Who’ll police these highway robbers?

Just where should Kenyans report petty corruption and get immediate action?

A few days ago while on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway just a little past the Gilgil toll station, a platoon of mean- looking traffic policemen flagged me down.

Convinced that I had everything right, I stepped on the brakes and directed the car to the road shoulder as directed by a wave of the hand.

“One hundred and eight! Let me see your driving licence,” one of the policemen shouted as he walked towards my car window.

I quickly obliged in the knowledge that it was in order.

But upon opening the relevant page, the policeman quickly lost interest in the document.

I had just renewed it three days earlier and for a period of two years!

“Sh3,000 cash bail for speeding or I call a towing car to take you to the police station,” he said. “Do you have the money?”

I said no but pleaded that I had not been driving at the stated speed.

When he flagged me down, my eye was clearly on the speed gauge.

It was reading 97km/hr.

I had been cruising at a steady speed of 90km/hr but had upped the speed marginally on reaching that downhill section of the road.

“Give me the money or I call the towing car,” the policeman repeated, ignoring my plea.

I firmly replied that I did not have the money with me but was ready to get to an ATM in Gilgil, less than five kilometres away, to get the money I needed to settle the cash bail.

“How much money do you have,” he asked, adjusting his cap to cover his face.