Which is safer, Kenya or USA?

After this week’s popular trending #SomeoneTellCNN hashtag, Kenyans should be ranked as the most influential people on twitter; oh boy! You just can’t mess with Kenyans online, can you? Maybe CNN’s alarming report which branded Kenya as a ‘hotbed of terror’ wasn’t really called for given that terrorism is a global problem. However, there’s need for someone to write about Nairobi’s surging violent crime which is fast becoming a major form of insecurity worsening an already fragile safety outlook and putting a billion dollar tourism industry on the line. As is the case in USA, Kenya’s street crime probably claims more lives annually than acts of terrorism. Before CNN could even recover from the backlash of its annoying framing of the reality in Kenya, the Cable News Network had to rush its cameras to a movie theatre in Louisiana, to cover scenes of USA’s latest gun violence. So like President Obama said during the joint press conference yesterday, both countries, in many ways, share similar challenges, combating terrorism and violent crime being among them. I have been to Nairobi a few times and on my last two visits; I had to be begged by hotel management not to venture out of the hotel premises alone, after 6pm for my own safety. Two months ago, as a guest at The Panari, a five star hotel along Mombasa road; it was towards 6pm and I wanted to saunter into the neighborhoods for some sightseeing when a young male hotel official passionately begged me not to go further than a hundred meters from the hotel. He argued that the streets weren’t safe and that the dark shadows were home to dangerous fellows lurking around in wait for anyone to rob at knife or gun point; unfortunately, his warnings only aroused my curiosity and out I went, luckily, no one attacked me. Last month, as a guest at Sarova Panafric, located about five minute walk from the famous Uhuru Park, again, I was warned not to go walking alone past 9pm when streets were lonelier. A Kenyan friend told me that at night, bad fellows use the park for cover to attack unsuspecting walkers. Still, I ignored the warning to partake in one of my favorite hobbies, taking evening walks; again, the angels protected me from any harm and returned to my room unharmed. But my two-time uneventful experiences don’t mean that Nairobi streets are safe for people to move freely. A few weeks ago, my former classmate at the Communication University of China, Jane Mwangi, a young, jolly and brilliant lady was shot point-blank on her way home in Nairobi; the bullet miraculously missed her spine by just a few inches. Although she survived, Jane is still stuck in the surgeon’s room and doctors fear that she may never be able to walk again because the bullet affected some of her nerves. The guy who shot Jane is no terrorist but an ordinary thug who somehow managed to find himself a gun which he’s now using to terrorize unarmed civilians. In an interview with a blogger from her sickbed, Jane narrated that she was two blocks away from her apartment, walking with a friend when, a young, bearded unmasked man blocked their way and pointing a gun in their direction and demanded them to surrender all valuables to him. They did including their phones and mobile money pin numbers but Jane’s pin number couldn’t readily be recognized which angered the armed thug and in a moment of panic, pulled the trigger sending out a bullet that has rendered the young communications expert crippled. Being a staunch Christian, Jane told the blogger she has forgiven her attacker adding that being alive was good enough for her. Unfortunately, Jane’s attacker is still at large, armed and dangerous. His next victim could be any East African visiting Nairobi for the first time; it could be you or your friend. But violent crime is not a monopoly of Nairobi. I have previously shared of an experience where a thug tried to grab my phone in broad day light on a Kampala street right in front of an armed guard at a bank. In New York last year, I was walking alone at night when I noticed two guys involved in a violent scuffle at the far end of a street corner, too scared to watch, I rushed away and a few minutes later, I heard gunshots, whatever happened, God knows. The only cities where I have felt really safe during a late night walk are Beijing and of course Kigali. As for Kenya and USA, someone tell CNN that these two share the same security challenges and their leaders admitted so yesterday.

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Which is safer, Kenya or USA?