Nairobi’s Conwood

If you haven’t been conned in Nairobi, you are super lucky, or more realistic, your day is in the offing. A city like Nairobi has so many people scurrying for its scarce resources; from the roads, to housing to institutions of education and even places of worship. From the city centre the street kid can be seen taking advantage of the jams in roundabout to pull out side mirrors from motorists who at the time could be Facebooking or checking out a newspaper while waiting for the traffic police to wave in their direction. There is also the city council Askaris waiting for those pedestrian to step on a flower bed or throw litter anywhere. Of course the favourites for these Askaris are those smokers who lit up anywhere other than the designated zones. In each case you have to part with whatever is in your wallet because they will check out the amount you have or risk being hurled into the dilapidated council vehicles.

Then there is the preacher who shouts his lungs dry to the job seekers promising them that whatever they sow in form of a ‘seed’ they will reap. Kenyans being desperate and in awe for religion will dig deeper to their pockets to these conmen and conwomen. The magicians shouting abracadabra will attract all and sundry but as the onlookers stare in wonder their colleague are busy pick pocketing them.

At five in the evening, everyone hurries up to catch a matatu home. As men and women scramble, the conmen and women who have perfected the art, with their razor sharp tools would be snipping up bags and pockets for anything valuable. They rarely miss their targets.

The day usually ends up with the guys who usually think that they are the smartest. It starts with the bartenders who end up not returning change to the club patrons when they start getting tipsy. For those who go a step further, to pick up the girls who pose as CSW often end up being drugged and robbed of all their phones and cash. You simply can’t get away with being conned in Nairobi.