Written By Joyce Nzomo
Martin, a 60-year-old kiosk owner at Makongeni market, still vividly remembers the morning he was attacked by a young man inside a public washroom.
“I remember that day as if it was yesterday,” he says.
“I had just closed my kiosk briefly to relieve myself at the Black B Max Pub washrooms. Just as I entered, another man walked in behind me. I didn’t see his face, and at first, I assumed it was someone I knew.”
But what seemed like a normal encounter turned sinister in a matter of seconds. As Martin stood at the urinal, the stranger suddenly blindfolded him.
“I thought it was a joke. I assumed it was someone playing around. But then, he slammed my head against the wall and snatched my Mkopa phone before dashing out. He left me there, confused and in pain. He didn’t care what would happen to me.”
Despite trying to chase after the man, Martin couldn’t catch him. He later went to the Makongeni Police Station, where he filed a report.
An officer was assigned to his case, and together, they returned to the pub.Fortunately, the pub had CCTV cameras.
The owner was notified and came over to review the footage. What they found shocked everyone, especially the waiters and the owner.
“They were surprised to see that the attacker was someone they all knew ;one of their regulars. His name was Roba.”
That same evening, Roba casually returned to the pub, unaware that his crime had been captured on video. The police were tipped off.
As he was placing an order for beer, officers arrived and arrested him on the spot. At the station, Martin was called in. Initially, Roba denied the attack. But once he was shown the CCTV footage, he confessed.
When asked about the stolen phone, Roba revealed he had already sold it to a Burundian national living in Kenya.
He admitted that the money he got from the sale was what he intended to spend that night.Police then contacted his mother, who lives in Nairobi.
She was devastated but not surprised. It wasn’t Roba’s first run-in with the law.
“She told the officers to keep him in the cells for a few days. She was tired of his behavior and didn’t know what else to do,”
Martin recalls.
Roba was later arraigned in court that Friday. The magistrate encouraged both parties to settle the matter outside court if possible.
After some discussion, a resolution was reached: Roba would replace Martin’s stolen phone and pay him Ksh 12,000 to cover the medical expenses for his injuries.
Reflecting on the incident, Martin expressed concern over the rising cases of youth involved in such crimes.
.“Many of them are doing this either to fund their drug use or because they are already under the influence. Parents need to play a bigger role in guiding their children. If Roba had killed me, he’d be in prison for life—or worse, maybe a mob would have lynched him. It’s getting out of hand.”
