Officials from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) arrested the OCS for Itabua Police Station in Embu County over allegations of demanding Ksh100,000 bribe from owners of a vehicle that was being held at the police station.

In a statement on Sunday August 4, 2024, EACC noted that the OCS identified as Mary Syombua Mutunga had demanded the bribe to facilitate release of the complainants’ motor vehicle impounded and detained at the station.

“Earlier in the week, EACC arrested the OCS for Itabua Police Station Mary Syombua Mutunga on allegations of demanding Ksh100,000 in consequence of which she would facilitate release of the complainants’ motor vehicle impounded and detained at the station, allegedly without any justifiable cause,” EACC noted in a statement posted on X.

The OCS was apprehended after the complainants, a man and his wife, made a telephone call to EACC for help when the bribe demand persisted with the OCS threatening to put them in cells.

According to the complainants, the OCS had threatened to arrest them if they failed to raise the demanded amount.

“Upon arrest, the OCS was escorted to EACC Central Regional Office in Nyeri where she was processed and later released on cash bail. She was ordered to report back on 7th August 2024 for further investigations,” reported the EACC.

The incident emerged at a time when former Kakamega governor Wycliffe Oparanya had sued the commission over allegations of blocking his appointment as cabinet secretary for Cooperatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry.

This was after the commission wrote to the National Assembly committee on appointments, stating that Oparanya was under investigations over a corruption scandal during his tenure as Kakamega governor.