THE CHRONICLES OF A FRESHA CONTINUES
The first commandment that you shall never forget during a strike in Kenya is..
Thy shall interact with tear gas anytime after the strike begins....Bearing this in mind, bottles of water and wet handkerchiefs were in plenty,,,zilikuwa #wellewelle before polisi watuimbie #nyongwa
I don't know how police receive news that an institution is going on strike because they were already on location, armed to the teeth. To calm the anxiety, the chairman assured us that it would be a peaceful demonstration and he will not allow any police officer to engage a student into running battles (i wondered whether he was the commander in chief or inspector general). This was enough conviction for the students to start the "peaceful" demonstration.
"vinnie shika hizi vitu mbebe na mueke vizuri zionekane," one of the student leaders blurted placing a bunch of placards on my hands. They were extremely heavy and they carried a strong message that my fellow freshas and I were to carry along. first things first, we removed the school flag, burnt it but we did not touch the Kenyan flag because it is a symbol of sovereignty (to be sincere i don't know what the word means i just over hear it with politicians, especially the guy who goes to ICC as a private citizen). After this was done, we matched to the streets and the freshas carrying the placards were paraded on the front line with the full glare of the media. When i said i have never appeared on TV i lied, this day i received live coverage from the biggest media companies in Kenya; however, i was dressed in such a way that eradicated my recognition permanently.
Within five minutes of our appearance, businesses started closing, matatus and other private cars started clearing the road. That is when i realized it was a serious thing. Imagine closing businesses at Haile Sallasie Road. wait a minute, do you know the kind of businesses that operate on this road? Time towers that houses KRA, Central Bank of Kenya, Railways Corporation, Several commercial banks and other major businesses were all closing down. Organizations that are manned by a hoard number of security officers and tight surveillance.
Chaos were starting and tension was skyrocketing as white smoke started uprising bringing a stampede all over. A fresha is still a fresha with behavior of a mono. This is because i got engulfed in the comrade power thing and started undressing, revealing my identity. It was fun seeing police throw tear gas canisters as hockey players would hit it back with the hockey sticks and it would get back to the police. Gor Mahia and AFC fans were very experienced at this game as they carried buckets of water where they would dip the teargas canister until it became docile. One thing that amused me is that the haille salasie road is tarmacked but i could see stones flying over like Taliban missiles. For Kiambu students, it was business as usual as they hawked water bottles to people who could not handle the tear gas. Surprisingly, they had low-flat shoes that they sold to ladies since they could not run with heels and tight up skirts. My western friends were struggling with the open food kiosk to scramble for the available food. "Amerucans' or Vaites and kisii were busy unleashing their tempers by harassing by-passers and motorists. Coast students were still preparing to start the show as their north-eastern counter parts spat on everyone at sight. All in all everyone was doing something totally wrong.
GSU and Anti-Riot police were just speculating the drama from a safer distance all that long. It was their time to enter and substitute the weak regular police. It was not fun anymore, it was drama, this when the comrade power started experiencing blackout. They came with a huge green lorry that dispatched them at various corners. There was another lorry that carried water with a huge pipe and it was splashing the water heavily. With my fresha mind, i thought this was a relieve as i run towards the lorry to get washed and refresh. I can tell you I was really stupid, the water was itchy, i scratched my body so rough that i could not move. Every part of the body was itching and around 15 police were pursuing me at higher speed than NFS. They were lifting their heavy rungus, whips and muzzle guns. I wondered whether to scratch my body, run away or just wake up from the horrendous dream. I thought our chairman had said that police wont hurt us.
I was motivated to run when i saw another lady who was in a mini-skirt pass me at a supersonic speed. Before i made my mind, one police managed to reach my back with his whip. I automatically accelerated and i guess i was moving at a speed of 30km/hr. The situation was getting bad as i could see ladies cry as police beat them mercilessly. Men were not spared as they received kicks and blows as they were being carried into the police lorry like ragged clothes. This was the moment that TV reporters were looking for news items as i intermingled with them as they flanked my face with their huge cameras. My oh my, the situation was getting worse as my shoes got lost, my shirt was torn and the entire body was in pain. The least i needed was to stop running because police were everywhere. Lucky enough, I managed to enter the railway station by jumping over the fence. The police at the station did not notice as they were busy calming the situation. I sat at an isolated corner waiting for the evening train patiently as i feared everybody would turn me in.
Demonstrations are not good, but they are unavoidable. One lesson though, do not strike blindly, know the cause and the consequence first. The Chronicles of a Fresha is out.
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