By Frank Bray
A few weeks ago, there were three robberies in Mti Moja, Chepkoilel area. A neighbour’s door was skillfully forced open and property stolen, including food reserves and a gas cylinder.
Days after, a certain caretaker spotted a suspicious individual lurking around the vicinity. Upon being questioned, he gave questionable answers.
“He said he was looking for Samuel (a pseudonym). I went back inside to dress up because all I had were boxers and found he’d fled,” said the caretaker.
Not long after, at about midnight, the air outside was filled with screams.
“Mwizii! Mwizii. Kujeni mtusaidie.”
Residents stepped out in significant numbers, some armed to the teeth, some armed at heart.
It took a while to spot the guy. His forty-fourth day as a thief apparently had come. He was badly roughed up by the few angry locals and then let go.
As if in mockery, just the following night, someone robbed a local welding shop while everyone slept. Speculations pointed at the involvement of witchcraft as one resident insisted, because no one heard the ‘mabati’ shop being interfered with that night until the job was done and signed. By the time everyone realized it, what was left was the aftermath for everyone to see.
All these incidents, although real, seem to be controlled thanks to the streetlights that ensure visibility at night within the Chepkoilel mti moja area. It would, therefore, be appropriate to thank KPLC and the local government involved in the installation.
I haven’t stopped wondering whether the thief they caught would have been found if there had been no lights in the streets during that time. It might have been the only thing standing between him and escape. Perhaps if it had been perfectly dark, then the man would have gotten away more easily.
However, it’s unfortunate that the area from the university to Kuinet is only partially lit, leaving dark patches that are a potential danger to pedestrians at night. It’s often a sudden shift from a lit alley to a dark one and a struggle to navigate unlit portions as eyes struggle to adapt.
However, the most important is the threat of an attack or theft that is always looming. There has been not one but three cases of friends being attacked within these blind spots.
One friend said that two guys once found them waiting around for transport after a night gathering at a friend’s place and took their phones at knife point.
Another said,”I met some youth in that unlit spot at night. They greeted me then asked for my phone. I ran.”
Yet another experienced the same incident in the same fashion just months prior. It would, therefore, be in the public and students’ interests in Sogomo all the way to Kuinet to prioritise installation and maintenance of consistent and reliable lights, otherwise, as it is in this imperfect world, darkness breeds risk and insecurity. Residents need to feel safer.
