City security guard clobbered senseless by kanjo askaris
A city security guard was on Thursday clobbered by Nairobi City County askaris while on duty at a building along Tom Mboya Street.
The G4S security company guard was on duty when kanjo askaris raided the street with an intention of arresting hawkers.
As the hawkers fled in all directions, the askaris started scattering the wares they had left behind all over the place.
“As they were throwing the hawkers’ wares all over the place, I told them to stop directing them at the building I was guarding as it has glass windows that could easily break,” Francis Oketch told Nairobi News.
The building houses phones and accessories shop on the ground floor and the glass displays were at risk.
ASSAULTED
“The owners are Chinese and I knew if something happened to their shop I would be to blame as I have been hired to protect the businesses,” explained Oketch.
He pleaded with the askaris who by now were throwing the wares towards the shop.
“One askari came and slapped me and as I was asking why he was assaulting me, his colleagues started kicking me and I fell on the veranda. Still, they kept kicking me until I fainted,” he narrated.
Oketch was then taken to the hospital by the shop attendants and later his employer took him for scans at Nairobi West Hospital.
“I’m in a lot of pain and it is unfair for kanjo to have beaten me when I was just doing my job,” he said.
RAIDS
But while responding to the incident, Deputy Director in the department of inspectorate Eva Wairuko promised to investigate the matter.
“We will investigate and determine what exactly transpired as procedurally the council askaris are required to impound the merchandise after the hawkers run away,” Wairuko told Nairobi News.
City askaris have in the past been accused of brutality despite efforts by the county government to change the face of the department through overhauling leadership and trainings.
Hawkers who operate within the city’s CBD often fall victim to askaris during frequent raids.