Nairobi police

The police have been on a rampage arresting the youth at every corner, street and side road. Imagine you are sitting on a bench near the side of the road. There are several youth gathered waiting for business. They wait to find work conducting in a matatu, they wait to find people who want their shoes cleaned or fixed, they wait to find any available job at all that will give them 30 - 100 shillings (50 cents to a little more than a dollar) so that they can eat.

Two people walk up to the scene. They are young (early twenties), dressed casually, and appear nonchalant. A  question is posed: "what are you guys doing here?", a simple reply: "we are waiting to get work", "Ahhh, so you are idling", "no we are waiting for work", the handcuffs come out, eyes dart for an escape and the youth are off sprinting in any direction away from the police.
 

The police are usually successful at catching one or two people. They haul them down to the police station and come up with a false charge: robbery, public drunkeness, tauting, etc... What the police are looking for ... are bribes. Here are some pictures of police doing what police do best.

 

I decided it was time to have a little talk with the so called Department of Justice. There were a few different police stations on my radar, first stop: xxx Police. I arrived early in the morning (having been there already the previous night and told what time to come the next day). I was alone, and brought some bread, bananas and milk to give to the youth. While they are offered some food by the police, it is very very little. Their holding cell is a small room containing up to 30 people. No showers are offered, and they are required to participate in hard labour during the day: truly pitiful conditions. A youth can spend up to 2 months in that room with no shower, hard labour and minimal food. They sleep on the floor with no blankets, pillows or mattresses.

I walked into the office, and always enjoy the reaction people have to a white woman visiting the police station in the ghetto. I asked to speak to the OCS in which they directed me to wait outside his office. He called me in shortly thereafter, and I told him that I knew the youth, they were good boys, they were not criminals, and we were working together trying to start an organization. No one dared ask me for a bribe. I was later told that this is because the police are scared that I might report them (not an unfounded suspicion). The OCS was extremely friendly with me, and after a series of questions about my work here in Kenya, he ordered the youth to be released. He gave a short lecture to the youth, and we were on our way. As the youth were let out of the cell, the officers in the station kept asking them "Who is this white woman? How do you know her? Why has she come?"

Next stop: xxx police station. Xxx police station is not a pleasant place, though it is located in a much more serene environment than Xxx. The police here are notoriously corrupt and known for brutality and torture. In fact, the IMLU (Independent Medical Legal Unit) has documented 217 cases of torture by the Xxxx police, and 24 cases of extra-judicial killings. I can assure you, this is an underreported number. Therefore, I felt an urgent need to get down there and help in any way possible. Adrenaline pumping, I approached the office and asked to speak to the officer in charge, the OCS. Again, I entered his office and told him I was a youth advocate, and wanted to know why they were being held, what their charges were, and what the official procedure was. I also told him that I work with these youth, they are of good character, and are not criminals. The OCS listened intently, though not quite as friendly as the last one, but again, did not dare ask me for a bribe. He hauled the youth into the room and asked a series of questions about family, livelihood and dwelling place. After he finished asking these futile questions, and lecturing the youth about his "criminal activity", the meeting adjourned and the youth were released later that day. However, I was informed that someone else had been asked to pay a bribe on behalf of the youth, hence they were not freed without feeding the bribery spiral. It is astonishing that the police are targeting the very poor, those that are barely getting by, the bottom of the pyramid consumers. Here is an example of their living place below.

Again, the holding conditions at this police station are atrocious. Everyone is crammed together into a tiny cell, no beds, blankets, or chairs. They are barely fed, and are expected to stay in the cell for as long as it takes to obtain a verdict from trial. I know some individuals who have been kept in remand for two years! Many youth will plead guilty just to avoid the extremely long wait for trial. The levels of corruption never cease to amaze me. Threats, torture, bribes and murder: the police know no boundaries. There is a Department of Anti-corruption in which you can report such acts of corruption; however, one must be careful when reporting officers as retaliation is all too common if they can figure out your identity. For now, my friends are free, though, they are using extreme caution and are avoiding being seen congregating by the roadside.

It is a new day and there is new hope that lives can change, systems of corruption can be brought to justice, and the impoverished can escape the cycles of poverty. I have been honored with the nickname "Jah Will" instead of Joelle. Jah will be done - there are solutions out there, may we be granted the wisdom to find them.