Their uniforms said police but their actions said firefighters. The four officers sauntered to the centre of the buzzing crowd and did all that was left to do: stamp out the flames roasting yet another victim of mob justice in Kenya.
The man lay in the repose of a dead insect, arms and legs curled above him, on a sidewalk in Nairobi’s central business district. As he sucked in his final few breaths, his melting skin let off an acrid, unforgettable stench.
Vigilantism is common in Kenya as it is across much of Africa, where people who work hard for the little they have react badly to criminals caught trying to steal.
As I watched the man burn while scribbling notes a few feet away, I had to throw out my elbows to block onlookers from knocking me down as they shoved in for a look and a laugh.
The man, probably in his mid-20s, had been foolish enough to try to steal a motorcycle. He had stabbed the bike’s owner in the side of his chest but his victim struck back, collared the thief and marched him into the street.
There, the man met the wrath of Kenyans incensed by violent crime in a city dubbed ”Nairobbery”.
Woe unto the criminal who is caught and faces a mob shouting ”Maliza! Maliza!” — Kiswahili for ”Finish him!”
That is precisely what happened.
Beer and beatings
Witnesses said the crowd set upon the man with fists and feet until someone set him ablaze with wads of newspaper.
The police threw his charred body into the dank interior of their truck and drove off. Though there was no official confirmation, it is unlikely the man survived. He probably was not even taken to a hospital.
Police statistics say the number of crimes in Kenya dropped by 4,2% to 72 225 in 2006 from 75 400 in 2005. Homicide, robbery and theft all fell but assault rose.
Many people in Nairobi would say street crime is down from 10 years ago, when carrying a cellphone or wearing jewellery on the streets was an invitation to be robbed and possibly knifed or raped.
Many Kenyans are nevertheless sceptical of the statistics and say a lot of crimes go unreported. Many certainly remain unsolved.
People have little tolerance for thieves and murderers because nearly everyone knows someone who has been robbed, pick pocketed or killed.
Just in the Reuters office in Nairobi, one of our interns was carjacked and then, on another commute home, mugged. Both assaults occurred within the space of three months.
Soon after I arrived in Nairobi, while enjoying dinner at a local bar, I nearly spilled my beer as waiters and burly security men, known locally as askaris, rushed across the patio in pursuit of two men.
One got away across the highway but the thwack of truncheon hitting skull signalled the other’s unsuccessful flight.
I dashed round the corner and found him surrounded by 10 men who were kicking and beating him.
”We know those two are mobile phone thieves. So we waited for them to try and steal,” said Collins, a waiter I knew.
Five minutes later, a van arrived carrying a policeman with a G-3 assault rifle and more askaris with truncheons. I guessed as they hauled the man away that more beatings were likely.
Such vigilante violence might raise outrage elsewhere, but many Kenyans spare it little thought.
Only one television station reported the burning of the motorcycle thief and it did not rate a mention the next day in the two main newspapers.
A week later, when Nairobi hosted a conference to tackle the problems of Africa’s rapid urbanisation, the black spot where the thief burned still marked the street. – Reuters