Anthony Liccione once said that“These days, it's better to look poor and be safe, than look rich and be a victim.” This has been particularly true in Nairobi in the past few weeks with numerous reports of muggings and stabbings especially in the central business district (CBD) and its environs. Many unsuspecting people have been victims and ended up sustaining injuries and losing their valuables. As per the usual Kenyan rhetoric, everyone has an opinion on why there is a surge in the crime rate, among the working theories are that criminals always get daring during regime changes to test the waters and see the effectiveness of the newly appointed security officials. Another working theory is that the recent arrests and disbandment of the Special Services Unit (SSU) has policemen on a go slow of sorts and thus criminals are able to have a free reign in the city.
The problem of unemployment and under-employment that is one of the drivers of the youth into crime is also still with us because the promise of employing hustlers en masse is yet to be realised and the restlessness is making some desperate enough to resort into crime. In fact, kuna vijana wengine wamesema kuwa “watu wazoe kupigwa nyongolo tuko wera”. Hii ni reality mbaya sana juu tumekubali wera ni wera lakini hii ya kupiga watu nyongolo, mumekuja sana. Surely, hamna hata huruma mna stab tu watu hata kwa face jameni!
Always be vigilant of your surroundings and do not be afraid to scream and raise alarm when you spot any suspicious activity.
But hii crime ya this time imekuja na design ingine noma sana juu hata madem pia wanapiga watu nyongolo vibaya sana huku nje, so no one is safe from these criminal elements. Kuna msee pale Twitter amesema kuwa kuna dem flani alimpiga nyongolo hadi akatii. As always, Kenyans cope with jokes and the internet has been full of people making light jokes of their mugging experiences ati “walijaribu kunipiga nyongolo, manze huskii nduru iliniokolea”. Mwingine pia akaweka request ati “wakituchapa nyongolo wasifinye throat sana, wengine wetu tunajaribu kuwa waimbaj” and other stories. While the national security leadership and security officers have been trading blame on who is neglecting their duty and this recently had the Nairobi Police Commander speak out against the Interior Cabinet secretary, asking him to conduct proper research before making statements that intimate that the police are not effectively carrying out their duties in order to curb the spate of insecurity in the city.
There is however reprieve for Nairobi residents following a recent decision by the Cabinet to deploy specialized force from the General Service Unit and Rapid Deployment Unit to augment the police and help them deal with the rising insecurity in Nairobi. This is good news, but as always, security starts with you, if you can, please completely avoid CBD for the time being until the police get the crime rate under control. If not, then avoid streets like Tom Mboya, Luthuli and the general down town area. Always be vigilant of your surroundings and do not be afraid to scream and raise alarm when you spot any suspicious activity. We also need to collectively be honest as the public and report any suspicious persons we know to the police because these criminals that are terrorizing people do not come from mars, ni watu tu tunajua hapo mtaani. Stay safe folks!