Ksh105,000 phone debt: Interesting details emerge about police officer who was begging to resign in viral video
A Samsung mobile phone valued at ksh105,000 is at the centre of the complaint by a former Traffic Constable who was captured on video lamenting against unfair treatment and harassment.
Constable Viviana Williams had late last year bought the phone in Mombasa from a merchant only identified as Hassan.
She however later claimed that the phone was not genuine and demanded a refund of the ksh80,000 which she had paid as the down payment.
Since the matter was civil and what she wanted was a refund, the matter was never brought to the attention of her seniors, nor was the complaint booked in the Occurrence Book (OB).
According to a preliminary investigation report by the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU), after the officer failed to get her money back, she booked a complaint in the OB at the Mombasa Central police station to “make the matter criminal”.
The case was taken over by the then OCS, Chief Inspector Samir Yunis, who is now the Pangani OCS.
The seller also reported to the police that she was being harassed by the officer.
As the investigations proceeded, the officer insisted that she wanted her money back. The OCS however insisted that the matter was civil and that if action were to be taken, the seller could have been charged with obtaining money by false pretences.
The matter was then brought to the attention of the Kisauni Sub County police commander and the dealer later agreed to refund Sh70,000. The dealer however delayed in honouring his promise, prompting the aggrieved officer to report the matter to the Regional Commander.
One of her complaints was that the OCS C.I Yunis was intentionally holding her money, and an inquiry, led by the Urban Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) commander was instituted.
The file with findings and recommendations were then forwarded to the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Kenya Police Service Edward Mbugua for action.
DIG Mbugua then on February 3 directed that the officer be given her money and acknowledge receipt. Mbugua further directed that the officer be transferred from Traffic to Mjambere police station to perform general duties.
However, this did not go down well with the officer, according to the investigators.
“Please be informed that the above-named officer resurfaced today March 22, 2021 at the OCS Central Mombasa to collect ksh70,000 which belongs to her and the same was handed over as instructed by the DIG on February 3,” the OCS wrote in a brief to the headquarters.
To counter DIG's directive, the officer filed a complaint with IAU accusing C.I Samir for engineering her redeployment from traffic duties to general duties.
In the video, the officer accused the IAU where she alleges to have documented cases of sexual harassment but no action had been taken.
However, in her complaint letter dated February 9, she never complained of any sexual harassment. Asked about it, the officer said: “I had planned to lodge a complaint at a later date.”
“The outburst against the unit is because the unit declined to intervene on her transfer since it is not the unit’s mandate,” the IAU said yesterday.
The officer refused to report to her new station claiming the area was crime-prone, and that as a woman she felt unsafe.
“I am not ready to work in Kisauni where there are dreaded criminal gangs of Wakali Kwanza,” she said on phone.
The unit’s Mombasa Regional office took over the investigations but the head said the officer was formally summoned but she declined to appear before the detectives.
On Sunday, the Inspector General Hillary Mutyambai ordered for a further probe and revealed that the officer was subject of an inquiry by the DCI, following a complaint by a registered merchant, that resulted into the departmental action (the transfer).
“The Gender and Children directorate has been directed to independently investigate the matter and give a report within 7 days,” the IG said.
“I ordered investigations towards the allegations. I will personally ensure this is resolved in accordance with the law,” the IG said yesterday during an engagement with Kenyans on Twitter.
The officer on Sunday said her life was in danger after implicating some senior officers, adding that she had written a resignation letter in November last year.
"I wrote to the relevant offices, seeking to resign from the National Police Service due to the kind of sexual molestation l have been undergoing for the past 7 years,” she said.
The officer said she had even been hospitalised at Port Reiz Hospital due to depression. "Currently I am on treatment, and battling depression. My bosses had devised ways of punishing me by assigning me long working hours without an off day," she said.
She added that she was forced to record the video since she had been complaining through the right channels, in vain.
