Gun Toting

Prof Obel and Pearl Omega were inextricably tied together during the formers heydeys. I bet the reason why the good old Professor decided to call Pearl Omega so is because two of his names; Professor- acquired title- and Obel ,his real name, have the initials P and O. Prof Obel claimed that Pearl Omega could cure aids and he had enough evidence to back the claim.

His assertion was however not backed by any scientific evidence and there was no proof that the London trained doctor had indeed discovered the cure to AIDS.

What Professor Obel failed to say was that he himself had illegally been selling the product. Under Kenyan law, any new drug must be analyzed and approved by the ministry of health before it can be put on the market. Yet, despite the fact that no license had been issued for the sale and distribution of Pearl Omega, bottles of the herbal potion were being sold at the professor's International Medical Foundation and at the government- sponsored Biodiversity Centre in the capital, Nairobi.

Anyway I had no intention of dwelling on Prof Obel with his Pearl Omega. The guy also had a fine taste of cars which I bet he still has. Back then, I read about a Bavarian auto he had customized. It was a real contraption going by how it attracted different buyers who wanted to fork out more money for the car. Of course he gave some of his cars for free to relatives and friends. Him buying Bavarian machines was not a problem.

So when he was involved in gun toting in public at the provocation of a Matatu driver because he wanted to arrive in his work place at the expense of other motorists. I could see that he had stooped too low.

Incidences of gun toting are not new. When people were mercilessly killed by the Alshabaab jihadists, I thought of the licenses some people have that give them the right to own guns. Gun toting is becoming a status symbol in the country and it is not strange to hear people talking of owning a gun as if it is a toy or displaying guns in social media like it is the latest tech gizmo or a hot trending topic.

Those who live by the sword, die by the sword. The same thing applies to guns. Those who live by the gun, die by the gun. Karma I tell you. 

When Chris Kyle, the author of the bestselling book “American Sniper” was felled down by the gun, it was a testimony of the saying that those who kill by the gun, die by the gun. Eddie Ray Routh, a former Marine, believed to have left the service in 2010 was charged with capital murder of Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield. Chris, a former Navy SEAL known for claiming a record number of sniper killings in Iraq was felled down in Texas, this marked the end of the life of a man who had killed by the gun.

Incidences of gun violence are becoming too many as days go by as more and more people own guns. In the US, children are taught the skills of gun totting as a safety measure. There has been a lot of debate on the issue since there was a time when a sad incident happened. A gunman attacked an elementary school killing 20 children and 6 other people. 

Men should be really careful with were they place their guns. A certain Australian man was lucky not to have punctured an artery when his gun went off and ruptured a vein missing the artery by a whisker which would have probably resulted in death when police cordoned off an area where neighbors had complained of gun shots at night. The gun had discharged as he was trying to hide it in his pants with a bullet lodging in his thigh.

I am yet to read or hear of a man who placed his machine inside the boxer and the trigger discharged and released a cartridge which accidentally hit little Johnny and alas. Your guess is as good as mine.

When Kenyan celebrities show their newly acquired machines and post the pictures on social media, it utterly gives the wrong impression to their fans. Some are young youthful individuals barely out of their teenage years and when they see such incidences of arrogant display of guns; they also copy so as to appear cool. Who never wants to be thought of as cool?

But wielding a gun by pointing it to someone in order to threaten is a disastrous tenet that is becoming a culture as a way to quite those who may be nosy or have indignantly offended the respective owner of the weapon.  It is illegal to cause undue fear to someone whether you are a police or someone influential by using a gun.

What I don’t get is the fact that in certain areas in the country such as Kapedo, Baragoi and parts of Northern Kenya, people have guns which they are allowed to tot and the guns never seem to be reducing in number. You watch in the news when it becomes national news that some people have surrendered their guns in areas where owning one is like having a toothbrush. The guns are burnt as a measure of making it look like they have been all collected and the illegal ownership of guns will be a thing of the past. Those who still gun tot are provided with amnesty which is never heeded and executed as that is like playing music to a billy goat. Who really supplies the guns?

A friend who once went to Suguta Marmar valley to reclaim back their cattle aptly reminisces of the incident that changed his life. Though he was a varsity student, the way they went to raid cattle and the journey where only the sounds of guns are heard compounded by the risks, he swore to make books his bosom friends and the city his residence as an avenue towards ameliorating his life.

Those who amazed me were however the West Pokot and Samburu students who in high school knew how to dismantle a gun into pieces, how to use gun powder and such like stuff. But this they did back in their rural areas where it is quite mundane to have archaic firearms mostly used for raiding.

But while it may be cool and grandiose gun toting in the city. I only hope that it will not become a weapon that every Tom Dick and Harry is allowed to carry. I overheard a man saying that in the event people had guns they would not sleep hungry. Only well fed guys think of food as a means to an end as the man who muttered the words did not look impoverished health wise as his adipose tissues were succulently nourished.

Who knows, I may one day be chap who will be toting guns. The president told everyone to be his or her own keeper before the police can come in. That is right. In regard to gun toting that is not in the near future. Mine will be a means of protection especially now that I plan to vacate to the suburbs since money is really disturbing my heels.

SITUONANE.