Evil Crime That Still Goes Un-reported

Even as Kenyans face the rapidly increasing incident of crime that is threatening to make life in Kenya unbearable, this writer yesterday made a shocking discovery. There are some very serious crimes taking place in Nairobi virtually daily that go unreported for unexplained reasons.

Here we are referring to the carjackings of matatus. What makes matters worse is that a vast majority of these matatu carjackings end up in the rape of all women passengers. This is very serious. Yet you will never see any news of these incidents that take place almost daily in Nairobi these days. Not a word in the daily newspapers. No hint on radio or TV.

But why?

Talking to several Nairobi residents last night, one told this writer that in the last month alone he has heard of at least 10 carjackings that took place in Nairobi where all the women passengers were raped! This was just unbelievable and so several more Nairobians were interviewed who all confirmed and repeated more or less what the first person whom this writer talked to said.

The reports came from many different matatu routes all over the city, namely Dandora, Umoja, Thika Road and so on. The result is that for a long time now Nairobians have been getting into matatus and not being sure if they will get home safely.

The pattern in these terrible matatu crimes has been fairly consistent. The carjackers board the vehicle and sit strategically with one at the front, close to the driver and two or more at the back with the rest of the passengers. When the vehicle gets to an appropriately lonely stretch of the road. One of the carjackers still posing as a commuter will ask the driver to stop the vehicle so that they get off. The moment the Matatu stops, the gang will usually show their guns and take control of the matatu which is then driven off the main road to some deserted stretch of road. There the passengers will be robbed of cash, valuables and mobile phones. They will also be asked to strip naked and the thugs will then gather all their clothing in one heap to escape with, so as to prevent them raising the alarm too quickly and before the gang has made good their escape. It is at this moment that the carjackers will rape the women passengers of the vehicle at gunpoint. Quite often they will use condoms but on many other occasions, they will not.

In one chilling encounter that took place in a matatu that was bound for Nyeri but which was carjacked not far after Karatina, the carjackers ordered male passengers to have sex with the female passengers in the matatu at gun point. One can imagine what could have happened to some poor Kenyan who happened to be traveling with their daughter, wife or mother.

Why do these terrible heinous crimes go unreported? Why is this information kept away from the public? To stop widespread panic? To help create the impression that crime is under control? As it is Nairobians and indeed many Kenyans are hardly fooled.

Any serious fight against crime must start with the truth and a true and accurate analysis of the state of affairs. Do we not have a government in Kenya? And if we do have one, is it powerless to protect the lives, property and dignity of Kenyans? Or is this government just good at calling press conferences, spreading propaganda and convincing Kenyans that blatant lies are actually the truth?

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