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……!

LIFE IN MY FIRST WORK STATION…..(WELCOME TO MITI MBILI GSU BASE CAMP)

After traveling for two days we arrived at this ‘strange’ place called Miti Mbili that I hated from the word go but with nothing much to do as I had no other option, I joined others and we started taking out our belongings from the lorry and as we were doing this, other officers who we met at the camp were busy erecting a new tent that was big enough to accommodate all of us and after they were done, we got in, un packed our belongings, made our beds and from the look of things, there was no life here. No privacy, no electricity, no clean drinking water, no well done toilets and even the bathroom was a poorly done structure without a permanent door.

We were given time to settle, mingle with other officers, be taken round for orientation and after this was done, we were good to go! Life in a General Service Unit camp is not easy. It is more or less a routine set up. One wakes up in the morning, makes breakfast, shines the boots, puts on the uniform and makes sure that by seven forty five in the morning, he is in a Tamaam parade and is ready for inspection . In this case, inspection entails checking whether ones head is clean shaven, beards too, boots well polished, the fire arm well cleaned and in general that one is in good physical state. This is usually the time to apply for permission to get out of the camp for personal matters, request for an off duty and also time for any communication which is usually done verbally or via a signal that is read to the officers by the section commanders.

A GSU camp is worse than a boarding school if i may be asked. This is because an officer is mature, well trained and past eighteen years of age but leaving the camp without permission usually attracts a booking into the occurrence book as it is an offense namely ‘breaking from the police camp without permission’. This leads to what is commonly known as ‘kushitakiwa/mashtaka’ which is also inserted into ones service file and also attracts a salary deduction whose figure is usually determined by the presiding officer. This is usually not a welcome story as being punished in this case can prevent one from attending a promotion board, from a transfer or even consideration for any new deployment that may arise.

From inspection parade, it is usually time for what is commonly known as ‘Fatique’ which is time to cut grass/slash grass, prepare our tents and make sure that in case the rains fall, there is no way that water can come in and even ferry with it our personal effects. This involves fastening the tents, preparing trenches that can easily contain water flow and in some cases undertake other manual tasks that the platoon sergeant may find necessary.

This is usually time to allocate work duties that may have arisen over nite and when there are no foot patrols, Lost animal recovery missions or any other out of camp assignments, officers break from the fatiques and head to their tents where the process of preparing lunch starts. In here, one rarely cooks alone. We used to get into groups of twos or threes, do some collaboration and then cook together. Early lunch is valued as one may be called for an emergency assignment hence staying full is important. Use of charcoal jikos was the common thing here and kerosene was only used when making breakfast. At times though, one would light the jiko early and after preparing breakfast hand it over to other colleagues who would use it for the same purpose.

At times, officers would not be set free after the morning parade but would be assigned some silly tasks by the officer commanding through the immediate supervisors. The worst that ever happened when we were here was when a senior officer used to allocate juniors duties like cutting and ferrying timber that he would sell to timber Merchants. This would result to a conflict with forest officers and someone would use his connections to silence them. One day, a GSU lorry ferrying timber to Kitale was intercepted by forest officers but thanks to a well connected cartel the officers involved negotiated a deal and the vehicle was released. One of the officers who was a lead scout in this trade would later be sacked after they were caught with a similar cargo on board a GSU lorry elsewhere.

At times, the officers would buy maize or collude with corrupt agricultural development corporation officers where maize would be stolen from their farms, sold to the senior officer where he would then force us to sort the maize, pack it in bags and then load them to a GSU lorry ready for transport and sale.  This is just a tip of the ice berg on how senior police officers used to mis-use the human resource under them and even government resources too.Any attempt to raise a red flag would meet the worst form of punishment and one could either be transferred, intimidated or even sacked over fake allegations hence the only option was to comply.At times though, some  days days were cool and we were free to do our things with minimal interference.

In a relatively normal day and when matters seemed favorable, some officers would sneak into the nearby villages namely Kambi Nyoka, Cherubai amongst others which marked the beginning of a Busaa/Chang’aa drinking spree. This would take place till some minutes to two so as to ensure that one was back in camp in readiness for the afternoon tammam parade which is more or less similar to the morning one apart from the fact that this was usually the time to allocate duties which involved night and day camp guard duties, foot patrols, and ambush duties which involved providing all night guards to the Agricultural development Corporation farms. This was in a place called Ngata firm and Njapata firms.

