Confessions of a 'hired political goon'
Anti-riot police restrict rowdy youths from accessing War Memorial Hospital in Nakuru on February 7, 2024. Crafty politicians are taking advantage of the high rate of unemployment in Kenya to engage youth in nefarious jobs as they push their narrow interests.
What you need to know:
- Senior politicians in the city turn to them only when they need to organise demonstrations or join them in political rallies.
- Despite there being alternative jobs, which the government can offer the youth some political leaders prefer to dish them dirty work as long as they achieve their ends.
Crafty politicians are taking advantage of the high rate of unemployment in Kenya to engage youth in nefarious jobs as they push their narrow interests.
The unfortunate situation can be confirmed by the rising number of criminal gangs and violent protests witnessed across the country.
Nakuru City is no different as it is difficult to disassociate the surge in criminal activities with underhand political errands as confessed by some hired goons.
A resident of Bahati Sub County in Nakuru Waikwa - not his real name - says he's had enough of politicians whom he accuses of exploiting him and other young men and women.
According to Waikwa, senior politicians in the city turn to them only when they need to organise demonstrations or join them in political rallies.
He says despite there being alternative jobs, which the government can offer the youth some political leaders prefer the dirty work as long as they achieve their ends.
A police officer restrains rowdy youths from entering War Memorial Hospital. After the withdrawal of police officers and county reinforcement officers from the facility, goons invaded and vandalised property as police stayed away.
Waikwa instead accuses the leaders of offering their relatives and friends the few available positions, leaving the youth such as him, feeling neglected used and abused.
Nation.africa established that the youth are paid between Sh200 and Sh500 per day depending on the issue.
A mobiliser can get between Sh1,000 and Sh10,000 depending on the seriousness and sensitivity of the matter.
Those who address the press are also paid differently from Sh1,000 to Sh2,000.
Expressing his frustration in an interview with Nation.Africa, Waikwa revealed how these politicians use them for their own gain and then ditch them will little care for their well-being after the ‘jobs’.
“The most they do is to provide for our transportation to the venue of our operation and placards with information either for a certain cause or to support them. However, they do not care whether we have eaten or not and after the event they leave us without any instruction on where to get our payments,” said Waikwa.
He recounted a recent incident where he and a group of about 60 men and women were mobilised to meet a politician in Bahati.
The politician had an urgent assignment for them, which involved staging a protest at the Ministry of Lands registry offices along Moi Road the following day. However, the reason for the protest was not communicated to them until they arrived at the venue.
Despite the lack of clarity, the youth went along with the plan motivated by the promise of payment for their services the following day and were even ferried to the venue in a hired vehicle.
Among them were hawkers, casual labourers on coffee farms and workers at quarries, who suspended their jobs to work for the politician.
However, the operation ran into a hitch when the organiser failed to show up, leaving them stranded and broke.
From 9 am when they arrived at the Lands offices to 1 pm, the politician and his planners were nowhere to be seen.
A past political rally in Kenya. Senior politicians turn to unemployed youths only when they need to organise demonstrations or join them in political rallies.
“He was to meet us in town and give us the necessary instructions on how the demonstration should happen. Though we did not negotiate the terms of payment we did not doubt since the sponsor had said they had enough money to facilitate the demos,” said Waikwa.
Hungry, tired and frustrated, they turned to the media to express their grievances, accusing the politician of misleading them and then ducking.
“We are hungry and without money. The said demonstration was not supposed to last this long, and we do not even know how we will get back home,” lamented Waikwa.
The angry youth threatened to take their protests to the doorstep of the politician to demand payment.
Njoroge - also not his name - is another confessed goon for hire. He told Nation.Africa that he regretted being used to intimidate a senior Lands official into signing land ownership documents for a piece of property in the region. He vowed to be a law-abiding citizen and support the government's initiatives.
“You know what, we are tired. We are not going to be used to cause chaos and demonstrations again. We are guilty of this vice and ask for forgiveness since it was circumstances that forced us to do what mhesh wanted,” said Njoroge.
Meanwhile, a lands surveyor revealed that the repeated deployment of these goons had been causing chaos and disrupting services at the registry.
According to him, certain individuals were using the goons to intimidate senior Lands officers, particularly in matters related to land acquisition.
“Any time these goons are brought here, ministry officials lock themselves in their offices following the confusion and tension that they usually create. They should stop and allow the officers to work,” said the officer.
These revelations come at a time when Nakuru County is grappling with increased activities of organised criminal gangs, which have been causing terror in various neighbourhoods across the region.
In January and February, suspected goons were used to cause havoc at the Nakuru War Memorial Hospital in an ongoing land ownership matter, which is before court. Despite efforts by the security machinery, mobs continue to operate with impunity.
As part of efforts to root out these criminal elements, the Nakuru County Directorate of Criminal Investigations has summoned several politicians including MPs for questioning over their alleged links to the gangs.
