Which way for Kenya’s youth?

Everyday, Kenya wakes up to reports of different types of crime in various parts of the country. Robbery with violence, murder, rape, carjacking, domestic fights, street muggings, shop break-ins are common-place and one just never knows when or where a criminal will strike.

We are always looking over our shoulders and we are keen about the person seated next to us in matatus and even women do not leave their handbags on church pews when going to receive Holy Communion.

Asking for directions is nearly impossible because we are wary of talking to strangers. Getting into a shopping mall is a nightmare due to security checks. Insecurity is so rife that nowadays churches are guarded by police officers and worshipers are often asked to deposit their tithes in the churches’ bank accounts to reduce cases of theft. Kenyan prisons are reportedly overcrowded since there are “fresh” inmates jailed every day.

Most of these criminals are young men and women who should be engaged in productive activities.

The question is: where did we go wrong as a society? What drives these young people into crime? How can a person who seems intelligent or reasonable suddenly change and become a criminal? Indeed, what ails the Kenyan youth?

These and other questions are concerns of a newly published novel, Bullet with My Name (Lulu Publishing Services, 2015) by Leonard Ojwang. The novel tells the story of two young men, Henry Bobo and Joseph Charo, students at a local polytechnic.

Like many other youth, Bobo and Charo have big dreams and are aware that their studies hold the key. Unfortunately, while watching a football match at a bar with fellow students, they get into a fight over a bet that one of the other students refuses to honour.

When the students are summoned by the college’s disciplinary board, the student who had refused to honour a bet lies to the board, claiming Bobo and Charo had assaulted and robbed the bar owner and other students only got into the fight in an attempt to foil the robbery.

The disciplinary committee does not give them a fair hearing, with one of the members even reporting that he has been informed that the two young men are homosexuals, which is against the college’s “cultural values and morality.”

Without being given a chance to tell their side of the story, Bobo and Charo are expelled from the institution. With their futures destroyed, Bobo and Charo vow to take revenge against the student who told lies to the disciplinary board and the professor who seemed to delight in their misery. Having been expelled from school, they cannot go home to their parents. They soon begin a life of crime to fuel their desire for quick money as they make plans to kill the men who destroyed their lives. Their motive is to find the bullets with Robert’s (the student) and Pande’s (the professor) names on them and give them back to their rightful owners.

The novel shows just how a simple and seemingly innocent act like sport betting can lead to a complicated and painful series of events. Bobo and Charo go on a destructive spree where they hurt anyone who they come into contact with. They rob an innocent woman of a car, assault her and leave her for dead, and move to a smaller town from where they make plans for their revenge mission. They deceive girls who fall in love with them, only to later turn against them. Driven by greed, adventure and vengeance, the two will stop at nothing to get what they want.

Bullet with My Name is a story about violence, deception, betrayal, revenge, and greed. The story is a commentary on the social and economic reality in Kenya. The writer is concerned about young people and their involvement in crime, violence, prostitution, drug abuse, abortion, corruption, and other social ills. He narrates about young women, college students, who, lured by Bobo and Charo’s charms and seemingly fancy lifestyle get into a relationship with them only to be raped, beaten and left for dead when they refuse to help them rob a business in one of the towns.

The results, as is the case with one of the girls in the novel, are disastrous — she is not only pregnant from the rape ordeal, she is also badly scarred because Bobo and Charo set her on fire. One of the girls, a prostitute, is duped into believing that Bobo is a businessman and she agrees to stay with him for several days, thinking that there are customers who can turn out to be good people.

A girl who had been Bobo’s girlfriend in college drops out of school when she realises she is pregnant, while yet another girl dies as she tries to procure an abortion.

Who will guide and protect our youth? Who will teach them to be patient and not crave instant riches and gratification?

The experiences of Bobo and Charo point to a society that is not showing its young ones the right direction. While we cannot exonerate the two from their evil acts, the starting point of their degeneration needs to be explored. The disciplinary board at the college stands accused of being compromised in favour of the student leader who told lies and therefore possibly leading two young men into a path of destruction.

What is the responsibility of parents, guardians, teachers, religious leaders, and other adults towards young people? Is it enough to take young people to school and hope they will figure out how to survive in today’s fast-moving world?

The writer also raises questions about the justice system and shows how often it gets flawed because of corrupt police officers, compromised investigations, witness intimidation and poorly trained police officers. Although Bobo and Charo eventually get jailed for their crimes, this writer shows that a weak justice system easily allows criminals to escape justice – all one needs is a good lawyer.

In addition, the story addresses issues of police officers being involved in extrajudicial killings, unlawful arrests, “planting” evidence, torture of suspects and prisoners, and other forms of violation of human rights. This is a blot on the police force which the concerned authorities need to address if they are to convince the Kenyan public to trust law enforcement officers.

Bullet with My Name is a crime thriller which clearly shows howour youth often lose their way because they do not understand the perils of desiring quick money. It warns young men and women against getting involved with strangers and suspicious characters regardless of how charming they may seem.

It challenges adults to look into ways of guiding the youth in the right direction to prevent them from getting sucked into the murky world of crime. It is a succinct exploration of human emotions that shows how a misplaced feeling, such as vengeance, can cause havoc in so many people’s lives.