Man dives into abyss searching for riches

By John Njiraini

Why is our society so unjust to the powerless? This is a question that Simon Kibet Ngetich has repeatedly asked himself for the past five years.

But unfortunately, no answer seems to be forthcoming despite spending many days trying to find answers from what he believes are the right people and institutions.
Now on the verge of giving up, the 29-year-old man who has known nothing but poverty for most of his life only wishes that someone could solve his problem.
Born and raised in Burnt Forest in the Rift Valley, Ngetich’s problems started sometime in late 2004.
Having worked for the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) for two years in Nakuru, Ngetich felt his meagre salary could not effectively allow him to support his siblings effectively.
For two years, between 2002 and 2004, the second born in a family of eight children was the sole breadwinner. Being the only one employed, it was natural that he supports his poor parents and pay school fees for his siblings.

Fair price

"I come from a very poor family and they all relied on me. My wish was to find another venture that would supplement my meagre earnings and continue supporting my family," he told CCI.
In November 2004, Ngetich saw an advert in the classified section of a newspaper about a Nissan matatu which was on sale.
Going by the specifications given in the advert like mileage and year of manufacture, he reasoned that the quoted price of Sh800,000 was quite fair.
Armed with a great desire to make an extra shilling to support his family, Ngetich approached one of the banks hawking personal loans to try his luck.
Though he believed this was an exercise in futility because he thought no bank would offer him a loan against his payslip, he was entirely surprised when the bank said he was qualified for a personal loan of Sh1.2 million.

"This sounded very unreal. I applied for a Sh800,000 loan, which I got within two weeks," he said.
In the course of waiting for the money to be transferred to his account, he called the owner of the matatu and negotiated the price. They agreed that he purchases it for Sh750,000.
On November 25, 2004 after receiving his loan, he travelled to Nairobi to close the transaction, which was being conducted at an office in Ngara Estate.
Within days, all the transactions were completed and the vehicle transferred to him.

But as soon as he proudly landed in Nakuru behind the wheels of the matatu, all hell broke loose.

"I could not believe what was unfolding," he stated. Apparently Flying Squad officers were hot on his heels for allegedly stealing the vehicle. He was arrested and brought back to Nairobi and held at the Kasarani Police Station for five days.
Though he managed to convince them that he bought the vehicle, they nonetheless made it clear he had been conned because the matatu had been reported stolen.

Efforts to smoke out the man who had sold him the vehicle never bore fruits because when he accompanied the officers to the office they found it closed.
Dumbfounded and dejected, the officers told him he had to surrender the vehicle to the rightful owner as they continued with investigations.
Back in Nakuru more surprises awaited him. When he reported to his workplace on December 9, 2004, he was met with a summary dismissal letter for absconding duty without permission.

Search For Justice

"It has been decided that you be summarily dismissed from the company service with immediate effect on account of desertion," said the dismissal letter in part.
Ngetich, however, did not take the sacking lying down.

"I was unfairly dismissed because the company failed to follow its dismissal procedures and take into account the fact that I was being held by the police," he said.
A letter from the Divisional Criminal Investigation Officer (DCIO) for Kasarani shows that he was held and later cleared of any wrongdoing in relation to the stolen vehicle.
Undeterred by the sacking, he decided to pursue justice by complaining to the relevant bodies, institutions and individuals.

Indeed, since his sacking, Ngetich has written over 50 letters to KPC top management, the minister and permanent secretary for Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Justice, the Office of the President, the Kenya Petroleum Oil Workers Union (KPOWU) and the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu).
Only KPOWU and the Ministry of Justice have shown some interest.

KPOWU has written seven letters to KPC management while an official of the ministry wrote to the managing director of KPC instructing him to address the matter.

"We request you to review the matter with a view of ensuring that justice prevails," said the letter. But the management has opted to ignore all the letters.
Today Ngetich is still waiting for justice to prevail as the bank continues to write demand letters for the repayment of the loan.