Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja sought to clarify an incident where a man was captured crying and handcuffed inside a lorry in Nairobi.
Sakaja made the clarification on March 9, 2024, following an uproar from Kenyans online who called him out to deal with Nairobi City County enforcement officers popularly known as Kanjos, that were alleged to have cuffed the man.
The governor however refuted the claims that Kanjos were behind the incident, in turn noting that the man was cuffed by an assistant chief.
“This gentleman was not cuffed by City inspectorate officers but by the assistant chief. We have escalated the issue to the County Commissioner David Wanyonyi to get to the bottom of it as Chiefs fall in his structure,” said Governor Sakaja.
Man faults city officials
The video captured the man who was in a red shirt on the driver’s seat inside a lorry handcuffed by who he alleged were Kanjos.
In the video seen by The Kenya Times, the man who said he was behind the wheel when the incident happened, was seen crying as he was being recorded.
The man further claimed that the Kanjos handcuffed him inside the lorry before leaving him stranded inside.
As he was being recorded, the driver claimed to have been left in cuffs by after being accused of violating traffic rules by blocking a road within the Muthurwa area in Nairobi.
He alleged that the people behind the incident got into the truck to solve the matter but in turn handcuffed him after he failed to ‘cooperate with them’.
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It is not however clear why the alleged the people behind the incident did not arrest the driver, in turn opting to leave him in cuffs.
“See this driver is crying. The driver came here looking for something to feed his kids. Right now, he has been handcuffed. He is being accused of blocking the road. The ones accusing him of such left him with cuffs,” said the unidentified person who was recording the video.
The man behind the video called out for Governor Sakaja to intervene as he questioned why the man was not arrested if he was in the wrong.
Sakaja called out
Popular comedian Eric Omondi was among Kenyans online who reacted to the video with a majority section making an appeal to Sakaja to take action.
Omondi offered to help the man as he shared the video on his social media platform on March 9, 2024, making an appeal to Kenyans to help him locate the man.
“Help me locate this man so that we can help him. Help me please,” Omondi pleaded.
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A user named Allan Obare described the incident as inhuman as he made an appeal to the governor.
“What problem do these Nairobi Kanjos have? They handcuffed a man and left him inside the vehicle. This is inhuman. Governor Johnson Sakaja you should address this immediately,” he said.
At the same time, another user named Bonnie Atena said the incident was unfair questioning why the driver was not arrested if he was on the wrong.