• Kelvin Gitau reformed from crime but his life has been characterized by constant police harassment.
• Police kill 4 in Mathare
Image: DOUGLAS OKIDDY
It is literally hell on earth for reformed criminals in slum areas as many of them are marked by crime busters and may be felled in a hail of bullets on sight.
The majority of them are school dropouts with no training to look for a decent job. They are left with no option but to do menial jobs, boda boda work or others become matatu touts.
Whenever they try to engage in business, the past returns to haunt the former convicts. They are usually stigmatised, and a return to crime remains the only low hanging option.
This is sums up the life of Kelvin Gitau. The 20-year-old reformed criminal in Mlango Kubwa was felled by a crime buster known as Rashid in the area. He is among the four young men shot dead on Tuesday morning at Mlango Kubwa in Mathare.
The police said they were hardcore criminals, but those on the ground hold a different view.
His story was told by Juliet Wanjira, a nursery school teacher, who is among the founders of the Mathare Social Justice Centre. Wanjira yesterday told the Star that Gitau was arrested in January this year on suspicion that he had snatched an iPhone from a woman. He was, however, not taken to the police station and booked.
“They arrested him at night and bundled him in the boot of a Probox. They drove him around the city throughout the night and the following day,” she said.
Wanjira said the crime buster had demanded that they give Sh100,000 to the complainant or they prepare to bury Gitau.
“It is at this point that Gitau’s mother rushed to our office and found me. She begged that we look for money to enable her son live,” Wanjira said.
She said mobilising Sh100,000 in two days was not easy. Wanjira and her colleagues in Mathare Social Justice Centre mounted to an online campaign. They pushed for Gitau to be booked in a police station so that he can be taken to court or be released.
Gitau's mother went to Pangani police station and was given an OB number.
When the pressure came to bear, Gitau was produced in court. However, he was released on the ground that the complaint against him was formally booked after 24 hours, Wanjira said.
It is not clear why Gitau was not booked at the police station and taken to court promptly as required by the law, she said.
Wanjira said the crime buster warned Gitau and his family to relocate from the area or "they should be ready to bury him soon."
Three months later, in the wee hours of Tuesday this week, the young man was gunned down at Mlango Kubwa. His body was taken to City Mortuary.
A teary Wanjira told the Star that she feels a sense of guilt because she was not able to save Gitau’s life, despite his mother seeking her help.
“I feel so pained that his mother lost her eldest son to Rashid, yet I was the one she ran to first for protection,” she said.
“Young reformed men in Mathare are going to early graves even after they have changed their lives. Gitau had a fruit business and was doing something meaningful with his life.
“They are finishing our husbands and young men who are potential fathers . They leave us with children. This leaves be jobless women and it encourages prostitution,” Wanjira said.
"The real thieves are in suits, living large," she said.
It is also reported that the police also gunned down three other young men in the area on the same day. They were branded criminals.
Wanjira said young men in the informal settlements are facing harassment by the police.
Several efforts to reach the area OCPD to confirm the deaths were not successful. He did not respond our calls.