Rastafarians from Malava in Kakamega county are living in fear after a campaign to shave men with dreadlocks was launched.
The rather bizarre crackdown commenced after the area assistant chief, Tom Shirutsi Mfupi, claimed most crimes in the region were being perpetrated by people with dreadlocks.
Speaking at a public baraza in the area, the assistant chief said many parents from the region had complained to him in person over the conduct of the men who keep dreadlocks. “Men who wear dreadlocks are a dreaded breed in this part of the world.
They scare women and are accused of all sorts of ills in the community, even in instances where they are not involved at all. We decided to embark on a campaign to arrest them and force them to shave the dreadlocks so that they can look like responsible people,” Mfupi said.
The assistant chief further disclosed so far several teenagers had been forced to shave and more are expected to follow suit. He said a special team had been formed comprising of the nyumba kumi community policing members to chase after those who are still keeping bushy and shaggy hair and dreadlocks.
The crackdown, he warned, will be extended to identifying and shaming night runners in the area.
“We also have those who raid homes at night naked. They do all sorts of ills, but their days are numbered,” he said.
Mfupi regretted that most of those practicing in night running activity were youthful men. “We don’t know how they identify homes where men have travelled and go ahead to terrorise women. Sometimes they drive cows out of their sheds,” the assistant chief alleged.