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ONCE IN KIKUYU LAND, MIND YOUR SKIN AND PURSE!!!
From: hehehehe - Wed, Mar 13, 9:39 PM

http://www.eastandard.net/FaceTheFac...4032002001.htm

Thursday, March 14, 2002


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Once in Thika, mind your skin and purse

A new crime wave threatens to render Thika town one of the country’s most insecure urban centres. From heavily armed gangsters to petty thieves, you have them in all shades any day of the week and at any time of the day.

In broad day light, you will be attacked and robbed by armed thugs right at the centre of the town. But the worst spot is the main bus stop and the adjacent area. The thugs are well organised and seem to enjoy their raids as if they are above the law. On any given day, women travellers will be relieved of their belongings as they alight from buses and matatus by gangs that will thereafter saunter away without a care in the world. Woe unto the old or those new to the municipality.

Their clothes are ripped apart as they are relieved of their belongings and cash. The worst spot is the area adjacent to the Rwambogo night club and Sagret hotel. Here thugs pounce and wreak havoc at will.

At December hotel, a well known dumb man (who is a frequent visitor to the Thika police station and divisional offices) is ever lurking to strike at his prey and will often walk in and out of the restaurant with (especially) women’s belongings after confusing them with dramatic gesticulations. After a heavy catch, he will disappear for a day or two and then resurface in shades on the presumption that his rural victims have given up hope of seeing him again. Along the main Thika-Nairobi highway, watch out because not all pineapple sellers are business strugglers. Once a motorist slows down to buy what appears to be succulent fruits, there are some sellers who are likely to draw guns and carjack their innocent prey.

In other cases, stories abound of murengo (no regular route) matatus that endlessly prowl the town for passengers who will never safely get to their destinations. They are either driven to harrowing destinations at gun point and emptied of their valuables and money. Some of the gangsters will ‘innocently’ pose as travellers along the highway only to hijack the vehicles once they are on board. For upcountry travellers, the story is the same. After sunset, passengers on the Thika-Gatanga, or Kandara routes are prone to carjack attacks in the midst of their journeys especially after the sun has set. There have been reports that police complicity has aggravated the situation. The story goes that after dark, you won’t distinguish the law custodian from the law breaker.




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ONCE IN KIKUYU LAND, MIND YOUR SKIN AND PURSE!!! ( Wed, Mar 13, 9:39 PM ) hehehehe <-- You are here
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