One Saturday night at 11.15pm, I met a very arrogant night guard from a bank in Thika.
I tried to park outside the bank and the guard rudely ushered me away and refused to remove the reserved parking signs. This denied me access to the ATM.
He blocked my car with the reserved sign used during the day. I became persistent, and the guard started being violent and dropped two ‘mabatis’ in-front of my car, dared me to remove them and called me names! I took a photo as he walked away and I was left in disbelief.
The guard had allowed another motorist behind me in to the parking lot. He was going to the nearby club and the guard argued that he allowed him in because he buys him tea. This is the third time I am experiencing this from the same parking lot and also from the guards manning the bank.
Security guards in Thika are forming cartels and are keenly marking motorists who buy "chai" to access parking. If one does not buy ‘chai’, he will not have access to parking. One can really suffer if they have an office in the busy street, with over 60% of the available parking slots being reserved. During non-office hours, the guards rule the street at night with the "reservation signs".
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The Kiambu County government should work together with the police and security companies to curb this indiscipline demonstrated by the guards.
It is evident that security companies are not instilling proper discipline in their guards who are turning to be bosses instead of subordinates. If this trend continues, parking and not tipping a night guard would mean that your car will be missing side mirrors by the time you get back. This is also the trend in various streets of our capital Nairobi.
The action by the security guard was barbaric and gives both banks and the security companies concerned a bad reputation. I think that reserved parking spaces become free after business hours and the ‘mabatis’ ought to be removed from sight until the following morning.
I hope the county government will address this issue and bring back sanity in our peaceful town of Thika.
Concerned Citizen
