Askaris turn council vans into dens of corruption

By Njoroge Kinuthia

Askaris turn council vans into dens of corruption

In the past one year, I have been sifting through and publishing loads of your complaint letters on this forum. Today, however, allow me to also huff and puff.

Last week on Friday, I was on Kirinyaga Road with my mechanic, Oliver Odongo, shopping for spare parts for my jalopy when someone suddenly grabbed me by the scruff of my neck.

The burly bully in a checked shirt swiftly prodded me with what looked like a grease gun and smeared my arm with its black contents. "Don’t you know how to walk?" he asked. I informed him that was none of his business. He asked whether I knew who he was. I retorted that I had no such interest and that the much I knew about him was that he was short of decorum.

Another man, standing by, urged me to forgive him. I decided to move on. But hardly three steps away, came the familiar neck grip again. Helpless like a toddler in an adult’s hands, I was quickly frogmarched to a nearby city council pick-up (KAT 537X) and hurled in ‘Waititu style’.

Inside, I found about ten other ‘customers’ and a police officer who was seated close to the door. I explained to him the injustice that had befallen me but he only stared at me with overt disinterest. "Sio mimi nimekushika. Wewe ni hawker," he replied curtly. Another man close to me was running out of breathe trying to exonerate himself. The policeman cut him short: "Ukiingia hapa wewe ni hawker".

sound advice

I called a colleague and explained to him my tribulations. I also called Gitahi Kanyeki, Administration Police’s acting director, Complaints Directorate. Mr Kanyeki told me to hand my phone to the police officer in the van. The officer’s response was brief and clear. "Mwambiye siongei na yeye."

Kanyeki then gave me what he thought was sound advice: "Take this as a learning opportunity. Just go the whole hog and see for yourself how much suffering Kenyans go through."

The vans, they were two following each other closely, continued with their odyssey and the ununiformed askaris running by their side brought aboard more ‘customers’.

At one point, I heard an askari scream, "jatelo, ingia ndani! jatelo, nasema ingia ndani!" I turned to see who the new ‘hawker’ was. It was my mechanic. Apparently, Odongo had committed the unthinkable crime of coming close to the van seeking to speak to me, a prisoner. The vehicle never got full. Whenever a new group was brought in, almost a similar number stepped out to freedom. Freedom cost money – Sh500 to be precise. Pay the policeman at the door or numerous askaris hovering on windows and – voila, freedom!

"I won’t pay," I vowed silently. In total, I counted about 30 people, who came in and walked out after paying the bribe. Out of these only one man, in my judgment, was a hawker, and the evidence was there – a carton full of biscuits and sweets. He is the man whom I blame for the sin that I eventually committed – pay the bribe. While slowly peeling off a ‘Tropical’ sweet he warned: "Unajua tukipelekwa Central (police station) ni mpaka Monday." By the time he finished the statement, I was clutching Sh1000. Sh500 for the mechanic, Sh500 for myself. The policeman took the money and we bid him bye.

Well, there is an unholy alliance between council askaris and the police to harass and fleece the public. From my one-hour experience, the council vans are merely mobile bribe-collection points. How can salaried people be allowed to use vehicles fuelled by tax-payers to intimidate and solicit bribes from taxpayers, Town Clerk Philip Kisia?

Long wait for Airtel Kenya’s call

How long does Airtel Kenya take to call their customers when they promise to do so? This is the question that is bothering Mr Samuel Njuguna who was promised that a supervisor would call him.

However, Mr Njuguna’s major worry isn’t the ‘big’ call but explanation about what happened to his data bundle.

"I bought 500MB worth Sh399 on February 26 and got a confirmation text. I could not connect to the Internet immediately due to what I learned later was some technical hitch on their systems. However, on checking bundle balance later, I was shocked to learn I was on ‘pay-as-you-go data plan’."

It is for this ‘wrong equation’ that Njunguna desperately expects the call from the supervisor.

He claims that customer care executives’ promised that the problem would be solved and subsequent text message that it was solved didn’t help. He can be contacted on 0733671576 or [email protected].

Don’t you forget

Did Orange fix client’s lines?

On November 24 last year, Orange Kenya customer HR Shah wrote to PointBlank accusing the company of ‘not being bothered’ to revive his dead telephone lines (numbers 4181072 and 4183041).

He claimed to have reported the matter to Orange several times but no action was taken.

Despite the lines being dysfunctional, Mr Shah claimed he was still being sent bills by Orange without fail.

"What am I supposed to do with the bills? If I do not pay by the due date, what will you do – disconnect already dead lines?" a bitter Shah then said.

He pleaded with the company’s CEO Mickael Ghossein to intervene and ensure that the lines were reconnected. Did this happen, Mr Ghossein?