Two Mbita court officials arrested for receiving Sh5,000 bribe
They were taken to Mbita police station where they were later released on Ksh 20,000 cash bail as investigations continue
Two judicial officers have been arrested by Sleuths from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) while soliciting bribes to retrieve a case file.
The two, Jared Nyauncho, a senior court assistant, and David Tunya, a customer care officer, all serving at the Mbita Law Courts, were receiving Sh5,000 from the complainant to facilitate the retrieval.
In a letter to the anti-corruption commission, the complainant said he had tried retrieving the case file in vain.
“ EACC received a letter from a complainant on Monday alleging that a senior court assistant based at Mbita Law Courts was demanding for bribe to retrieve a succession case file from the court registry. The complainant had, on numerous occasions, sought to trace the file at the Law Courts in vain,” the anti-graft body revealed in a statement.
EACC conducted an operation that culminated in the arrest of Tunya, who had accepted the Sh5,000 bribe on behalf of Nyauncho, who was already in custody.
The two were taken to Mbita police station where they were later released on Ksh 20,000 cash bail as investigations continue.
“The suspects were escorted to Mbita Police Station for processing and later released on a Sh20,000 cash bail pending the finalization of the investigation. EACC is committed to upscaling timely detection and prevention of bribery at service delivery points to restore public confidence,” EACC explained.
The arrest of the two comes after Chief Justice Martha Koome this week revealed that the Judiciary is working to improve public perception regarding its integrity.
The CJ said the National Intelligence Service officers and EACC sleuths will be incorporated into the court system to ensure zero corruption.
“We are now complementing the complaints approach with an intelligence-based model that involves working closely with the EACC and the National Intelligence Service,” Koome revealed.
“The Judiciary is a corruption-free zone… And in this regard, we have adopted a zero-tolerance policy on corruption, and we are determined to enforce it without fear or favour,” she added.
