The askaris left with a rotten egg in their face/Sam Oduor, WKT
Drama was witnessed in Bungoma town in the afternoon of Tuesday after residents rallied together to stop a suspicious operation by six county askaris, popularly known as kanjo.
The askaris were seen allegedly forcing an Indian businessman to pay “packing fees” for his truck full of cement at the roadside on Lusaka Rd, near his Bu-Yako Hardware.
With the townspeople’s fury and courage boiling over, they swiftly intervened to protect the businessman and chase away the corrupt officers.
The officers scrambled to escape the angry mob which threatened to beat them up and hopped onto their pickup truck, which soon screeched away into the distance.
One resident said that immediately after the truck arrived, the officers were on the scene confronting the owner before attempting to put a lock on the tires after he showed reluctance.
“The officers are used to getting bribes from small traders, and we could not let them do this to the Indian. They had already collected the packing fees, and they want even more. We are not going to allow that to continue,” he said.
The protesters, most of them boda boda riders, intervened and pushed them away, threatening to hold demonstrations against what they called continuous harassment and mistreatment from the county officers.
Sam Oduor has a bachelor’s degree in Media and Communication studies from Moi University and is passionate about working in the newsroom as well as reporting on key issues affecting society through his talent in photography and writing.
