Kenya's Judicial System and My Traffic Ticket
The other day I was coming home from the market and made a right turn off the road. As I made the turn, a policemen pulled me over. He asked me if I knew why he pulled me over and I said I did not. The officer said I made an illegal u-turn. (It was not a u-turn, because I did not completely reverse directions-it was more of a right turn). He called his supervisor over to my car and advised me he was going to give me a ticket. The ticket meant that I had to go to court the next day to meet with the judge and pay a fine. But first he wanted to take me to the police station so I could post a 5,000 Ksh ($60 USD) bail. I said I did not have that much money with me at that time. He kept asking what are we going to do about this? I think he kept asking this question because he was hoping to get some type of bribe and then let me go. I kept questioning why do I have to go to court, but all he kept saying was that I had to go. He told me I had to show up at court at 8:00am the next day.
So the next day I went to the court house and I arrived at 8:00am. The court house is completely surrounded by an iron fence. I had to go through the gate where I went through a security checkpoint, similar to airport security. They took my photo id and my snacks (I was warned that I would probably be there the whole day). I went in and found my court room. As I entered the courtroom I was told court would start at 9:30 a.m. When the magistrate entered the courtroom, there were about 100 people present. I do not remember seeing any other mzungu (white person) in the room. The magistrate entered and they started calling out the cases, beginning with the criminal cases. They would call a name and the person stood up. Most of the conversations were done in Swahili, though they sprinkled in a little English. There were a couple of cases where witnesses were brought up to testify.
I was sitting close to the front, as I wanted to make sure when they called my name I could hear. The cases continued to about 11:30 a.m., then the magistrate stood up and left. At that point some of the people left the court room. I stayed put as I did not know what would happen next. About 12:30 I asked the bailiff what was going to happen next. He said the magistrate would come in shortly, but they were going to bring more people in the room. These would be all the traffic related cases. Then about 30-40 people were brought into the courtroom in hand cuffs. It was almost 1:00 and there were now about 200 people in the room. The benches where we sat were full, the aisles and the back of the room were completely filled with people standing up. The magistrate entered the courtroom again and they start calling names out. As each name was called, the person stood up. The courtroom assistant told the description of the offense for each individual whose name was called. Each person is then required to respond, "Kweli" (true) or "Si Kweli" (not true). This is the response given. Similar to guilty or not guilty. Unfortunately if you give the Si Kweli response, you are required to stay in jail until your court date is rescheduled to challenge the offense. Everyone was saying Kweli. About 1:30 they finally called my name. I stood up and the assistant spoke to me in English. She gave me the choice of "True" or "Not True." I wisely said "True." The magistrate said a few things I could not hear. Then the bailiff next to me said my fine was 7,000 Kshillings ($84 USD) and that I could sit. I sat down and waited as they continued to call out names.
About 2:30 the magistrate got up and left. Then there was a mad rush to the front. I continued to sit as I did not know what was going on, nor did I want to get trampled. After a while, I got up and made my way to the front to see what was happening. I realized that a bailiff was calling out names. Because of all the activity and movement, it was very hard to hear him. I soon found out that once your name was called from the bailiff, he would hand you a piece of paper with your offense and your fine on it. When you get this, you pay the assistant immediately in cash. After she receives your payment, you then have to wait for your cash receipt. It is only then when you get the cash receipt that you are able to leave the court room. No one was going out without a receipt.
The bailiff saw me there and asked me my name. I gave him my name and he looked through his papers and did not have my sheet. He then asked the assistant to look through her stack of names to see if my name was there. She finally found my name at the bottom of the pile. She reminded me of my fine and I paid her the 7,000 Ksh. After about 20 minutes I got my receipt and was told I could leave. I fought my way to the back of the courtroom to find a bailiff holding the door shut. There were people outside of the court room trying to get in and she was holding the door to keep them out. It was crazy! If you can remember in some cartoons where there is a character leaning against the door trying to push it closed while there are characters outside pushing trying to get in, that's what it seemed like.
I showed her my receipt and ask if I could go? She said I have to show her a picture ID to prove that it is me. Thankfully I had my international license, since they kept my Texas DL at the security checkpoint. So, she has my very important documents in one hand and she is trying to push the door closed with the other hand, to keep the people out and yelling at them in Swahili at the same time (it was complete madness!) When she finally got the door closed, she looked at my documents and said "yes, you are Timothy. You can go." I practically ran out of the door and down the hallway to the front entrance. It was 3:00 in the afternoon and I was finally free.
