Handling
stolen property is a capital offence – according to the Law Books. It is
however a minor misdemeanour according to many Kenyans. Some even consider it
an honour and a sign of good judgement. This is because, in Kenya, you are only
a thief if you are caught.
Mobile Phones
Mobile
phones are no longer the status statement they used to be when they first
arrived. They are now a basic necessity and few people can function without
them. Mobiles are now available with a wide variety of functions and features.
This also means that they range in price from a few hundred shillings to more
than a hundred thousand. It is understandable that everybody would like to have
an expensive phone. What is not so obvious to me is why someone would buy a
phone that is likely to be stolen just so that he can show off its unique
features that are completely useless to him.
I have seen people telling some youth in their
neighbourhood, “nitafutie simu” (find me a phone). My question is; where do you
expect your young neighbour’s son to get you a phone when you know very well he
does not own a phone shop? Aren’t you the one encouraging him to become a thief?
You do all this because you are comfortable enjoying something that belongs to
someone else irrespective of whether the owner is receiving a drip in hospital
or biting cotton wool in a mortuary as a result of the extraction method.
Household Items
When I was
growing up, entertainment was rare and was not considered a need. Most homes only
had radios just for tuning in to the news but few had phonographs. For those
too young to understand, a phonograph was the ancestor of today’s CD player and
was used for playing music using what were referred to as vinyl records. Today,
literally every home can boast of a colour TV and a DVD player. The demand,
particularly of DVD players is such that when a burglar breaks into a house, it
is the first thing he looks for. This, I am told, is because the demand for the
gadget is so high that the thief is guaranteed of selling it on the same day.
The new
owner of the stolen DVD will probably proudly show it off to his friends and
boast of how cheaply he got it especially considering the advanced features it
has. He will not care whose house was broken into or whose wife got raped in
the process.
Auctions
One can get
good items at auctions for extremely friendly prices. Auctions are supposed to
sell items that have been repossessed by money lenders of one kind or other.
The items are supposed to be cheap because their reserve price should be the
balance outstanding from the borrowed money. Inasmuch as auctions involve a lot
of tears for those who are being auctioned, they are perfectly legal. I have
however heard that some unscrupulous auctioneers use them as (dis)honest fronts
for quietly disposing stolen items. The thought that I could be buying stolen
property in disguise makes me wary of auctions.
Dirty Sack-Laden Parking Boys (Men)
I have
observed parking boys who normally rummage through garbage and carry big (and
usually oily) sacks. I hear most of them are looking for waste things such as
oil filters (don’t ask), paper, plastics, and wires, which they later go and
sell to recyclers. That sounds innocent enough. I have also unreliably heard
that some of them use the big sacks as camouflaged transportation for stolen
items such as radios and other electronics. Don’t quote the Layman on this one,
it is just a rumour – I have never inspected any of the dirty sacks.
Guns for Hire
I recently
read about a policeman who lost his gun while on duty. This would have been bad
enough as it was; only it was not. This was the second official firearm the
same policeman was losing. It was considered to be a highly suspicious case and
had more than meets the eye but I don’t know how it was concluded. There have
been reports in the past that some policemen have hired out their official guns
to thugs. The policemen are so comfortable with handling stolen property that
they are willing to facilitate in its acquisition. God save us!
P.S. I have been thinking; corruption
is still theft but by a different name and scale. It is such a joy for those
who partake in it.
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