The sickening story of how two love birds operating as senior officers at the customs office of Lunga Lunga border Control has left many in awe.
The love birds who now live as married couples are Aquilino Aciita Mwithali the Customs Station Manager at Lunga Lunga Border Post and his slaying wife Flossy Wawira Monica who is the Head of Verification (supervisor) at the same same border post.
The two have successfully managed to turn the border post into a love and merry making playground, a kin to a the theatre of the absurd where love thrives over work ethics. This coupled with the unchecked corruption and the blatant security risks that could put the lives of Kenyans at risk, has been perfected by the two who brag of protection from authorities above them.
Mwithali moved to Lunga Lunga in December 2023. This was after the dangerous floods swept and killed former Customs Mr. Manager Joram Maina.
Despite the absence of scanners, insiders say so many goods (contrabands included) are cleared to pass without being scanned in exchange of millions of shillings.
Back to Mwithali, his dalliance with corruption at the Lunga Lunga border post led him to meet Flossy Monica Wawira who a shrewd operator, a seductive woman with uncontrolled love for dirty money. As the supervisor at the station, she is like the final boss on what comes in. She is the head of verification releasing all goods entering and getting out of Tanzania.
For starters, Flossy is not new in the corridors of graft and dark arts operations. She was arrested in 2023 by a team from the Anti-Terror Unit in Nairobi on allegations that she was helping terror suspects sneak in drones from foreign countries to carry out terror related activities. She was taken to court and in a bizarre twist of events, she was turned into a witness by the Anti-Terror Unit.
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After her court ordeal, she was supposed to face serious disciplinary measures from her employer.However,she managed to maneuver her way back to work at Lunga Lunga where together with Mwithali, they have taken their love affair to irretrievable levels.
According to our source, the two have a become a big obstruction to other staff, as they would often kiss and touch in office so shamelessly. This is despite the fact that they are married and staying together.
But how the government has allowed a reckless couple to run affairs in a serious border post like Lunga Lunga baffles many. Apparently, there is no scanner at the border post which means corruption is inevitably rampant. All corrupt dealings are done through and misdeclaration of goods and services.It is understood that corrupt traders meet with Flossy through proxies in advance. Apart from the money she has to collect on behalf of the big bosses, she makes around Ksh 150,000 per day.
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Their destructive behaviour has been a problem at the border post and often creates alot of unnecessary traffic.
The border post is clearly held hostage by a love triangle as the country loses millions in revenue collection. It would record good turn over in revenue collection before Mwithali took over but today, it is hardly registering 60% of its target. Mwithali’s main activity is intimidating junior workers, police officers attached at Lunga-Lunga boarder, chewing Miraa and having chain of women that do business in Tanzania and Kenya.
The border post has also been accused by traders of many authoritative demands not supported by law.
A fortnight ago, importers in Mombasa accused KRA officials in charge of cargo clearance and profiling unit of applying their own punitive rules while clearing their cargo even without seeking their opinion.
The top management was also accused of using junior inexperienced managers and officers to enforce unconstitutional rules on innocent traders, leading to loss of revenue in billions.
At the same time, a parliamentary oversight committee has been urged to look into the matter and help effect changes at the border post.