“After being labeled a suspected terrorist, my business failed and I ended up homeless!” That is the story of Msingi Sasis, a city based blogger and photographer.
He says he was capturing images around Nairobi’s galleria mall when he was arrested on charges of terrorism.
“They thought I was casing the place and taking pictures to plan an attack on the mall,” he tells Hustle. Msingi, despite being a well-known figure in the art world, spent three nights in custody and was only released after a barrage of complaints and appeals came from his fellow artists and fans.
In the year that followed, Msingi’s business plummeted because no one wanted to be associated with a terror suspect, even though he was cleared of all suspicion.
“I think this was the most painful thing for me, because I had worked hard to grow my company, and now that honest work was tarnished.”
Msingi had built Nairobi Noir by selling portraits and the pictures he took of Nairobi by night.