Due to lack of well locked rooms, some officers would steal blankets, Kerosene Lamps and stoves and other personal effects, sneak them out of camp and sell them to some village merchants and then use this money to buy the illicit brews. One would even come across what was once his during the foot patrols and when we investigated on how the item left the camp and found itself in the village, we would establish that one of our own or several others were responsible for this. In here, officers ceased to be living beings and turned to be  'animals' as one could even sell his own belongings just for a cup of illicit brew. Others would get lost in these dens and lose their jobs !

When it was peak time, work was not easy over here owing to the fact that this was a bandit prone area and at times, they would hit nearby villages, take away cattle and even kill the villagers. This called for an immediate response where our work was mainly to track them, recover the cattle and take them to their owners. It would take some days or even a week to recover them and at times even after fighting the bandits, a number of them would be left engaging us while the others were left driving the cattle away and tracking them would not be possible. This would in future attract retaliatory attacks from the affected ones and the cycle continued.

When Sunday came, it was usually time for church and one had to ask for permission to attend church service outside the camp. This i did most of the times but at times I would be working hence could not go to church. This was not easy for me as it was routine work from Monday to Sunday hence my desire to seek for a better way out grew stronger and stronger.The catholic church here was a mud walled structure where we used to sit on logs and was located some considerably short distance from a Uganda people defense forces camp along the Kenya~Uganda boarder and gun shots were the order of the day but still, we conducted our mass without much worries.

Basically there was no life there if i was asked....!

AFTER THE PASS OUT PARADE, AND THE JOURNEY TO MY NEW WORK STATION…..

After the pass out parade, we were granted 30 days annual leave and left to our respective homes. I travelled safely, arrived home and let my folks know of the posting which went well with all having known Kitale as a maize producing part of this nation. (Little did they know that there was another bandit prone part of Kitale and to be specific the place where I was posted)

I spent most part of the annual leave at home with mum since she had by then  closed down the butchery and the small café that she was running before I left to Embakasi owing to low business activity and was now doing dairy farming and other household chores. One of the hall marks of this leave was sharing with her how life at training school and Magadi was. She was shocked of what I went through as I narrated it bit by bit and In details but was also glad that I had successfully gone through the training. She also used this opportunity to help me to remove some small thorns ‘Commonly known as ngoja ngoja’ from my palms which were as a result of the field training and had been immersed in my body for some months.

Friends still visited, came with gifts and were ready to help me start my new life. I was given money to buy household items and I must appreciate that the sum was handsome and by the time my annual leave was over, I was ready to go and start a new life. It was my hope that as much as police officers were known to live in deplorable conditions, I would have a different experience having seen the GSU being more organized that out counterparts, General duties….(Little did I know that the biggest shock of my life in the GSU was awaiting me ahead…..)

I left home ready to start life in Kitale. I was escorted to the stage, left for Nairobi and then to Embakasi where we were all required to report and board Lorries that were supposed to take us to our newly posted camps. At Embakasi, we chatted with those who we were to travel to Kitale with as we loaded our goodies onto the Lorries ready to travel. We shared so much, asked each other questions and also were eager to know what our new stations looked like.

After packing all that we were to carry to the bush, in huge convoys, both carrying personell and goods, we left the training school and our journey started. Since we had started late, we could not get to kitale by night fall hence we were to have an overnight stop over at Eldoret State Lodge where we were expected to sleep and then very early in the morning embark on the remaining part of the journey. This would turn out to be one place that I would never like to experience what I passed through on that fateful night again.

This was the day that a watchman ‘saved’ my life and career too….!

While in Eldoret state lodge,we felt that there was no need to sleep as we had to spend the night in the Lorries and since most of the collegues that we were with were from this region, they came up with a plot that we were to sneak out of the camp having our  military uniform intact but we were to conceal it with civilian clothes at the bottom and  put on civilian Tshirts on top. One notable case was that we were all in our shiny military boots thus anyone could easily identify that we were sharing a thing or two in common. However, this was not a big deal as we were out for a mission, to enjoy and party all night long.

