How “mama wa kufua” are raped in Kayole as police look away

A police station in Nairobi’s Kayole area is on the spotlight over what appears to be a deliberate failure to act against perpetrators of rape against who go around doing domestic chores for pay.



Kurunzi News can reveal that police at the station have been complicit and reluctant to take action on reports by residents, who accuse the officers of demanding for bribes to arrest men accused of raping women.



According to reports, the men are luring women into their houses in the name of needing the services of “mama wa kufua“.



Nearly a dozen rape incidents have been reported at the station but the complainants and residents say no arrest has been made despite the perpetrators being well known.



Mwikali, not her real name, has told Kurunzi News that police have been demanding for ‘fuel’ for the police to arrest a man who raped her and brutalized her in his house after inviting her to go help her with laundry.



“Ilikuwa mwendo wa saa moja nikiwa namalizia kazi akanisalimia akaniambia natafuta mtu wa kufua nguo (It was around 7.00pm just as I was about to close for the day, he greeted me and told me he was looking for someone to help him with cleaning his laundry),” Mwikali, a vendor who sells nuts and candy in Kayole told Kurunzi in an exclusive interview.



“Nikamwambia ndio, naendanga hata Umoja ndio akaniambia twende nikuonyeshe nyumba ndio kesho ukuje kufua. Bibi yangu ni mgonjwa ako kwa nyumba (I told him I do and I even go as far as Umoja then he told me to follow to his house so that I could go the following morning to do the washing. My wife is unwell in the house).”




But all that was a lie, Mwikali had been deceived into a rape ordeal. When reaching the house, the man slammed the door shut, undressed and started hitting her before undressing her and getting on with his mission.



“Akaniambia unyamaze uwache kupiga makelele ufanye chenye nataka. Hii nyumba nimeua wanawake wawili – Suzzie na Saraha – kwa hivyo unyamaze sitaki makelele (he told me to keep quiet and do as he says. In this house I have killed two women – Suzzie and Sarah – so be silent because I don’t want any noises),” she narrates.



“Baada ya kunirape shot mbili, nikapambana na yeye nikafungua mlngo nikatoka (After two shots, I wrestled my way out of his grip and opened the door to run away).”



The commotion caught the neighbours’ attention but when they came out to find out what happened as he ran after her, he told them she had stolen from him. He caught up with her and brought her back to the house where he continued with his crime of passion until the following when he forced her out of the house after compelling hr to clean and re-arrange the house.



“Nikaenda moja kwa moja mpaka Soweto police station […] Huyo askari anaitwa Stella akaniambia ‘siwezi shika huyo mtu kama huna shilingi elfu tano ya kuweka gari mafuta’ (I went straight to Soweto Police Station […] The officer by the name of Stella told me ‘I cannot arrest that man if you don’t have KSh5,000 for fuel’.”



It took Kurunzi News crew’s pursuit of a right of reply from the Soweto Police station OCS for the suspect to be arrested and charged at Makadara Police Station and even though the case is till going on, Mwikali’s pain from the wounds inflicted on her physically and psychologically remain a sore reminder of the cruelty of men who continue to subject their intimidated victims to a similar ordeal as police in the area show lethargy in dealing with the rising cases of rape.



Kurunzi News calls on the National Police Service Commission to take action against the officers involved in this grand cover up that has left many women in Kayole and other parts of the country to their own devices even when the perpetrators are well known.



If you, are a victim of or, know someone who is suffering from this kind of ordeal, send your story to editor@kurunzinews.com for your story to be highlighted with a view to having justice served.