I love Mondays……
I have to tell you how I acquired some two new best friends.... CID officers in Nairobi Central Police Station.
This all happened on Monday so I just want to reiterate the fact that Mondays are in fact my favorite day of the week…..A feat that I realize is unique to me…but then again, I am Sikiliza and have been known to have macabre and weird tendencies…
It all started when I was stopped dramatically (with sting-operation-like qualities) in the streets of Nairobi on Monday morning and suspected of being a car thief…err yes I know how silly it sounds…Sikiliza a supposed car thief.
For those who know and love me and haven’t fallen off their chairs laughing perhaps would recall that I am a certified pedestrian. Not so much because I cant afford to own my dream car…but also because I have never thought of a vehicle an asset (unless I want a ride, but I can count on matatus, cabs or friend’s cars for that) I would much rather buy land or a house frankly….Anywayyyyyy as ludicrous as this sounds I found my self in the middle of a heated debate that escalated tp dizzying levels with a taxi driver who had hired out to me a car for a couple of days and its owner who’s paranoia set in when I delayed to return it by 12 hours or so …I expected that I would be financially penalized for the delay and had not at all been prepared for the drama that ensued.
At this point let’s get some facts highlighted, here is a list of what I am sure I would never steal in my current lifetime….
Money in Banks
Cars or any motor-engined vehicle
Boyfriends and/or husbands under the age of 38
Books in foreign languages
Public Coffers
Babies
Used Underwear
Any kinds of closed shoes
Tight T shirts
DISCLAIMER: this list was written out at ungodly hours (0430hrs) and so I cannot be held liable for its content
Back to the dramatic events….I was then interrogated and asked to return the car by the officers which I did….
Then some twit in the car-owner entourage decided that having the car was not enough and proceeded to say he wanted to have me investigated as I was a “stranger” and might have been doing err…“strange” activities with the car during the said hired period….and before my anger set in, the CID officers asked him to step out take a moment to realign his line of logic ( we were at the time giving the man the benefit of doubt as having some credible intelligence…somewhere …somehow even though we had not really come across it so far), record his complaint in the Occurrence Book (OB)and come up with a criminal charge to charge me with….
I was aptly advised to record a statement by the CID officers who I realized where very perceptive gentlemen. I was huffing and puffing there pissed at the major inconvenience and I guess I didn’t fit into their profile of a criminal.
They were impressed to learn that I was a writer and even more to realize that I was not a name dropper even though I have had coffee with their boss (don’t you just hate that!)….I must point out however that I would have really ranted if I was mistreated…I am pleasantly surprised to realize that Police Commish Major Ali’s concept of approachable police officers and customer service has paid off…A vast improvement from the last time I was in his office complaining to him and his deputies about my mistreatment from a police officer based at the Ongata Rongai Police Station (this is a story for another day) …..Now all I need is to know that at some point the officers will have computers so when I tell them my publication is on-line they can actually get to see it!
All in all I left the Police station much happier than others and with resounding lessons that made me realize that I take intelligence in others for granted…Perhaps my friends and family have spoilt me and made me to think that we were all weaned off not just with pawpaw’s and mangoes but also with commons sense and basic rationale…It would seem that I was very wrong…
This is a tribute of much appreciation for the amazing honest and professional police offers we have and the Nairobi Central CID Department!
~Siki~
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