John
Kiggia Kimani’s Life and Times of a Bank
Robber is testimony of the persona’s engagement with and about crime. It is
the story of Kimani’s life from a time of innocence in his childhood to his
experiences as a criminal in teenage and adulthood. The autobiography reconstructs
Kimani’s early life experiences and shows how these sow a seed of a life of
iniquities in him.
As
a young boy, Kimani confesses to having been thrust into adulthood responsibilities
without his consent: “I was forced by circumstances to go to Nairobi when I was
barely twelve”. Because his father gets captured along with other Mau Mau
members, Kimani is obliged to travel to Nairobi to pick up his father’s property.
This serves as a good reason for him to visit Nairobi a place that he has
already fallen in love with: “I had made up my mind that the city was my
place”. He is ensnared by the glamour and glitter of the city.
Unfortunately,
the persona is not privy to the fact that beneath the city’s glamour lurks a
world of unequal opportunities built around colonial discrimination and hatred
for the Mau Mau sympathisers. When Kimani attempts to make ends meet in the
city, he finds it arduous and he ends up being easily lured to engage in
business ventures that drive him into crime.
One
of the businesses he tries his hand in is a hawking business. It is reminiscent
of the power games that hawkers and city council askaris engage in within
Nairobi today. Although he later tries importing bananas from Uganda, Kimani
admits that the enticement of crime money is more potent than any other source
of income. Macharia, his “worthy lieutenant” not only initiates him into crime,
but also tutors him to master the survival techniques especially dodging police
dragnets.
Kimani
gangs up with other criminals and although he starts off with petty crimes like
selling stolen goods, picking pockets, and car break ins etc., he eventually
graduates into a hard-core criminal. Thereafter, he becomes their leader and
commandeers his gang to conduct bank heists. It is interesting to note that the
transition from petty crime to armed crime is carefully described with an adventurous
spirit that resonates with the reader and makes it possible for him/her to believe
in Kimani’s story.
This
is a story of a chequered past and a traumatic childhood exacerbated by
colonial prejudice. It forms part of the rationale that Kimani uses to justify
his deterioration into crime. Growing up and seeing the white settlers having
everything in abundance whilst his people wallowed in abject poverty serves to
fuel his prejudice against them. It is no wonder that the white people end up
constituting a big part of his victims as he commits crime as part of wreaking
vengeance against an unjust system.
However,
it is Kimani’s spiritual reflections whilst in prison that helps him to
transcend the shortcomings of crime and punishment. During his prison sentence,
he realises that there are many more criminals in society like cruel prison
warders. As a result, he develops a contrite heart and triumphs over crime.
Thereafter, he emerges as a transformed man and reintegrates back into the
society to lead his life as a redeemed soul.
PS: This article was first published by The People Daily and is available here: http://mediamaxnetwork.co.ke/peopledaily/94380/walk-criminals-underworld/
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