Crowd Dispersion

We sit on the 16th floor of our building, with a great view out over the South of the city. In the distance, you can see Nairobi National Park, Nyayo Football Stadium, and the Airport. Directly below us, there's the less photogenic sight of the local matatu stop. It's right on the roundabout, so the matatus come in, all stop on the edge of the roundabout and hold up traffic until they're full. It's a pain, and every now and then the police come in and tell them to move on, but not very often.

Yesterday morning, we hear shouting coming up from the street below. Looking out the window, there's obviously been some kind of accident, and a matatu is nose-deep in the central reservation. It doesn't look like anyone got hurt, but there's a crowd of people gathering round, clearly arguing over whose fault it was, and generally just enjoying the show.

A police car turns up, and parks in the one empty lane, thus grinding the entire roundabout to a halt. They get out and join in the argument, eventually arresting the driver and the tout from the matatu. The crowd by this point is probably 50 or 60 deep, but the police don't seem to be paying them any attention. Suddenly, 5 of 6 men appear with sticks, and start beating the crowd, seemingly indiscriminately. Everyone flees, apart from the 2 or 3 who are lying on the ground. I asked my colleague what on earth was happening. He told me it was the undercover city council officers, and they were trying to disperse the crowd. It's certainly an effective technique, if a little extreme.

Moral of the story: don't mess with Nairobi city council.