The Nairobi county askaris are a dreaded and unreasonable lot. An illuminating expose titled “Kanjo Kingdom” brought to the fore the brutality meted on hawkers and the millions of shillings they have to part with in form of bribes whenever they are arrested.
The investigative piece by African Uncensored exposed how officers attached to the Nairobi County Inspectorate department will go as far as killing just for bribes. READ FULL STORY
Suspended Officers
Between 2013 and 2016, Akasi Ambasi alias Wasi Wasi is said to have transacted over Ksh18 million through mobile transfer services M-Pesa.
This sum was from proceed of bribes from hawkers and other small-time traders. His counter-part Alfred Marenya, popularly known as Tall Brown, transacted Ksh4.5 million in 2015.
Responding to the damning revelation, former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero suspend the two alongside Angeline Kamani aka Kamatha, Bernard Muli aka Gathauthau and Julius Ochieng.
“I would like to assure Nairobi residents that I will not sit back and allow a few rotten individuals to take us back to the old council habits,” the ex-Governor statement read.
Stabbings
The askaris have in the past been accused of stabbing hawkers who invade the streets to sell their wares. On 29th September 2014, the Standard reported a total of twelve hawkers had been stabbed by county askaris.
Number of county askaris
As of 2014, the number of county security officers was 2,333, or 16 percent of City Hall’s personnel. In 2018, Sonko government was to recruit 300 askaris to replace the aging personnel with fresh blood.
Senior Inspector at City Hall Peter Mbaya also pointed out at the shortage of askaris saying they had only 97 askaris operating in the CBD:
“We are overwhelmed. The number of city askaris working in the CBD is very small” Mbaya told a leading daily.
“The night operation team has only 15 askaris and it is almost impossible for them to handle all the traders within the city centre,” the Senior Inspector said.
The last time City askaris were recruited was in 1988.
What is the Salary of county askari?
City traffic marshals earn between Ksh25,000 and Ksh30,000 monthly.
Entry level salary is between Ksh12,000 to Ksh16,000.
County Constables
REMUNERATION
Salary Scale: Ksh14,610.00 to Ksh16,250
House Allowance: Ksh 4,125.00
Commuter Allowance: Ksh 3,000.00
Job Description
(i) Maintain law, order and regulations as directed
(ii) Observe and maintain the code of regulations
(iii) Responsible to the corporal for performance of assigned duties in accordance with the law
Job Qualifications
(i) Possess a Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE)
(ii) Be aged between 18 and 35 years
(iii) Physically and medically fit;
(iv) Have no criminal record or pending criminal charges
(v) Female Candidates must not be pregnant at the recruitment stage and during the training period
