Tatizo la Bongo sio uongozi tu, hata aje rais mchapa kazi vipi, msipobadilika nyie watendaji au wananchi, taswira itabaki ile ile. Nilijua kwa awamu hii ya Magufuli ambayo mumeisifia kwamba imefuta umaskini Tanzania, hawa omba omba wa kutokea huko Bongo waliojaa pembeni mwa barabara zetu watarudi kufurahia matunda ya mafanikio ndani ya nchi yao. Lakini ndio wanazidi kutiririka wakija.
Anyway, tuendelee kuwapokea tu maana EAC ni moja.
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It is 5.30am and a hazy dawn is just beginning to blend with the dim lights on a corner near the junction of Haile Selassie Avenue and Tom Mboya Street, Nairobi. The cacophony of blaring horns from matatus is just beginning to introduce the full-blast disorder that will dominate this downtown location all day.
A covered pick-up truck stops and from the back steps out a man clutching a thick canvas bag. The vehicle leaves him behind and he proceeds to lay a tattered carpet on a particular corner of a street. He wraps himself with what looks like a shredded blanket, before sitting on the carpet.
On the side, he displays a piece of paper with the writings: “In urgent need of surgery to save my leg from amputation. Please give your donation”, and it includes an M-pesa account. He stretches out a heavily bandaged leg and keeps groaning, seemingly in pain.
For one who has seen him walk to the place without limping, it is puzzling how he has suddenly turned into a ‘sickly’ beggar.
Cartel of cons
Omar Kibo, the name he gives when asked, is one in a large cartel of con beggars who fake sickness or other disability to reap money from unsuspecting city residents.
Many are said to have immigrated into the streets of Nairobi from neighbouring Tanzania, but there was no independent confirmation among about 10 beggars we surveyed for almost three weeks as they feigned disability.
As morning breaks on the city that is said to never sleep, several vehicles said to belong to cartels who ‘own’ a number of beggars wheel them into the city from rented hostels and other locations, mainly in Nairobi’s Eastlands, ready to make large money from the business.
You may have seen a beggar strategically stationed at a particular spot such as outside supermarkets and wondered just how they mark their territory because no one else is able to infiltrate their turf, mostly on the edge of CBD or downtown.
The People Daily secretly delved deep into their world to find out just how these men and women alleged to have travelled from Tanzania to take advantage of Kenyans’ generosity make a living far better than a majority of those who hurl coins into their begging bowls.
“It is true many of them come from Mwanza and Shinyanga. Some bring along innocent children we suspect are trafficked into the country to help in begging. That’s why you often see women with babies strapped to their back or hanging around,” said a Nairobi County inspectorate officer who is in a team that has been working to keep beggars off the CBD.
The inspectorate officer, who did not want to be identified as he is not the county official spokesperson, said the handlers of the beggars bring them to Nairobi and help them acquire ID cards. Some have genuine disabilities but some are able-bodied.
As early as 5am, the city receives its first batch of the beggars who arrive from Babadogo and Kariobangi in large numbers and are hurriedly pushed to their ‘work stations’ by their handlers who pose as relatives or helpers.
A Kenyan woman with sight disability who begs in the city’s Mfangano street says the Tanzanian beggars dominate spots which they don’t allow others to beg from.
A beggar in a strategic location can collect as much as Sh5,000 per day. However, for those managed by cartels, they must hand over the money in the evening when the same vehicles return to pick them home.
One of the beggars, we were told, spends comfortable weekends patronising clubs in Eastlands, drinking and entertaining girlfriends.
The County government denies working to target any Tanzanians working in the city as beggars.
“We do not have any of our workers operating against the said beggars, we do not bother with them as long as they don’t break the law,” says County Executive Member for Youth affairs, Children and Social Services Ann Lokidor.
Not ours
Our effort to get a comment from the Tanzanian High Commission in Nairobi on how many of their citizens roam the city as beggars was met with resistance by an embassy official who vehemently denied the claims saying that the mission was not aware of such people.
“There is no way to prove that these people are indeed Tanzanians and if you believe they are then have your government bring them to our offices for verification to prove that,” said a diplomat at the mission.
The National Council for Persons with Disability (NCPD), however, says that they are aware of a number of Tanzanians in the country who have taken to begging by faking disability.
Alex Munyere who is in charge of assistive devices at NCPD says the council offers every Kenyan with disability a card from the county government to use should they want to solicit for help from pedestrians. “The county workers can easily determine if these are Kenyans by checking their ID cards and their NCPD card,” he says.
Munyere says that NCPD offers wheelchairs that are clearly branded for those who want to beg for alms.
‘Tanzanian’ beggars fake disability to reap from Nairobi streets