Pauline Njoroge breaks her silence on Malindi ordeal

Blogger and Jubilee official Pauline Njoroge has spoken out for the first time about being arrested and detained in Malindi for two days for criticizing the government.

In a lengthy social media post, Njoroge said the police officers who arrested her, her friend Jane Nduta, and their driver Emanze Jilani attempted to plant drugs in their hotel room and car in order to indict them, but failed miserably.

The first signs that something was wrong began on Friday, when Pauline received an unusual phone call asking her to pick up some documents in the Malindi area. She suspected the call because she had not told anyone she was in Malindi.

Her friend Nduta received a phone call hours before they were arrested, asking if she provided travel services in the coastal region.

Detectives who were following them pounced on them around noon on Saturday as they made their way to Gede Ruins in Watamu and other locations in Kilifi county.

“We left the hotel that afternoon to go see Gedi Ruins, Hells Kitchen and the first Church in Malindi, which was set up by the Portuguese. When we left the hotel we found a double cabin vehicle packed outside the resort. Nduta commented that the occupants had the demeanor of police officers but our driver Emmanuel told us they were probably just neighbours. We passed the vehicle and proceeded to join the tarmac road. We had hardly gone a kilometre before the very same vehicle blocked us on the road and asked us to follow them to Watamu Police Station.” She Tweeted on Thursday.

Pauline says she quickly informed her lawyers and family members of her arrest, even as they were being taken to Watamu Police Station, where they were separated from Nduta and interrogated.

Their driver was left in the car outside.
After the interrogation, the police officers said they needed to go back to their hotel room for further searches. 

“In my room, they found collagen and vitamin C supplements which were in the container I purchased them in. Those were what they labelled psychotropic substances. They finished the search in my room and we began to take inventory of the items they had taken, which now included my laptop. As we were doing this, one officer came carrying a roll of bangi and said that she had found it behind the TV. Nduta and the officer engaged in a back and forth. That was the first time in my life that I was seeing a roll of bangi. My friends can confirm that. In Nduta’s room they found her multi-vitamins, omega and collagen supplements. They also took her laptop, all her notebooks and all her reports and a novel she had carried. Her supplements were also labelled psychotropic substances.” She added.

 
The two were driven back to the police station, where the officers informed them that they wanted to search the car, which was still parked outside with the driver inside.

“Mind you the driver had been in the car throughout this episode so if we had something to hide, by this time he would already have done it. Interestingly, as soon as the officers started searching, 2 rolls of bangi appeared out of nowhere on one of the seats. At that point I told the officers that it was now clear the games they were playing in order to fix us, but since we were helpless in this situation we were going to leave the matter to God in heaven who judges the affairs of men. It was obvious that they were thinking through what to charge us with, and trying to make anything stick,” her update reads. 

The three were then placed in cells, and the police wrote an OB indicating that Pauline and her friends were in possession of narcotics and psychotropic substances.
The OB statement was quickly circulated on social media. 

“On Monday we were up by 5 a.m., ready to be presented to court that morning. But by midday we were still in the cell not knowing what was happening. Later on we learnt that those dealing with the matter in Watamu were still not sure what to charge us with or who would appear as the investigating officer, since this was really not their case. The orders were coming from Nairobi,” she explained

Later in the afternoon, the three were presented before a court in Malindi but were released on a free bond after the prosecution failed to produce any evidence to charge them. 

Pauline’s gadgets were, however, confiscated by the DCI for further forensic analysis. 

“I still do not know what crime I had committed to warrant my detention. As we speak, my gadgets are with the Cyber Crime unit on Kiambu Road, because the powers that be are desperately still trying to get something to pin on me after their previous attempt failed terribly and exposed their evil scheme.” She added

Pauline has, however, remained adamant that she will not be cowed into silence.
“I shall not be silenced! By detaining us, you only strengthened our resolve. We will not sit and watch as some fellows try to turn the clock back, recreating our country’s dark past. Patriots of that generation sacrificed sweat and blood to liberate our country from dictatorship, so that we may have the democratic space we currently enjoy. Because of our present circumstances, the responsibility to guard jealousy and our hard earned freedom has fallen upon our generation. We must bear that responsibility bravely,” she said.