Thief bursts bubble that mganga from Kitui is immune to theft

Thief bursts bubble that mganga from Kitui is immune to theft

“2.20am! I grope around my bed. I lay my hands on my black Nokia phone. The moonlight is illuminating from the window. Wah! The window is wide open. A pole is being pushed by a shady character towards me. The target is my PC lying under my bed on my suitcase

BY MUSYOKA NGUI

“Breaking News: I survive a horrible home break -in. It was so devastating. Wah! More details on my blog leo!”. This is the sms I sent to my friends and family tonight today February 4, 2014 moments after a bold attempted break -in in my campus hostel room.

To get the full context of this theft it would be fair I furnish you my dear reader with a blow by blow chronological account of how we arrived here.

Yester night was unusual in many ways. Yet similar. The day was sunny and dusty. I did not have a class. I stayed away from lecture halls and the main tuition area. At around 6.30 pm I went to visit a friend. I stayed till 8.30 pm. That means I arrived home soon before 9pm. My roommate was out. I cooked rice for him and for me. We ate.

As a result of hot day and my tradition to shower at night, I took a trough and headed to the bathroom near 10.30pm. The gap between is occupied by eating, chatting and watching Youtube video downloads.

As a rule, I switch off the lights to induce my pal’s sleep. Here we believe that when the lights are out one can sleep faster and more comfortably than where they are on. Never mind my own hp 630 laptop is just being brought in by another friend I had assisted her with.

The rule of inertia tells me to leave my PC in situ. I comply. The table is piled with books, perfumes, mirrors and tissue paper.  Fate conspires to have my PC at the furthest corner of the table near the door. I pick my towel, basin and Protex and hit the shower. Cold water.

I take maximum 10 minutes. I am back folks. My things are intact. There is still some night life around. Slow music is playing and people are chatting, others laughing.

Myself, a self confessed chatter I dress down to bed and pick my phone. I start a conversation. It runs all the way to 12.33 am the next day. I bid my friend the other end good night. She says she got to finish up a movie then join me in bed. We call it a night.

Normally, because of drinking evening coffee and supper, I find myself visiting the gents and ladies (here we share washrooms both men and women). That is anywhere between 10pm and 12am. Yester night I did not do that. Even now I am typing at 3.31am with a full bladder.

The blunder that I did that dark night is pretty simple. I left my PC charging. You know that a lap top (for those who have) has a red light on the charging port. The light turns white when the battery is full. Yester night I left it charging.

You might be asking about my metallic door. It is locked by two bolts. I use a BAOGU padlock when I am away.

2.20am! I grope around my bed. I lay my hands on my black Nokia phone. The moonlight is illuminating from the window. Wah! The window is open. A pole is being pushed by a shady character towards me. The target is my PC lying under my bed on my suitcase.

For some reason I do not scream Mwizi! I let out a frightened weeeeee! sound.  The thief bolts. My room becomes a crime scene. I pull my roommate’s blanket. He wakes up. I say: “Have you seen that man? We are being robbed asleep.” He wakes up and puts on the lights. In the meantime my eyes are fixed at the window. The two curtains are drawn. It looks like someone from inside lifted them but truth is the thief did that from the outside.

I don’t take it lying down. I call the caretaker. He claims he does not know me. He does not have my number. I identify myself-mind you I normally call him when I arrive late to open the gate for me and he never asks me stupid questions which ‘are sitting down’. I ask him where he is. He says he is at home. I tell him I am being robbed. I ask him whether he closed the main gate after 11pm as he often does. He is non committal and says he left keys with one Peter Room Number 3( Fact: I live in that room three he is quoting so he is cooking story). I hang the call. Dad calls and asks whether I am safe.

I hear a bang from the gate. I guess our Peter woke up to check. I treat both Peter and Mathenge my caretaker as prime suspects. By now it is 3am.

I am frightened. I am shaking. It is cold. I did not even wash my face. My eyes just happen to see clearly. It is a miracle. After all I slept for less than two hours.

I start analyzing the case with my roommate Charles.

“He wanted to steal my laptop” I say.

“Yes. That was the target.” He agrees.

“He must be from JK (The name of our private hostels)

“Could be because if the gate is closed it means there is no stranger inside unless he too has an inside accomplice who aided him to show him our movements and our activities.” I weigh in.

My roommate slides back to sleep. He shifts sleeping position from toward the window and faces me this way on my bed. He too fears for his life. Who knows? I lose sleep. Normally I am a heavy sleeper but today I stay awake to write this ordeal in red. I wonder if that is the new meaning of comrade power. Just last Friday HELB closed loan application window for the students. He is starved. He is used to money from the government. The money is not coming any time soon.

It is four consecutive semesters since we went for a long holiday. Folks are as broke as a hustler. Even those who landed jobs in between the money is phew! Gone. I conclude that is why he was stealing from me to sell my PC at throw away price and leave me devastated.

I tell you my survival is shrouded in a mystery. I don’t rely on HELB. They don’t feed me neither do they school me. My parents do. My PC is gotten from my own sweat. In 2012 I won a UNDP international essay writing competition (I won’t tell you the amount but it was crisp US Dollars- The thief might be listening) and did myself some justice as well as gave my parents a break. I paid for my full Year 2 fees and bought this PC the thug was trying to steal. This PC reminds me of my dreams. It captures my imagination of one day being an International Correspondent with a 24-hour leading news outlet. Is this something you come and steal from me? You are a rapist who insists to defile an innocent virgin.

I hope one day you will see the light. I forgive you and move on. My sleep is spent writing this blog post. It’s dawn. Daybreak Tuesday February 4 2014. Let me make coffee, eat with bread and go build this nation called Kenya.

The writer studies Bachelors of Arts Degree in Communication and Media at Chuka University. He blogs at musyokangui.blogspot.com

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