My Stay in the Thika Courtroom Cell Story: Series 1

For those of you who have been following my travel, you know by now that i have been travelling and that i was in Kisii Town from Friday to Monday 28th March 2011. i Arrived back home in Thika at 11.00 pm on monday night and was dropped at my house at that time. My family was awaiting me and my son had not slept by that time. I took a few minutes to talk to him and sent him on his way to sleep. My wife served me supper and we took time catching up on each other's experiences when i was away and what has been happening. As usual, our stories threatened to spill into the morning until i threatened to go to sleep. I took my shower and was in bed by about 1.30 am in the morning.

As expected i overslept and woke up at some minutes to 9 am long after everybody had left the house, took a quick shower and breakfast. i put on my phone and a barrage of messages and the usual so and so and so "has tried calling you 6 times most recently .......". Job was beckoning and i had to be in the office soonest possible or else.......

i got to the my usual Mat stage and it was kinda too late. My usual mats had already left for Nai and i had to do whatever it takes to get to work soonest possible. This 2NK Mat comes and its packed with women form the morning market and i knew they will alight at a dusty little place called 'witeithie' . with the usual Kenyan style, we got to the next stage called Engen Near Gretsa University and 2 more women with little children gets in and the mat now is packed to extreme. Am Comfortably perched on a plumpy mama and a young man reading the Daily Nation somewhere in a non existent space near the back on the mat. I look at the Konda and he smiles at me. i thought he meant that business is good today by the large grin on his rugged face.

We are now speeeeeeeeeding past the sprawling Kiandutu slum and my phone start ringing incessantly. This job could not let me even get there and i started sorting out some matters right there in the mat. Kenyans looked at me and may be they thought i had a nice job that i can sort it out even in the most unlikely of environments. Little did i know that this was to go on for the rest of the day.

We get to the police road block near Castle Brewery in Thika and the Mat is flagged down. The driver alight and walks straight to a particular Policeman who was talking on the Phone. He wasits for him to finish and than they start talking animatedly. i watched as the driver removes some notes from his pocket but the policeman would have none of it. Another police officer walks to our mat and shouts to the other "hata huyu jamaa amabeba gari excess". That is where it all began. The police man who was talking to our driver held him by the belt and walked him towards the mat. He was put in the mat and the door closed. By now all the policemen at the roadblock were sorroundin our vehicle. They were about 8 in number. The driver was them removed and the 2 passangers who were seated infront of the mat together with the drivers were told to alight. The drivers was pushed infront and was sandwiched between 2 police officers. The 'offended officers' took the keys and started driving towards some bush. The Kenyans murmured except for one gentleman who was bold enough. He said that he should be released and he was getting late for work and that he had not broken any law. The policeman man told him that he will be charged with obstructing ann officer do his duty. I posted a number of tweets on my TWITTER account but nobody replied or DMed me. Most of my friends are not yet on twitter anyway. From there on, everybody kept quiet. We were thouroughly intimidated.

When we got to the police station in Thika town. our vehicle was sorrounded by more police officers and they all started shouting at us. All passangers who were seated were told to alight and go and the three of us who were in excess were told to remain in the vehicle together with the Konda and the Dere. who were both handcuffed by now.

We were then driven towards the court cell. A friend of mine, incidentally called CARE saw the vehicle as we were driven off he called me and i explained to him what was happening. he rushed to the Court cells and waited me there. He tried to talk to the Offended officer who by now i came to know was called Salat so that he could release me. He refused flatly and would have none of it. We were then thrown in to the cell after our details were written down.

I was now an guest of the state officially, for the first time in my life. I looked around and tried to see what happening around. It looked terrible. The faces i was were dejected and hopeless. Except for a few people, everybody else looked dirty and unkempt. i fished out my phone and started making calls. First to my wife and to other friends who i thought needed to know my plight. i then posted a message on my FACEBOOK profile. It was then that the calles started coming in fast and furious. The first came from William Ndung'u, a childhood friends who i think is on facebook 24/7.

The phone is a most precious item in there my friend. A group of people mobbed me wating to use my phone. i helped a few and the battery started misbehaving. So i had to put it away. That is the time i started talking to people there. i thought to myself that this is the one place where you can hear and see things you will not hear outside the wall of cells and prison.

Series 2

FOLLOW ME SO THAT YOU GET TO HEAR THE STORIES OF ALL THE PEOPLE I TALKED TO, THE BUSINESS THAT GOES ON INSIDE THE COURT AND WHAT HAPPENED TO MY FRIEND "CARE" WHEN HIS PHONE RANG INSIDE THE COURT ROOM.

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