POLICE OFFICERS ROBBED OF THEIR BRIBE COLLECTION

In Embu County, a daring thief pulled off a bold heist in broad daylight that left two traffic officers red-faced and empty-handed. The officers, stationed near Kathageri shopping center along the busy Nairobi-Meru highway, were diligently performing their... ahem... unofficial duties of collecting “roadside appreciation fees” from motorists.

Traffic officers usually stash this cash at a central location to avoid stings from the anti-corruption commission. Unbeknownst to them, a young man had been watching them stash their loot from a nearby thicket. At about 1 p.m., he emerged from the bush and approached the police officers.

Channeling his inner Usain Bolt and Houdini, he grabbed the stash of cash—the day's bribe collection—and sprinted into the bush.

One officer gave chase but found himself outpaced, outsmarted, and outclassed. All he could do was hurl insults. The well-prepared thief disappeared without a trace, leaving the officer to contemplate his cardio fitness and life choices. 

"It was like a 5-second bank job", one motorist who witnessed the drama mused.

This incident occurred in March 2020, at the beginning of an entirely different kind of drama: the Covid pandemic.