Monday 6th September 2010.
IT HAPPENED!
Here, Lorot Son of the Hills honestly narrates his ordeal at the hands of the police. He breaks down a catalogue of events that happened to him right from the time he was taken to Milimani Police Station, held up in custody for a couple of hours at the Basement Cells of the Nairobi Law Courts, through to how he was arraigned in court....
4.40 a.m. Lorot Son of the Hills wakes up, takes a shower and hits the road.
7.00 a.m. Boards another Matatu in Nairobi City Centre.
7.15 a.m. Four policemen stop the Nissan. Two occupy the seats next to the driver. Two occupy the seats next to where the conductor seats.
7.20 a.m. Things are looking bad. The policemen tell us that we boarded the Matatu in an undesignated stage. Lorot Son of the Hills keeps cool. I don’t even bother to fasten my seatbelt. WE ARE HEADED TO MILIMANI POLICE STATION!
7.31 a.m. We are headed to Milimani Police Station. At the Haile Sellasie Roundabout, one passenger I can only describe as a Muakorino does some acrobatics and jumps through the window—to freedom. Another does the same and is almost hit by car.
7.52 a.m I update my Facebook status to read: My morn has started on a wrong note. Many of my fans and friends take it as one of my creative shots. I don’t want to cause panic with a note like: I have been arrested. I am being taken to the cells.
8.17 a.m. We are inside Milimani Police Station. I am cool. I Facebook, read updates here and there. Somebody’s update that day reads: Woken up to a bright new day and a spirit to carry me through the week. I feel offended. I listen to Classic 105, Mwalimu King’ang’i is cracking jokes about Chang’aa guys drinking in front of the police and their home deliveries issue. I am in my own world.
8.45 a.m Lorot Son of the Hills gets information that fine payable might be 10,000 or 5,000 or less. But he stubbornly believes that hawa mapolisi wanataka kitu kidogo. He is terribly wrong.
8.54 a.m. Things are looking bad now. We are hauled into Maria ( that prison lorry) and the info is that we are being taken to the Nairobi Law Courts. Instead of frowning, I find myself smiling. This is unthinkable. Lorot Son of the Hills in the dock, not at the bar!
9.21 a.m. Maria stops at the Backyard of Nairobi Law Courts. Lorot Son of the Hills steps out and with more than 20 others is led at the basement cells. This is unreal. We are arranged in two files.
10.30 a.m While inside the cell, I further update my status to read: This is just crazy. I will write about it when it will be over. Take heart son of the hills. The room is semi-dark but comfortable. I hear narrations of one driver who has been in the business for the last 23 years. He tells us about a Traffic Policeman called Sang who could tell a driver to take himself to a police station. It is now clear that we will be arraigned in court today. I tell myself: Lorot Son of the Hills, today you will be true or false….
10.49 a.m. A police with a garrulous voice commands that those who want to pee can go to the loo. He issues instructions on what we are supposed to do, the dos and donts. He says ukiwa kortini uzime simu. Then he says: Ukiulizwa kama una malilio usiseme hauna, sema shida zako vile korti inaweza kukuhurumia. This is vioja mahakamani and I don’t like what I am being instructed to do.
10.55 a.m. We are arranged in two files along the corridor. My name is called. I smile to the police officer and joke to him about those houses near Central Police Station which were demolished. He calls me ‘Rorot’ instead of ‘Lorot’. I forgive him for his tongue does not know what it is saying. Then it happens. Lorot Son of the Hills is handcuffed! I never saw this coming! I thought petty offenders like me who board vehicles at undesignated stages should walk with policemen like pals. What will people think? That I am Onyancha or something. I laugh at this ridiculous development.
11.08 a.m. Walking into the Traffic Court No. 7, I think like a lawyer. So far I have not been roughed up by policemen. That is encouraging, at least from the dented image of the police. I am charged for my offence on the same day. That is a plus to the judicial system. I can plead guilty to the offence or not guilty. If I plead guilty I will have to pay 10,000 shillings fine and be released the same day. If I plead not guilty I will secure a bail of 5,000 shillings for temporary freedom and come for mention and hearing. If I have no money to pay (either 5,000 or 10,000) between now and the next two hours, I will be locked in a police cell. This is not a Birthday message. But I maintain my cool nerve.
11.14 a.m. Inside Traffic Court No. 7 of Nairobi Law Courts. I was here sometimes last year as a law student in judicial attachment. The encouraging bit is that this is not Chief Magistrate Court where I was and is so busy. Law students on attachment, faces that I dread most are not there. Thank God for small mercies. I make a call to friends to come and rescue me.
11.30 a.m. The Magistrate will be here anytime. Lorot Son of the Hills, this is the moment. You were here for two months observing people in the dock. Now it is your turn to be observed. I love every minute of all this drama. I have made up my mind, I will be released today. I will walk outside that door and like Martin Luther King Junior I will scream: Free at last, free at last, Almighty God I am free at last that is if I don’t get arrested again for breach of public order.
11.30 am- 4.00 p.m. The magistrate goes through the ritual of calling names upon which the offenders will either plead guilty or not guilty. Most plead guilty including me.
4.30 p.m. A friend comes to my rescue and pays 10,000 shillings as fine. Upon payment, Lorot Son of the Hills is let free. My feet lead me straight to the nearest food outlet I can lay my eyes on. I never took my breakfast and lunch was hard to come by in the courtroom. I tell myself that I will continue to be a law-abiding citizen. I love law even when it inconveniences me. Without law, I have no profession!
9.24 p.m. I update my status to read “ Am still debating in my mind whether I should make public today's high-profile drama...”. I am confused on whether I should inform my friends and fans on what happened. But my fingers are itching to record every bit of what happened today. I know that the question is not whether or not I will eventually write about it but when.
Exit Monday 6th September 2010. PHEW!
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