It was an interesting cultural experience to say the least. I get a ticket on one day, then the next day I go to court and pay the fine. At first I thought, why would they jam the court system by making everyone come to court to pay the fine? But then I think about the tremendous cash flow generated that day. There were approximately 200 people with traffic related offenses and the minimum fine was 5,000 Ksh. That is 1,000,000 Ksh ($12,500) on that one day. It was a interesting experience, but I do not wish to do that again. However, I know I am at the mercy of the Kenyan police because if they want to give you a ticket they will and there is nothing you can do about it. Challenging the decision in court is not a smart option, as I do not want to wait in jail till my new court date. Meanwhile I will continue trying to avoid all of the Matatu drivers driving on the wrong side of the road, but that is another story.
Blessings,
Tim
So the next day I went to the court house and I arrived at 8:00am. The court house is completely surrounded by an iron fence. I had to go through the gate where I went through a security checkpoint, similar to airport security. They took my photo id and my snacks (I was warned that I would probably be there the whole day). I went in and found my court room. As I entered the courtroom I was told court would start at 9:30 a.m. When the magistrate entered the courtroom, there were about 100 people present. I do not remember seeing any other mzungu (white person) in the room. The magistrate entered and they started calling out the cases, beginning with the criminal cases. They would call a name and the person stood up. Most of the conversations were done in Swahili, though they sprinkled in a little English. There were a couple of cases where witnesses were brought up to testify.
I was sitting close to the front, as I wanted to make sure when they called my name I could hear. The cases continued to about 11:30 a.m., then the magistrate stood up and left. At that point some of the people left the court room. I stayed put as I did not know what would happen next. About 12:30 I asked the bailiff what was going to happen next. He said the magistrate would come in shortly, but they were going to bring more people in the room. These would be all the traffic related cases. Then about 30-40 people were brought into the courtroom in hand cuffs. It was almost 1:00 and there were now about 200 people in the room. The benches where we sat were full, the aisles and the back of the room were completely filled with people standing up. The magistrate entered the courtroom again and they start calling names out. As each name was called, the person stood up. The courtroom assistant told the description of the offense for each individual whose name was called. Each person is then required to respond, "Kweli" (true) or "Si Kweli" (not true). This is the response given. Similar to guilty or not guilty. Unfortunately if you give the Si Kweli response, you are required to stay in jail until your court date is rescheduled to challenge the offense. Everyone was saying Kweli. About 1:30 they finally called my name. I stood up and the assistant spoke to me in English. She gave me the choice of "True" or "Not True." I wisely said "True." The magistrate said a few things I could not hear. Then the bailiff next to me said my fine was 7,000 Kshillings ($84 USD) and that I could sit. I sat down and waited as they continued to call out names.
About 2:30 the magistrate got up and left. Then there was a mad rush to the front. I continued to sit as I did not know what was going on, nor did I want to get trampled. After a while, I got up and made my way to the front to see what was happening. I realized that a bailiff was calling out names. Because of all the activity and movement, it was very hard to hear him. I soon found out that once your name was called from the bailiff, he would hand you a piece of paper with your offense and your fine on it. When you get this, you pay the assistant immediately in cash. After she receives your payment, you then have to wait for your cash receipt. It is only then when you get the cash receipt that you are able to leave the court room. No one was going out without a receipt.
The bailiff saw me there and asked me my name. I gave him my name and he looked through his papers and did not have my sheet. He then asked the assistant to look through her stack of names to see if my name was there. She finally found my name at the bottom of the pile. She reminded me of my fine and I paid her the 7,000 Ksh. After about 20 minutes I got my receipt and was told I could leave. I fought my way to the back of the courtroom to find a bailiff holding the door shut. There were people outside of the court room trying to get in and she was holding the door to keep them out. It was crazy! If you can remember in some cartoons where there is a character leaning against the door trying to push it closed while there are characters outside pushing trying to get in, that's what it seemed like.
I showed her my receipt and ask if I could go? She said I have to show her a picture ID to prove that it is me. Thankfully I had my international license, since they kept my Texas DL at the security checkpoint. So, she has my very important documents in one hand and she is trying to push the door closed with the other hand, to keep the people out and yelling at them in Swahili at the same time (it was complete madness!) When she finally got the door closed, she looked at my documents and said "yes, you are Timothy. You can go." I practically ran out of the door and down the hallway to the front entrance. It was 3:00 in the afternoon and I was finally free.
It was an interesting cultural experience to say the least. I get a ticket on one day, then the next day I go to court and pay the fine. At first I thought, why would they jam the court system by making everyone come to court to pay the fine? But then I think about the tremendous cash flow generated that day. There were approximately 200 people with traffic related offenses and the minimum fine was 5,000 Ksh. That is 1,000,000 Ksh ($12,500) on that one day. It was a interesting experience, but I do not wish to do that again. However, I know I am at the mercy of the Kenyan police because if they want to give you a ticket they will and there is nothing you can do about it. Challenging the decision in court is not a smart option, as I do not want to wait in jail till my new court date. Meanwhile I will continue trying to avoid all of the Matatu drivers driving on the wrong side of the road, but that is another story.
Blessings,
Tim
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