30 minutes at the police station

There is always a first time for everything, right? Today was my first time to visit a police station, and to be more specific, a police cell. Let me tell you my 30 minute experience at the police cell.

I boarded the matatu opposite st.Peter’s, if any one of you knows where the place is. The fare from Town to Kiambu was quite fair (no pun intended) at 30 bob.  Sooner than later, we were cruising at neck break speed along Kiambu Road. But our peace and calm was cut short when an officer hailed the vehicle to a stop. As it is normal practice in Kenya, we expected that the officer would be given a little bribe and then we would continue on our journey. Little did we know that this officer was made of different mettle. Instead, the officer wanted to check if all the passengers had  their seatbelts on.  That was when each and everyone of us started to fumble for around their seat searching for the seatbelt. My American friends might find this odd, but it is a very abnormal practice in Kenya for passengers to put their seatbelts on. I mean who checks for seatbelts anyway?

The Typical Kenyan Police

The officer watched us for a moment as we helplessly felt around our seats for the belts. Then the realization hit us hard: THE VEHICLE HAD NO SEATBELTS! Without mincing his words, the stern officer made it clear to us that he was leading the matatu to Kiambu Police Station where we would all be remanded until Monday, when we would be arraigned in court on Monday. Staying at the police cell for 4 days!

Sorry I don’t have much time now, but join me tomorrow to find out what happened at the police station and how I managed to escape.

Stopping Kony: Charity begins at home.

A friend of mine who stays in the USA invited to me to an event on Facebook called Cover the Night.   When I visited the page for the event, I found out that thousands of people had been invited too. What could this popular event be? I wondered to myself. Well, I read the event profile and found out that it was a campaign to popularize a certain Mr. Kony. Apparently, the organizers wanted youth to buy posters of this Kony man and stick them everywhere in their towns tonight so as to popularise the guy.

Who is this Mr. Kony and why does he have to be popular? I kept wondering. That’s when I decided to consult my extremely bright and wise uncle Google.  What uncle told me was shocking. Apparently, Kony is a guy who has been Kidnapping kids and recruiting them to his ghastly Lord’s Resistance Army. Apparently, the LRA has made it a hobby to kill Ugandan people left, right and center.

Why should such a guy be made popular? In response to this, my uncle told me that for a long time, the LRA have been enjoying impunity because few people were aware of what was going on in Uganda. If more people are made aware of the happenings in Uganda, then pressure can be mounted on responsible bodies to help bring the man down so he can be prosecuted.

I felt really ashamed after I read that. Imagine guys in America were fighting hard for the rights of Ugandan children while Kenya remains unruffled and unbothered by the skirmishes in Uganda! The irony of it is that while America is a country miles away from Uganda, Kenya shares a border with it! Isn’t it absurd that I learnt about Kony from my American friend Parker?

I urge you guys to watch the documentary against Kony and join the fight by sharing this on your facebook and twitter accounts. Pass it on please… for the children of Uganda.