A Nakuru tuk tuk driver has revealed he was enraged by traffic police officers who smashed his windscreen and side mirrors leading to a scuffle that attracted the attention of the country.
The man, who has spoken to the Standard from his hiding hole, said an officer used a club to smash the mirrors and when he stopped the officers wanted to beat him up.
He decided to defend ‘my dignity’.
The incident took place on Sunday as the man ferried three customers to Nakuru town.
The officers had stopped two other tuk tuks and I could see them receive money. They saw me approach and one signaled me to stop," he said.
The driver said when he was slowing down to stop; one of the officers did the smashing.
When he faced up to the cops over the move, a scuffle ensued.
"I decided enough was enough and had to fight what I believed to be unjust and unfair cops who were intimidating me because they were in Government uniform. We exchanged blows and after I overpowered them, they picked stones and hurled at me. I had to get into my tuk tuk and try to confuse them by changing direction," he said.
The man claims the officers were collecting bribes and he felt a pain that people paid by his taxes would end up frustrating his work for no reason.
"I completely lost my mind because of the injustice, which was being meted on me by police officers whose interest was the bribe," he said.
A video of the incident on Sunday went viral in social media as Kenyans were divided over the man’s move to attack the two officers.
In the video, the police officers are seen hurling stones at the man after he overpowered them. He also picks stones and hurls at one of the officers.
A section of Kenyans hailed the man for ‘fighting corruption head on’.