark you for extortion," says Hussein.

At night residents in the estate that is alive almost 24 hours a day can’t differentiate criminals from police officers because they behave in the same way.
Residents say police patrols in the estate are not about maintaining law and order but about extortion.
A large part of Eastleigh falls under Kasarani Police Division while the other part is under Buru Buru Police Division.
However, residents say some officers from other areas and those on leave converge in Eastleigh for the easy bribes.
A police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity confessed that most officers are happy to be assigned patrol beat in Eastleigh especially at night.

"It is the ideal posting for officers with get-rich-quick mentality," he confided.
But why is Eastleigh a soft spot for police? Most Somali refugees are in the country illegally and are only too willing to bribe their way to freedom. The refugees are also impatient with due process and police take advantage of this.

"The Somalis stand out because of their complexion. Refugees from Great Lakes region like Congo and Rwanda are not easy to tell. Their physical attributes match Kenyan Bantus," says Laban Osoro, the coordinator of Urban Refugee Intervention Programme (URIP).

URIP assists refugees on legal rights under the Refugee Act 2006.
"Kenyan Government policy restricting refugees in camps violates refugees right to freedom of association. The
Government does not recognise urban refugees," Osoro says.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman Emmanuel Nyabera says for refugees to live in urban centres, they require a special UNHCR pass.

"Without it they risk arrests and detention. The agency is often in contact with police and intervenes whenever they are arrested," Nyabera says.
According to Kenya Anti Corruption Commission’s 2008 report, lack of UNHCR refugee cards exposes refugees to
harassment and extortion by police officers.

This contributes to corruption in the police force.
"There is insufficient appreciation of the law that protects and gives rights to refugees," Osoro says.
"Some refugees resist bribing and insist on calling a lawyer but majority say it is easier to bribe than going through complex legal procedures," he says.

Police denial

Kasarani OCPD Jasper Ombati says he has not received any complaints of harassment by refugees.

"The claims are only subject to investigation once reported. No one has come to report to me," Ombati says, dismissing claims by the residents that efforts to launch official complaints are rebuffed.
"Anyone who has proper documents should not be harassed. They should be treated as humanely as possible," he adds.
Residents claim even women are targeted. "Officers know that once a woman is arrested, her relatives will ensure she does not spend a night in the cells," says Charles Njanga, a programme officer for Research for Refugee Consortium of Kenya (RCK).

Striking deals

"When a refugee is arrested police allow them to call relatives," Njanga says. "The person must inform the relatives where to wait with a bribe. They are never taken to a police station and when they do they are never booked," reveals Njanga.
Njanga says he has written to the department of Refugees Affairs and Ministry of Internal Security informing them about their findings.

Residents say the current trend is for the police to brand them as a members of the Al Shabaab militant group or the Oromo Liberation Movement (OLF) fighting the Ethiopian government.
Businessmen are now the main targets. Because of the severity of being associated with terrorism, they oblige very fast and pay bribes.

"Officers claiming to be from Anti-Terrorism Police Unit enter homes, lodges and business premises to ‘search for terror suspects," a trader said.
"If you are branded as Al Shabaab you have to part with tens of thousands of shillings," said a businessman who sought anonymity.
Many do not report for fear of endangering themselves. The silence and fear has only perpetuated the vice.

Residents, however, acknowledge that despite the police flaws they are rarely stripped of their valuables and crucial documents like identity cards and passports.
"I was wearing a gold watch. I also had $1,000 in my wallet. Police said they had no time to waste in forex bureaus to change the money. They took Sh9,000 and abandoned me after spending three hours patrolling the street with them," Mohammed Yunis Yarre says.