An altercation ensued in the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) after a taxi driver locked a Kanjo askari inside his car, who had entered the vehicle accusing him of breaking the law.
In the video circulating on social media, the woman who had hailed the taxi questioned the reasons behind the city council officer's (kanjo) invasion, asking the officer whom he was working for.
“Where is your personal and work ID, produce them if you are a city council employee,” the woman demanded.
Sounding furious, the passenger instructed the driver to drive off with the askari, accusing him of requesting bribes.
“Drive, let’s go with him wherever we are going, you can’t just enter in a cab after I have requested claiming to be Askari,” she added.
The driver on realising the duo was serious about driving off with him started begging for his release, apologising for wasting their time, priming he had no ill intentions.
"Sorry, just let me go, I just wanted to enforce the law, I don’t want your money," pleaded the city council officer.
However, his pleas fell on deaf ears as both the woman and the driver refused to release him. It is yet to be established how the situation concluded, as the video recorded by the taxi customer ended abruptly after the officer started pleading for release.
In October 2023, a similar situation created an uproar online, after a woman getting harassed over parking spaces in Nairobi CBD drove off with a kanjo askari, accusing him of illegally attempting to arrest her and impound her car.
"Talk to the kanjo people to stop harassing people. Some of us are trying to make ends meet. I haven't stolen or shot anybody. I was just parking my car, and he jumped inside my car, and I decided to film him to teach him a lesson that it's not right to enter someone's car without their consent,” the lady stated addressing Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja.
According to the Traffic Act (Cap 403), licensed police officers are allowed to enter a person’s car, in the case that the vehicle needs examination and tests if linked to law-breaking.
The Act further states that it is lawful for police officers to ask car owners to surrender their vehicles to the police, upon reasonable suspicion of any offence under the Act.
