In & Out: Even in prison, skin colour can save

By Judith Akinyi

A friend told me about some white man who was caught shoplifting. She was perturbed by the way the mzungu was being handled by the shop owner and attendants. In her words, ‘walikuwa wana bembeleza ni kama alikuwa amefanya kitu kizuri’.

She was annoyed because had the culprit been a black Kenyan, he could have been seriously manhandled. Such people make it look like being mzungu is a big deal.

If you go to a hotel and arrive earlier than a white person, he/she will be served faster than you. The mzungu will receive wide smiles from the waiters while you sit waiting wondering whether they know each other.

One is left to wonder whether we blacks feel inferior and regard our white brothers and sisters as superior.

There must be something about being white that makes us think they are better. No wonder then, that many would do anything to bleach their skins to turn white. A good number too, envy those with mzungu boyfriends or girlfriends.

The case of the mzungu shoplifter made me wonder if anyone could have the guts to burn him with tyre. I quickly figured that whoever would attempt such a thing could land in trouble instead. Imagine, a burnt mzungu body in the streets of Nairobi!

Burning purse-snatchers

But we never hesitate to burn our own purse-snatchers and mobile phone thieves.

Before burning them, we usually give them a thorough beating until the body is soaked in blood.

Some years back, local judges used to send many Chinese and Japanese women to zingatialand because of passport related offences.

To be eligible for special diet in zingatialand, one must get a medical doctors letter. Inmates who partake special diet in this land are the envy of many.

Our sisters from across the seas would get this diet automatically from the kitchen-in-charge. They were not required to produce a doctors report simply because they were not black Kenyans.

They too did not get tough duties. Even some inmates would surrender their best blanket for these foreign sisters. Others would volunteer to wash their prison uniform just to get close to them. There must be something about being white that makes some people feel superior.

The mere fact that ‘wazungu’ have been brought to prison would make a good majority escape their work areas to stare at the newcomers. On such occasions, the zingatia kazi sisters have to crack the whip for inmates to go back to their work: "Kwani ninyi ni washamba wa wapi, hamjawai kuona wazungu".