What is the image of the country when our people go to other foreign and untold things? They paint all of us in the same way as them. The make us be judged in the same way.
A number of Kenyan men have been arrested and charged with raping their daughters. There have also been cases of wife battery and killings. These incidents have outraged Kenyans and immigrants from other countries, as well as indigenous Americans.
Simon Nyakweba was arrested last week for allegedly raping his daughter, aged 13. Nyakweba is being held in prison without bond.
Two Kenyan immigrants facing different rape charges have been spending time in prison, after they failed to raise Sh40 million bail.
Thomas Osebe, who had just graduated with a BSc in Nursing in Bloomington, Minnesota, was charged with raping his two underage daughters.
Robert Tabaka was also detained for raping an underage girl.
Families and friends of the suspects have failed to raise the bond amounts.
These cases have sent social media in Minnesota and other neighbouring States into frenzy.
Most of these incidents are more prevalent in a city called Savage City. Savage City has curiously lived up to the notoriety of its name.
Situated on the southern bank of the Minnesota River, and in a region commonly referred to as South of the River, Savage City has become the hotbed of savage and barbaric crimes, ranging from sexual violence, including incest, to domestic violence.
The region (Savage City) comprises the southern portion of Minneapolis-St Paul, the sixteenth largest metropolitan area in the United States. The population of Savage was 26,911 at the 2010 census, according to government statistics posted online.
“This is tragic,” said one exasperated Kenyan who requested anonymity for fear of retribution from fellow Kenyan immigrants, who prefer not to condemn cases of lawlessness whenever they break out in Minnesota.
While it should be appreciated that there is a very successful and vibrant Kenyan community in Savage City, a few outlaws have stolen the show, engaging in sex crimes, domestic violence, alcohol and drug abuse.
Young Kenyan males who’ve witnessed domestic violence and drunkenness have drifted from their studies to focus on destructive behavior.
A Kenyan lawyer in Minneapolis told me a bad example was set when a former lawyer who had become a serial criminal in the State was elected a deputy governor after he was deported from USA.
The former lawyer had become a jailbird, forcing the authorities in Minnesota to lock a human tracker on him because of his notoriety of engaging in domestic violence, DUIs and reckless driving.
“When the voters in a western Kenya county elected this deported convicted criminal into the high office of deputy governor, the message young people, and indeed, even grown-ups get, is that crime pays, especially if you’re living in Kenya,” said the lawyer, who requested anonymity to avoid antagonizing his potential clients.
“This man was a notorious criminal in the twin cities of St Paul and Minneapolis. After American authorities realized he was incorrigibly delinquent, a decision was made to deport him some time in 2009.
“He arrived in western Kenya (leaving behind his wife and three children) at a time the country was gearing up for a new constitution with devolved units. We saw him declare himself a candidate for governor but later on settled on deputy governor, and he has been elected twice.