Nairobi's pick-pocketing hotspots

1. Kenyatta National Hospital: Kenyatta National Hospital hosts hundreds of people on a daily basis. Many visit the hospital to either seek treatment, or to visit ailing loved ones. The big ‘traffic’ presents a fertile ground for many city pickpockets who pretend to be sick or visiting.

2. Mombasa Road: Mombasa road boasts of big companies including banks and five star hotels. This, coupled with heavy traffic jam, has turned the area into a playground for pickpockets some of whom are armed with guns.

3. Nyayo Stadium Round About: Connecting more than three roads, Nyayo stadium round about is arguably one of the busiest in the city presenting ‘itchy fingers’ with opportunities to reap from the confusion emanating from snailing traffic snarl up.

4. Ambassador Bus stop: It is a notorious meeting point for Nairobians and other people arriving from shagz. However, pickpockets and other goons have somehow found out a trick to identify the visitors and those with money.

5. Odeon Cinema: It’s a convergence zone for students from nearby colleges and other Nairobians. The area is ever packed since many people flock the nearby walls to read job advertisement pasted on them.

6. Globe Cinema Round About: Globe cinema roundabout has for a long time remained notorious for pickpockets and other gangs who steal side mirrors. Despite its expansion, accessing the Central Business District through the roundabout is always a nightmare for motorists.

8. Ronald Ngala: One of the ever-crowded street in the city as it boasts of supermarket branches and electronic shops. Most of the victims are robbed when struggling for buses headed towards Thika superhighway and Githurai.

9. Uhuru Highway-Haile Selassie roundabout: At the spot, the pickpockets take advantage of passengers scrambling for matatus headed to Mombasa road and Rongai. The goons mostly carry hand bags, envelopes and bags to fool crew and passengers.

10. Helicopter Church to celebrate exorcising 12,000 demons Bus station: The station serves a number of matatus operating various city estates, with several shelters meant for passengers to relax as they wait for vehicles, some of them have been taken by street urchins and robbers who study their prey before landing on them taking calculated move towards them.

11. Muthurwa Market: Apart from being a bus terminus for Eastlands matatus, Muthurwa Market also assembles hawkers thrown out from the city centre by council askaris. The gangs here are known to snatch mobile phones and toss them to strategically positioned accomplices.

BY: THE KENYAN