What Would Jesus Do?
I was traveling from Kisumu to Rarieda, my home town, on Friday 19th July, by matatu, the local means of transport. As we neared Ndori, one of the small towns along that road, two traffic policemen flagged us down, and the matatu driver obediently did so. As the matatu stopped, the conductor removed Kshs. 100 and dropped it on the ground for the policemen, then begun to speed off.
I immediately commanded the driver to stop, for I had already witnessed such bribery twice on this particular journey, and was so sick of this. I alighted from the vehicle, held the two policemen, and enquired why they were taking bribes.
As the commotion ensued, the policemen stumbled and their hats fell off, which they saw as an affront. One of the officers called the base commander who was not far off, since the road block was close to the police station.
Meanwhile, the one hundred shillings note was still lying on the ground.
Mr. Sonye enjoying God's favor...
A few minutes later, five policemen arrived with guns, handcuffed me, and drove me to the Ndori Police Station. On arrival, they booked me in with trumped up charges of assaulting police officers while on duty.
Both the matatu I was in, and another that had been stopped followed us into the police station. The passengers, the drivers and conductors had begun shouting and questioning why I was being held. They were in the compound for about 30 minutes, before they left.
Amidst the entire fracas, I was able to make several phone calls to friends to let them know that I was in police custody. After an hour, a Land Rover came transferred me to Bondo Police station where I was locked up again.
However, I was treated well in Bondo. My two cellmates and I were brought for dinner, at 6 p.m., comprising of cold ugali (maize meal) and dry sukuma (kales) without soup.
David with his family...
The Officer Commanding Station (OCS) started questioning me about who I was, why I was that bold, why I caused trouble, where I work, among many other questions. At about 7pm, the overall boss, the Officer Commanding Police Department (OCPD), arrived and called me to his office.
The OCPD then invited me to have a seat on the floor! He proceeded to ask for the full story, which I narrated to him. After which, he informed me that he had been instructed to release me, unconditionally!
I was overjoyed to leave the cell, which was in a sorry state. However, before I left, I bought sodas for the two cellmates I had, who were now my friends, as well as a lady who was in the adjacent cell.
On the following Monday, 25th July, I visited the Integrity Centre and discovered that a friend who works there had heard about my arrest and incarceration and called Kisumu authorities, who in turn called Bondo to release me. I have been informed that while at Bondo Police Station, the charges had been changed and I was to be arraigned in Court and charged with being in possession of Bang (Marijuana)!
In both police stations, I was not overly scared since I know I had done the right thing, after considering the common phrase. “What would Jesus do?” However, next time, I will have to employ more tact!
Convictions:
I hate corruption and I have written about it in the newspapers but nothing has been done. This time, I couldn’t hold back and I had to do something. I believe God is the one who gave me the courage to do so.
I am currently a student of Governance at NIST and this also gave me a boost in standing up against corruption.
The OCPD in Bondo police station was shocked at my courage. He said he has been there for two years but has never seen or heard of anyone confronting the police. I plan to go back and share the gospel of Jesus with the base commander.
I decided to share my story with you that you may be aware about how the society operates, and know the cost one may have to pay for speaking or standing against social ills in our society. Corruption will take time, sacrifice and courage before it dies, but I believe that we need to get out of fear and use all approaches we can to fight the vice.
The one thing that spoke so loudly for me is when a friend from Integrity Centre said he knew me and knows there was no way I could be involved in drugs.
What about you? What will people say about you if you got wrongfully arrested? Will they defend you? Think over that…
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i commend you for standing up against corruption and blatant abuse of office by those we should be looking upto to help confront the ills in our society. keep it up bro. the Lord proved faithful and he always will.
blessings n courage