Drunken Policeman Ruined my Christmas Holiday

Dennis Langat shares his Christmas holiday misadventure.

According to the police officers, my traffic offense was traffic obstruction. In my defence my movement was restricted as there was a matatu parked right in front of me. I later learned that this was a tactic used by the traffic police to solicit bribes from already poor wananchi. The proper action for me to take would be to toa kila kitu, people told me. I wondered how non-Kenyans driving through Kenya would understand this sub-culture, and how bribing by traffic policemen had become an acceptable culture. What happened next can only be described as surreal.

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Drunken Policeman Ruined my Christmas Holiday

Over the Christmas break last year, I was in Kenya visiting my family and friends after a ten-year stint away from home. I was also in Kenya to look into investment and business opportunities for myself and a group of business friends.

As I was driving around Kericho town on Christmas eve doing last minute gift shopping I came face to face with harassment by Kenya Police.

Dennis Langat writes on his misadventure of the Christmas break while visiting Kenya.

The Psyche of a Kenyan Police Officer

The average police officer's job requires that he makes instant street decisions of the wisest and least provocative caliber yet he was not tested for emotional stability before joining the force. He has an ambivalent view of his work and often regrets joining the force.

He feels that he is only a cog in a machine. He believes that much of the public regards him with contempt and hostility. Attitude samplings show too, that he is prejudiced against women, youth and low income earners. He has little appreciation of the psychology and culture of these populations. He is aware that fellow officers often treat citizens with rudeness, abuse and even roughness.

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How to Stop Mungiki

Beryl Ogolla wonders how the government and citizens of Kenya can stop Mungiki on its tracks. In a discussion with a friend, she proposes that they are all killed. However, when he friend tells her that war on the Mungiki is akin to starting a civil war, she begins to question her proposal.

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Behind the beheadings in Kenya - with video

Salim Lone writes on the security failures that have engulfed the country, the extremity to which it has come and Minister Michuki's culpability for it. He also reviews the nation's responses to the tragedy that is Mungiki and argues that it is important not just to deal with the excesses of Mungiki but also its root causes.

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Hyping up the Law

The Commissioner of the Kenya Police, taking a break from a campaign to bring peace to our streets has made it an offence to be disrespectful towards the President.

The Commissioner's statement was targeted at our politicians, who even the deafest Kenyan must concede comprise people who would do us a national favour by forever holding their peace. This spirit of national reticence however must best extend to Vigilance House for if the Commissioner knows anything, he should know that his was the sort of empty talk that is best suited for politicians, not for civil servants of office as high as his.

Amir Ibrahim on the Kenya Police, "Even greater is the danger that the Kenya Police are portrayed as being anti-politicians, or pro-government. It is this more than anything that the Police Commissioner should worry about."

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Mungiki-- the video

Members of the Mungiki sect were back in the public arena again last week. As is often the case, their encounter with the public was not a pleasant one.

In the most recent news, the group has been in the spotlight for run-ins with other tribe based gangs, with matatu touts and with the Kenya Police. Comprising hundreds, some say up to two million youths from the Mount Kenya region, the movement claims to be against the western slant of Kenyan society. It seeks its inspiration from traditional religion and the ways of the Agikuyu ancestors.

kenyaImagine's editorial team has acquired a video showing the terror this gang has brought to wananchi. (allow time for the video to buffer)