NIS officer fired over Sh3m bribe in passport scam

A senior National Intelligence Service officer was fired after receiving Sh3.1 million in bribes from Kenyans for passport clearance.

Samson Gekura Tuguro had filed a case at the Employments and Labour Court challenging his dismissal from the service, which he termed unfair.

But Justice Abuodha Nelson found that Gekura had not proven that his dismissal was against the law. “The court notes that the petitioner’s conduct of soliciting and receiving bribes amounted to gross misconduct under section 44(4) of the Employment Act and were grounds for summary dismissal,” he ruled.

He said the NIS was able to prove abnormal deposits in his bank accounts between November 2021 and March 2022. The judge said the service proved that the money was in form of bribes.

Some of the money found in his bank accounts was linked to an individual identified as Said who incidentally had his passport cleared by Gekura.

In his case, he claimed NIS posted him to risky and hardship areas like Wajir, Isiolo and Turkana, miles away from his home in Kuria East, Migori County.

When he sought an explanation from his superiors, he claimed he was told to first report to the new station and allow them to handle the matter. Gekura said he was appointed in July 2016 as an Intelligence Officer I after completing a basic course at the NIS academy for six months.

He said he was first posted to Wajir County as Senior Intelligence Officer in charge of Eldas Sub-County and a member of the Eldas Sub-County Security and Intelligence Committee.

He was promoted in January 2018 to Senior Intelligence Officer II. In May, he was transferred to Isiolo County as the County Analyst as a Senior Intelligence Officer I until February 2022.

Gekura was then posted to Turkana County in the same capacity where he worked until July 24, 2022, when he was notified of the allegations.

On April 25, he said he was served with an interdiction letter and a show-cause letter for gross misconduct. He appeared before a board of inquiry at NIS headquarters on June 15 and June 21. He alleged that he raised some concerns over the conduct of the matter but the board dismissed them telling him his work was to respond to the questions asked.

Isiolo County Intelligence Coordinator Eric Bii and Ahmed Mohammed who were part of the e-Citizen vetting process in the county testified on his behalf.

The two told the board that there was no evidence of the allegations against him. He claimed he was denied the chance to cross-examine Bii and that he was denied a chance to see contents of letters submitted by Bii.

He further alleged that the board chairperson attempted to coerce him to change his plea from not guilty to guilty and ask for forgiveness since there was incriminating evidence that would lead to his dismissal but he refused. 

He was found guilty of all charges on July 24, 2022. He was then fired on August 22.