We left for Paradise hotel where we were noy only partying but were up to out do each others drinking and dancing prowess. We started drinking beer and dancing and owing to our huge numbers and our ‘fat’ wallets, we literally took tool over the club as almost all tables were occupied by us and the twilight girls were also in plenty as they took this opportunity to welcome the new boys in town. We partied for hours and before midnight, I and two of my friends were very drunk having swallowed one two many. The ladies who were in our company having been not drunk like us tricked us into leaving the hotel to their residence where we would ‘rest’ and then wake up very early in the morning and head back to state lodge.

We walked outside the hotel and one of them signaled a Cab/Tuk Tuk that was to take as to Langas where they were claiming to reside. As we were boarding the taxi, a watchman who was standing outside the club noted that we were police officers and were new in town and having known these ladies signaled me to get out for a minute. Luckily and I would say by the mighty hand of God, I responded to his call and he told me that once we left to where we were going, we would be robbed along the way and all we had taken away as this was what the ladies were well known of.

I took  his warning seriously and I guess from the shock of what was waiting us ahead, I got a little bit sober than my colleagues and demanded that they alight from the taxi. With some resistance, I forced them out and told them what plan was in place and luckily they listened to me. Would we have fallen into the trap, that would have seen us stranded out there, left by others as they went to the final destination and the GSU Known not to compromise on discipline issues, am sure we would have been sacked immediately.

We went back to the hotel and danced till some minutes to four where we started trooping back to the state lodge ready for the remaining part of the journey. I took it upon myself to ensure that every officer who was here left the place but shockingly most of them resisted to leave the company of ladies that they were sharing the table with while others were almost out of order. Either way, we were able to convince them to leave and in their drunkenness were at last in the lodges ready for the journey.

The journey started and after some few hours, we were in Kitale town. We had a stopover and trooped to Khetias supermarket where we were to do some shopping. Hoping that I was to go to a house, I shopped huge using that money that most of my friends and visitors had given me so as to start life with plus money from my savings. The supermarket attendants were very helpful in helping me identify some essential house hold items. After choosing what I thought was necessary for a starter, it was time to pay and then all was packed in cartons ready for transport and use.

The time that was allocated for shopping elapsed hence we all congregated at an agreed spot, loaded the shopping onto our trucks ready for the last leg of our journey. We left Kitale town and headed towards the Suam-Endebess road which was an all weather road. To my dis beleif, we had left the town area and were headed to another place that had rained so much, the road was muddy but passable. We soon got to Chepchoina shopping center and hoping that we were home at last, that was not to be. We had to travel approximately a kilometer and a half from the center, leave the main road and now join another road that was heading to the camp. I started sensing some ‘danger’ now that I thought that we were going to a town only to leave all the towns behind, the all weather roads behind and now onto a poorly done road to an isolated camp on a hilly location.

From the main road, it was a five minutes drive but on this material day, I found like it was taking ages before we got to the camp. All in all, we were there and standing on the top of the troop carrier, my worst fears were confirmed! I saw bush tents, uni huts and no permanent structures that resembled houses that I thought would be my new residence. I was really upset by these findings and I must admit that it took ma ages to accept that this was my newly found work station.

It was time to alight from the lorry and for sure, I was in a lot of conflict with my self as I never thought that one day in my life, I would live in such a place. In this case, I had no better option but to agree to the fact that I could not change the situation as per then but with time, I vowed to do something and this would be through a letter that I received while in the training school giving me an opportunity to study at Kenya Institute of criminal Justice.

This gave me hope, at least for a while....!

OFF TO MID COURSE BREAK AND LIFE AFTER MAGADI FIELD TRAINING

After being given permission to  proceed  for mid course break, i woke up the following day, so early, got prepared, picked some few photographs so as to use them to explain to my family, friends and relatives of what I was going through and may be they would get a rough idea of what life at the training school was like as was captured in the photos.

Having visited this part of the country for the first time in my life, commuting from Embakasi could not have been easy. Luckily, the training school management had put in some arrangements with Citti Hoppa bus company to come up to the Training school gate hence we were picked from there and dropped  in the town center. How I got to Tea room, where I picked a matatu to Kerugoya remains unclear but thanks God, I got home.

On alighting from the stage, in my home town, I realized that things had changed. 'My statu's had changed in that those who never cared to say hi when I was a butcher, had a reason to do so. Those who never knew me before joining GSU Training school were made to know me by my friends; those who thought that I was on a full salary could also dare demand for some few coins for soda and tea. Young men of my age could ask for some few coins for ‘removing lock’ which means a bottle or two to beat the early morning hangover.

