FRUSTRATIONS THAT CAME WITH A FAILED APPLICATION FOR STUDY WHILE AT WORK IN THE GENERAL SERVICE UNIT AND MY RESPONSE MECHANISM

[Has been a while since i updated this blog. My Kind apologies for those who have been calling for an update especially to my loving 'daughter' pauline resh'. Here i go....!]

One day, the Officer commanding GSU Miti Mbili Camp called for a meeting with us in his Uni hut office. He talked to us and explained what his expectations from us were and after this called upon us to share with him any issue that we felt that deserved his attention.  I raised my issue which was that I had an admission letter to Kenya Institute of Studies in criminal Justice where I had been admitted for a course in forensic science and Criminology. He advised me to visit the Orderly, who in this case is an equivalent of a secretary who was to show me on how to draft an official letter to address the matter. I drafted a letter, to the Commissioner of Police, through commandant GSU and then through officer commanding Alpha Company who was the officer in charge GSU Miti Mbili Camp. To me, this was a like a break trough as I translated it to mean that I would soon be given permission for studies hence leave Miti Mbili and be transferred to Nairobi so as to start my studies. This was not the case as slightly after a week, I was called into the office and given a huge file that contained similar applications by other officers that were not only unsuccessful but came up with a warning that one should concentrate on the core functions of a police officer. I remember to date what I saw and the words read like this…‘You are still very green in the police force, concentrate on your core police functions!These letters were responses from the office of the then GSO who was Mr Saiya the current commandant General Service Unit. This broke my heart as it was now clear that I would stay there till the annual change over. I guess my commanding officer feared for ‘his life’ and opted not to forward my letter.

{Either way, for the years that I have worked in the police service, I have realized that there are those who will join the training school and after the pass out parade are posted to desirable places where they are able to study from a basic degree to even a PHD with a lot of ease. These are officers whose uncles, neighbors or even fathers are senior officers in the police service hence they encounter no difficulties while pursuing further education. One is shocked that these never report anywhere, some never even put on their uniforms but continue receiving their salaries for work not done. These characters will later be promoted and transferred to places of their choice and one can only have a rough idea of what it is like to work under such people. Most are abrasive, arrogant and exhibit all manner of ignorance in the manner in which they handle officers who may have issues from time to time. It’s all about who you know and who you are connected to}

Either way, after this failed attempt for permission to study, I  had to wait for another chance in future this case after the annual change over. After every one year in one camp, there is usually an annual change over where all the officers in one camp leave the place, others come and occupy it and the cycle continues till all camps are occupied by a whole new Company which comprises of three platoons where one is based at the base camp and the others at the out posts depending on the area and the nature of the duties around that area. The failed application came up as a big blow to my plans and due to peer pressure and frustrations, I started to engage in excessive drinking and ‘the cool me’ suddenly forgot all the values that I previously held. This was in a place called Chepchoina village or in Kitale Towm. A trip to Kitale meant that I would drink, party and engage in all manner of ills that a drunkard is usually at liberty to engage in. Kitale town is usually a very lively town and what I used to do was to take two days off duty commonly known as ‘48 Hours permission’,go to town, drink my self all day and night long and basically try to engage in all that I had not while in my local village and town. Kitale town is a place where almost all forces are usually well represented. From GSU,ASTU,KDF, GDs, APs amongst others which meant that partying was the order of the day and night and immorality ruled . From time to time, fights would arise, drunk men would injure each other only to realize that one was fighting an officer from other formations.  Some lost their lives here, others lost their jobs, their valuables and even one could apply for a loan and drink it out all. Call girls would at times drug patrons and steal from them all they had. After staying here for months, I was a completely different person having changed from bad to worse. 

 

When working here, I had an opportunity to visit the other two outposts where others officers from our company were based. These were Kapsang’ar and Kimothon. These were not better either and were in the far interior hence accessing them meant several hours driving on rough roads. Life here was a tough one too. The officers shared similar experiences like what was happening at the base camp; however, there were two most notable incidences that I may never forget anytime I thing about Miti Mbili GSU camp. One happened on a day that the platoon sergeant called us for an emergency task where he briefed us of a place where some stolen camels were spotted and we were required to recover them and return them to the owners. This meant that we left the camp hoping to return by the end of the day. This was not the case as we travelled miles and miles, past Kapenguria and then to a place called Wamba. From there we were joined by other officers from other formations for a joint operation. This was a mission that we were briefed to be a small one day task but changed to be a few days mission and on that fateful night, we had nothing to eat and the center where we spent the night had nothing to offer us not even a plate of food. The only thing that was available was Miraa and this was what I bought and chewed all night long. Those who could not chew the stuff had nothing much left but too sleep on the bare ground all night long. It was a cold night but having no option, we had to spend it that way. The second day saw us travel for so many kilometers into the interior still in search of the camels. On this day we did not succeed but by night time, we were lucky that there was some food but we had no plates! We had to use cartons for this mission and then sleep and rest in readiness for the third day of the search. On the the third day, no proper rest, no shower, no changing clothes and basically surviving like wild animals, we had to do a proper search to recover the camels and return them to the owners so as to prevent any retaliatory attacks. We were lucky as we found them abandoned and grazing somewhere. The camels were tied using ropes, loaded into police trucks, transported and taken back to the owners. Our job was done and the journey back to the camp started. Here, I learned a lesson and to me, no mission outside the camp was a small one hence I always left ready to return the same day but also ready to spend some time out in the night incase the situation dictated so.

The 'worst' that happened though was that before we left for the mission, we had cooked a whole Jogoo and chapos and locked them in our 'kabati, known as Amra' . After three days, this meal was already spoilt hence throwing it away was a decision that my tent mate and i had a hard time making. We had to throw it though, wash the utensils and hence learned a lesson that it is not good to be that mean as we should have called one of those close friends who was left in the camp and ask him to break the padlock, remove the meal and eat it. We were hoping to have reported back to the camp after a day but this was not the case hence we consoled our selves that any other day, we would better give it out to others rather that wait for the food to be spoilt and throw it away!

The other day was when we were called to re enforce our brothers at Chepchoina GSU Camp where the officers were under attack from bandits hence needed some back up. Our camp being located some few Kilometers away, we were the only help that was available for them. We arrived there, heavily armed and ready for the rescue mission. This camp was by then under the command of Mr Gichunge hence our officer commanding, Mr Muthui met him for briefing. The atmosphere was tense but we were lucky that the men on the ground managed to fight back the attackers who fled after what I guess was their side having incurred serious casualties if not loss of lives. This was a moment full of tension and luckily, they situation was brought under control hence we later left without having encountered the enemy one on one. This was one of the moments that reality strikes and what one was trained to do and quite often seen in movies is a one on one experience. Either way, we are trained hard hence we fight our enemies easily……!