Jamhuri Day Robbery

Everyone has their best time of the day; mine occurs just before sunset and prior to nightfall. This time has some sense of lull mood. This is profound in the therapeutic calmness of the waves observable on the lake or ocean shores. A cascade of seamless transition from the rapid daytime commotion to a blissful and fairy like scenario. I revere this time which rejuvenates a meditative feeling. It works on the mind and soul as the body's homeostasis calibrates to the plummeting daytime temperatures allowing the eyes to absorb the picturesque scene associated with the dimming sunset light and the silencing sounds of the day's commotion. I have found this time to be ideal for a good brisk walk, a jog or a conversation with friends over a drink.

My wife; Sylvia, and I are accustomed to taking an evening jog or a brisk walk, a routine we have maintained since 2017 when Sylvia sought to shade 'baby-weight'. We enjoyed the exercise especially on weekends whenever we had the time and oomph. We had mapped an 8 kilometer circuit of majorly flat and gently sloping or elevated terrain on the Southern bypass - Kikuyu road that links Kiambu County and Nairobi County. As a reward, we would pass by the abattoir at Ndonyo market to purchase fresh beef, fruits and veggies. 

On December 12, 2019; Kenya's Independence Day, we left our rental apartments on Springs road - off Kikuyu road at around 5 p.m. and took a walk along the sidewalks of the Southern bypass from Kiambu County towards Nairobi County. Arlene, our 2-year old daughter didn't want to be left in the house. She cried asking her mum and I to wait until her aunt; Mercy, had bathed her so that she could accompany us. Arlene loved outdoor activities, especially if it involved going to the playground to have fun on bouncing castles, riding the miniature plastic horses on a merry-go-round or rowing toy boats on makeshift knee-deep water pool and enjoying the dummy train rides. The timing, weather and distance of the walk couldn't allow us to involve Arlene on this occasion. Moreover, the evening walks nurtured a clarity in our diffuse minds that sparked constructive intimate conversation between Sylvia and I. The talks mainly focused on our relationship, a kind of couple's introspection that somehow did not require the disruptive behaviors of a curious 2-year old. I must admit, I had a blissful time with Sylvia. A rather unstructured dialogue that reminisced on how far we had come, and our aspirations as a couple. It felt like an evaluation of the past and reliving the best of our younger days and charting the way forward in line with our dreams. We approached Thogoto - Gikambura interchange at about 6.22 p.m. by my phone's clock and had covered approximately 3.3 km according to the Health App on the phone. We contemplated taking the left junction to Thogoto rather than continuing with the usual 8 km circuit. On second thought, we opted to literally walk-the-talk by completing the distance.

"It might rain before we reach Ndonyo." I intimated to Sylvia, drawing her attention to dark clouds forming and intermittently blocking the warm rays of the evening sun and what seemed like rainfall in the distant horizon of Nairobi city skies.

"We'll enjoy the rains." She responded with a smile.

As we approached the edge of Dagoreti forest, the Southern bypass street lamps lit up giving a beautiful sight that resembled unstrung giant beads organized on the traffic island of the highway bends. It was 6.30 p.m., we had about 500 meters to cover before the left turn from the highway towards Ndonyo. I had an eerie feeling when I noticed a gang of shabbily dressed young men seemingly in their 20s or early 30s, slowly emerging from the shrubs close to the edge of the forest about 150 meters ahead. They pretentiously appeared to be crossing the road. I alerted Sylvia of my heightened instincts. The sun had set but it was not yet nightfall. There were few pedestrians on the sidewalks behind us but none on the stretch in front of us. Motorists sped off as usual on both lanes of the highway with their vehicle fog lights switched on and some had dimmed headlamps. The gang seemed to have wanted to cross the road. They had spread themselves such that the first and second gang members intercepted us on the sidewalk, the third and fourth observed in a safe distance and the other two positioned themselves at the edge of the thickets with one leaning on a concrete electric pole. One of the gang members who had used a baseball cap to cover his face, pounced on me, drawing a machete with a 2 feet-long blade sharpened on both ends and had a blunt tip which he had kept concealed in his baggy trousers. The second one drew a dagger and pointed the sharp tip of the weapon on Sylvia's face and lowered it to her tummy level. They aggressively demanded for our phones, wallet and grabbed Sylvia's clutch bag. We didn't resist but allowed them to rob us. It was my first time witnessing Sylvia so petrified and confused. It's like we had been living in a bubble that was burst by the encounter. Personally, the reality of the instincts that I had ignored earlier had hit hard but I was prepared for our next plan of action. As the perpetrators retreated to the shrubs towards the forest, I pleaded with them if they could return to us our National Identity cards and documents which they obviously did not require. The thieves hurled back my wallet having emptied a little cash in it but disappeared into the forest with Sylvia's clutch bag which had her phone and a purse that had her National ID, health insurance cards, and other personal possessions. We consoled each other, picked up my ripped wallet and returned in the direction that we had come. 

It began to rain on us. There was nothing enjoyable about the rain. It didn't even cross Sylvia's mind to cover her hair despite my several reminders - it didn't matter to her. We thought of shielding ourselves in the verandas of the roadside residential flats facing the highway but the flashback of the robbery scene could not allow us to remain in the vicinity. Our adrenaline levels had been hyped and we were thinking in a rush. In addition, we wanted to report the matter to the Kikuyu Police Station, replace our carrier lines and change the passwords for our emails and social media accounts as soon as possible. We briskly walked and jogged until we reached Thogoto where we waited for the rain to subside into drizzles. We didn't have any cash on us, so we had to walk back home, this time through a ‘shortcut’ via PCEA University, Kikuyu road and back to Spring road. We arrived home few minutes past 7 p.m.