There were mixed expressions from different people but all in all, I was the first from my immediate village to join the General Service Unit hence had to answer so many questions on the same. There were so many myths about this Unit hence I spent the one week break trying to demystify them which was not easy as I had not known all about GSU in and out. The one week break elapsed so fast having been one that I was trying to catch up with most of my friends and also visit my extended family members who lived elsewhere.

After the expiry of the break, I later boarded a Matatu to Nairobi and was directed to Embakasi stage  by the conductor without wasting a minute lest I got lost or even mugged. I boarded the next moving vehicle that took me up to GSU Training School gate in Embakasi. I alighted and joined my colleagues for the last leg of training. The evening was characterized by each of us narrating a story of what that week outside the training school gate was all about and one similarity was that the break was much needed and was a fruitful one in search of ‘finishing power’.  It was soon time to retire to bed that I really had waited for.

After nightfall, we woke up and got ready to start the days activities. Were invited for a brief meeting by the officer commanding junior training wing Mr Kodi who made it clear that it was time to start fine tuning matching drills in readiness for the big day, the pass out parade.  This would later see us spending much of the remaining time at the drill square so as to ensure that we would not be the first batch of recruits to lower parade standard as  the GSU is well known for a well organized and almost perfect parade and in our case, we never let the standards drop not even an inch lower!

Days passed on faster than usual as we were rarely mis treated as was the norm before and after some time, our counterparts who Joined Police Training College Kiganjo passed out. This was a pointer that our day was close  too! It is worth noting that this last session was not very difficult as we were treated with some degree of dignity and the all time nasty instructors had engaged a low gear and could now sit with us and reason with us too. This was a much needed moment as for once, i enjoyed life inside the training school to some extent.

Some weeks to the big day, i was called at the Junior training wing office and handed over a letter that came from Kenya Institute of Studies in Criminal Justice. I had been called upon to study a higher diploma in forensic science and Criminology. To me, this came early enough and in time as I translated it to mean that I would be posted at the training school or at a station/camp within Nairobi so as to start my studies. This was not to come as on enquiring, I was informed that I would be posted anywhere irrespective of this letter but was advised to officially apply for permission to study once I got there. (This permission would never be granted…..!)

Putting that behind and not losing the whole picture. I swallowed the bitter pill and still never lost faith that one day, I would graduate with a degree irrespective of any existing and forthcoming obstacle. We were later informed that on 10/09/2005, we were to pass out and hence required to communicate this to our family and friends. The Big day became a reality and as early as 0300Hrs in the morning, families, friends and relatives had started trooping in. By six in the morning we were in our ceremonial attire and ready to ‘Ice Our Cake’ after months of baking it!

We did our parade, took the oath, listened to speeches, dis missed from the parade, returned the G3 rifles used during the parade to the amoury and then time to meet those who had come to celebrate the big occasion with us came. I was and will forever remain grateful to the Lord. I was visited by so many. Young and Old, male and female but also guess that nay Sayers also came in to confirm whether I had completed the training or it was just a PR exercise. To their shock, I had done it!

They brought with them cash and non cash prizes, words of advice and encouragement and one lady named Rose Kinyua, who is  my neighbor had made me two delicious cakes that really made the occasion be more colorful. I also thank Mum for being so well organized as she was accompanied by a large number of friends who were never ashamed of expressing pride in a son of one of their own! We sang, danced and had merry.

I was also advised on so many matters and on this day, one uncle of mine, Mr Gachoki told me something that backed my long time desire to undertake further studies. He told me that it was time that I took it upon my self and enrolled for part time studies now that it was possible to do so. The day was superb and must admit that it was one of the most memorable days of my life. Time passed on so fast and  soon, it was 1700Hrs. Visitors were required to leave and we were left behind so as to be informed of our posting. 

The posting list would later be made available and read to us . I was posted to GSU Miti Mbili Camp in Kitale. This was located some few kilometers from the Kenya Uganda Boarder. We were granted our annual leave, left our luggage at Embakasi where we would later be picked and taken to our work stations. To God be the Glory that I gotten to this point after what I would say was 9 Months plus that changed me into the officer that I am today from a ‘raia’ that I was before 28/12/2004!