Police officer worth Sh50m fails to explain source of wealth during vetting

By MOHAMED AHMED and WACHIRA MWANGI

TUESDAY MAY 24 2016

The Bamburi Police Base Commander could not even name five people in the said merry-go-round.

 

Bamburi Traffic Base Commander Abubakar Bakari responds to questions from National Police Service Commission vetting team led by Johnstone Kavuludi about source of his wealth estimated at Sh50 million and huge M-Pesa and bank transactions. PHOTO | WACHIRA MWANGI | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• A chief officer in particular who said he is worth Sh50 million was hard put to explain how he acquired his wealth and huge M-Pesa transactions in his account.

• Chief Inspector Abubakar Bakari’s M-Pesa transactions showed that he was sending huge amounts of money to his seniors in Western Kenya region.

• Mr Bakari, now the Bamburi Police Base Commander, could not convince the panel led that the money he was sending to his bosses was from a merry-go-round.

Traffic police officers had a difficult time on Tuesday explaining huge amounts of money and transactions in their M-Pesa and bank accounts for the last three years, as the National Police Service Commission started vetting them.

A chief inspector in particular, who said he is worth Sh50 million, was hard put to explain how he acquired his wealth and huge M-Pesa transactions in his account.

Chief Inspector Abubakar Bakari’s M-Pesa transactions showed that he was sending huge amounts of money to his seniors in Western Kenya.

Mr Bakari, now the Bamburi Police Base Commander, could not convince the panel led by commission chairperson Johnstone Kavuludi that the money he was sending to his bosses was from a merry-go-round.

The officers were also asked to explain several complaints lodged against them by the public and junior police officers.

Mr Bakari who has been in the force for nine years was asked to explain about other huge amounts of money that was being sent to his M-Pesa account by his juniors. 

He explained, unsuccessfully, that some of his seniors opted to use junior colleagues to send the money to his account.

The officers, he claimed, had chosen him to collect the “merry-go-round’’ money.

“We had been having merry-go rounds with 13 base commanders when I was in Webuye. In that chama I have been the collector and that is why I used to send money and receive as well. All those transactions were made during that merry-go round,” Mr Bakari told the panel sitting at the Kenya School of Government in Mombasa.

But when asked to name the officers he was doing the merry-go round with, Mr Bakari could not even name five.

His M-Pesa transactions showed that the officers sent money from Bungoma, Busia, Kakamega. Webuye, Kabras, Nairobi among other areas. Mr Bakari was stationed at Webuye.

During the hearing, Mr Kavuludi warned him three times against being rude and interrupting the commissioners while they were probing him.

And when asked to explain about a telephone number that according to the NPSC has made about 30 M-Pesa transactions, Mr Bakari said “That is not my number, but we use several telephone numbers and we do not remember all of them.”

He was given 14 days to supply the commission with detailed M-Pesa and bank transactions after he said he was a farmer who supplied ‘‘chicks” to some of top hotels at the Coast.

Within those two weeks, Mr Bakari has also been directed to submit to the commission a mobile phone number that he has been transacting with and which he denied knowledge of and to name members of the said merry-go-round.

Mr Bakari, had a difficult time explaining he had sent money 74 times to one Mr Evans Ndetembe, if it was indeed a chama.

But the policeman defended himself claiming the man was a member of their chama.

Mr Bakari, who comes from Kwale County, said that his wife was a businesswoman and at times, they get tenders from the county government.

He said the two were directors of a company which currently has been awarded a Sh4 million tender by his county government for construction of an early childhood development centre (ECD).

He told Mr Kavuludi that he expected the Sh4 million to be in his account by the end of the week.

“Mr Chair, I cannot do without M-Pesa. We have a business with my wife and sometimes we withdraw up to Sh500, 000,’’ said Mr Bakari.

He added, “You must know the history of a person and not just one aspect. I started my business in 2003 and I supply a number of hotels in Mombasa.’’

Asked by a commissioner, Ms Mary Owuor, why he had four bank accounts with including Standard Chartered, Kenya Commercial Bank, Police Sacco and Post Bank Mr Bakari said he has been supplying chicken to top hotels and that explained the huge transactions in his accounts.

 “I have a farm in Ukunda and I supply chicken to those hotels,” Mr Bakari told the panel.

Nyali Traffic Base Commander, Solomon Njuguna was accused of harassing, intimidating and soliciting money from motorists.

He dismissed the claims saying: “There has never been a specific case against me. Those are just general accusations.”

He also failed to give explanations about M-Pesa transactions to about five people whom he said he did not know.

Mr Kavuludi’s team targets 238 traffic police officers from the coast.