Nairobi’s danger spots

By Lillian Aluanga

By day they appear harmless. But as darkness sets in, these seemingly harmless stretches of roads are turned into muggers’ dens, making them some of the most dangerous spots in the city.

Swift in attack, and phantom-like in stalking, murderous gangs have turned stretches of Uhuru Highway, Railways Club, Parliament Road, Chiromo, Museum Hill and Globe Cinema roundabouts into no-go zones after dark.

One of the latest victims of an attack at the Makaburini area, along Uhuru Highway, was Kenya Airways pilot Martin Njuma. The pilot was driving to Westlands at 4am when his car stalled at the Bunyala Road roundabout, a spot notorious for mugging, rape and murder. He later died in hospital.

But those who have worked close to these danger zones say there have been many more cases.

"Bad things happen here at night," says Mr Francis Owino, a guard at the Nakumatt Mega supermarket along Uhuru Highway.

It’s 9pm and Owino is guiding cars to empty parking slots, as late night shoppers file into the supermarket. Here, bright lights, lively banter, and rattling of shoppers’ trolleys on tarmac, give an illusion of "safety". But just a few metres away from the store abound tales of horror unleashed by gangs, who melt into Uhuru Park’s "Tunnel of Horror", upon accomplishing their vicious missions, sometimes dragging their victims along.

"We have helped many people running here for help. There was once a man cut so deeply in the head that he collapsed on reaching here. Many women have been raped and wounded," says Owino.

Just two days earlier, a man walking from a church at the junction of Haile Selaisse Avenue and Uhuru Highway, was attacked at 8pm.

Violent attacks

"We had to get him a taxi to take him home," says Mr Michael Mbulo, who has worked in the area since 2003.

Police Spokesman Eric Kiraithe says, while it is true that there are areas notorious for muggings, the stretch between Nyayo Stadium and Haile Selaisse Avenue has "distinguished" itself for violent attacks.

The list of victims includes a police officer mugged at a flyover bridge opposite the stadium and a New Zealand photojournalist. Both died from injuries sustained in the attacks.

"Globe Cinema and Museum Hill roundabouts are notorious for vandalism of vehicles, even in early evening. But generally, most attacks peak at midnight," says Kiraithe.

He says unlike robbers, muggers migrate from one region to another, once they realise they are on the police radar.

Easy targets

"Mid-last year, mugging was common around Globe Cinema roundabout and the city centre. But towards the end of the year the attacks shifted to Kamkunji, Muthurwa and Chiromo areas. Now there is a surge in violent attacks along Uhuru Highway, but our officers are working to contain this," he says.

In June last year, Nairobi Central Business District Association asked police to step up the fight against crime in the city because it was soiling the country’s image.

Just off Uhuru Highway is Aerodrome Road, another risky spot not too far from Nyayo Stadium and Riadha House, which borders Upper Hill. Here, football fans walking home from a match are easy targets.

"During the Kenya versus Tunisia match last year for instance, people were robbed and the attackers disappeared into bushes along the railway tracks," says a guard at the junction of Uhuru Highway and Aerodrome Road.

"You see that stretch. Many people have been attacked there as early as 6pm," he says, pointing at a bridge that links the Bunyala Road roundabout to Upper Hill.

Here, gangs have devised ways of getting their prey flat-footed. Sometimes they disguise themselves as joggers. At night, the attacks are more brazen, with assailants hurling stones, smashing windscreens or using boulders to force motorists off the road.

Kiraithe says while the clearing of alleys within the CBD deprived such gangs of bases for operation, the criminals have moved outside the city centre with some living in thickets and under bridges along major highways.

So why haven’t they been flushed out?

"Under what law will we be doing so if there is no evidence of a crime committed? We must review the Vagrancy Act, if police are to act within the law in flushing people out of such places," says the police spokesman.

"Even when we arrest these people, we have to let them go in the morning because we have nothing to charge them with," he adds.

Kiraithe proposes a system similar to that in developed countries where homeless people have designated places where they can be accommodated overnight.

Across town at the Museum Hill roundabout, Mr Muriungi, a taxi driver, recounts tales of victims who have fallen prey to muggers who vanish into an adjacent thicket. Beneath a bridge by the road, flows the Nairobi River, which doubles up as an escape route for the attackers. Benches erected in a miniature park nearby offer a place to rest but one must do so with caution.

Night prowlers

"There are muggers who sit on these benches simply waiting for the right time to strike," says Kiraithe.

Muriungi, who has worked in the area for more than 10 years, has also fallen victim to the night prowlers along Waiyaki Way and recalls two years ago, when his car ran out of fuel, close to the Chiromo stage.

"It was 3am and no motorist would stop. I left my friend in the car and walked to the nearest petrol station to get help," says Muriungi.

A gang carrying a car stereo and shopping bags, from his now vandalised taxi, interrupted his walk back to the stalled car.

"They were coming for me but a motorist slowed down allowing me to jump into his pick up," Muriungi says.

But even as the police struggle to contain the muggings, there are several constraints.

Fewer vehicles

For instance with only three vehicles, the Central Police Station has the highest number of patrol cars, followed by Industrial Area Police Station which has two. Parklands and Kileleshwa each have one, while the station at Nyayo Stadium has none. "We have few officers and even fewer vehicles, which sometimes have no fuel and are usually dispatched to emergencies. But we are doing our best with what we have," says Kiraithe.

Besides sections of the CBD, Kiraithe cites areas bordering the Dandora dumpsite in Eastlands as prone to crime.

He, however, says the public has been helpful in giving information to the police and even allowing their cars to be used to net muggers along Uhuru Highway.

In the 20 years that he has worked as a guard, Owino has identified dangerous spots, which include Outer Ring Road, particularly at the bridge that joins Doonholm and Quarry, Kangundo Road, parts of Komarock, Kiamaiko and the stretch between Starehe Boys Centre and Pumwani Maternity Hospital. Another notorious crime spot is Jeevanjee Gardens, a stone throw away from Central Police Station.