Why Kenya Police deserve the Nobel Prize for literature
Vigilance House in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | PHOEBE OKALL |
What you need to know:
- Granted, much of the outstanding contributions by the police remain largely in the province of myth and legend, but that should be no bar to the service being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
- After all, oral literature is as rich as the written word.
- The narratives produced by the Kenya Police Service are a unique contribution to the idealistic literature that would greatly benefit mankind if it was codified, recognised and exposed to the rest of the world.
Next month, when the Swedish Academy recognises those who confer the greatest benefit on mankind in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace, the Kenya Police Service should be on the list of winners.
Granted, much of the outstanding contributions by the police remain largely in the province of myth and legend, but that should be no bar to the service being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. After all, oral literature is as rich as the written word.
This week’s account of eight police officers with pretend guns entering a house in Kwale at the dark hour of 2am without a flashlight to find a criminal, and being forced to defend themselves from a panga-wielding 14-year-old girl crowns a long list of police stories that fit the Nobel criterion for outstanding, idealistic work in the field of literature.
Because the machete in the teenager’s hand was likely sharpened on both its edges, it glinted dangerously in the dark, giving the police a very clear picture of where danger would be coming from.
They had to shoot several times — first in the head to slow down the girl’s brain, and then perhaps in the arm and the torso to stop the blade swinging freely at the officers.
DISCOVERED IN A THICKET
Most likely, the 14-year-old panga wielder was shielding her dangerous criminal uncle or volunteering to be used a human shield. It is so hard to see clearly in the dark, when people look so much older than they really are.
Just to make sure the panga-wielder did not get up and stab the officers in the back, literally, they had to make sure the body was in an unfamiliar place. That is why it was discovered in a thicket and taken to the public morgue.
Obviously, since there has been a death in the family, it would be callous to find the uncle the police initially went in search of, arrest him and disclose the crime for which he was being sought.
When the investigations into the events of that night are completed, they will form part of the epic that is the Kenya Police story in which the mystery of the dead girl walking into the thicket where her body was found will be revealed.
ESCAPED UNSCATHED
Besides this saga, there are many legends, but none surpasses the one of heroic police officers at Mpeketoni station in Lamu, who escaped unscathed when a gang attacked and killed 48 villagers in a one night.
Other fables include that of the bulb that fell into a dustbin at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and caused the papers to explode. Four suspects were subsequently arrested and charged with terrorism offences.
At the Westgate Mall, last year, when the evil terrorists who had laid siege on the place and taken hundreds hostage got frustrated by the ceaseless gunfire from police and could not sleep, they set the mattresses on fire as an act of defiance, producing a great black smoke.
Since none of the terrorists walked out and no bodies were recovered, it is likely they were cremating themselves, seeing that they were suicidal.
And for good measure, the Nobel committee should also enjoy the story of the Senator’s driver who hit a billboard near the City Mortuary and confused the loud report with a gunshot, causing the politician to make a formal report about his life being in danger.
The narratives produced by the Kenya Police Service are a unique contribution to the idealistic literature that would greatly benefit mankind if it was codified, recognised and exposed to the rest of the world.
