Shujaa: Nakuru police officer with a heart for street families, GBV victims and PWDs
Corporal Sammy Ondimu Ngare aka Askari ni Binadamu during an interview with Mtaa Wangu.
Corporal Sammy Ondimu Ngare aka Askari ni Binadamu is an officer whose personality is rooted in giving.
Ondimu who is stationed in Bahati tells Mtaa Wangu that his mantra in life is ‘always be kind and help those in need’.
Through his projects and Facebook account, Ondimu has been able to help hundreds of people since 2003 when he started his humanitarian work.
He narrated how during night patrols in Nakuru city, he felt heavy-hearted when he saw street families sleeping on cold verandahs freezing in the night's cold. This sparked a need in him to start a street families program in Nakuru.
"The situation was saddening and I took to social media to request my fans to make donations of blankets which I gave to some street families and some mattresses too," he says.
The officer gets to check in on their welfare, organize food programs, step in when a medical case arises and during a joyous moment when a street mum is blessed with a child, he is there to help.
Other than that, he has been able to resettle some street mothers to different places where they get to have a roof over their heads.
The father of three has also been actively involved in fighting against gender based violence.
Unapologetically, he says it is wrong for families to say they would want to settle a rape or defilement case ' Kinyumbani'.
"lt angers me that people would want to hide the perpetrators of this heinous acts. As a police officer, it is so saddening when you cannot help a girl simply because she reported the case too late," he says.
Corporal Sammy Ondimu Ngare aka Askari ni Binadamu.
Notably, this is why he has been going to different schools in Nakuru for mentorship programs to empower the girl child.
He notes that as a father of three amazing daughters, he will always be on the forefront to speak against early marriage, Gender based violence and more to ensure the girl child is safe.
Ondimu’s work with PWDs
Other than that, Ondimu has been working as a link between persons with disabilities (PWD) and the county government of Nakuru and non- profit organizations to offer help to people abled differently.
"I recently embarked on a journey to help PWDs. I noticed that most of them were unregistered and I started sensitization around that," says Ondimu.
The fight against drug use and trade in school is something he had taken up in Nakuru too.
After coming across a case that students were selling bhang in school, he noticed students were being taken advantage of to be agents, transporting and selling drugs.
"Although I am a police officer I am also a parent and I understand that if a child is not salvaged from crime at a tender age then it would spiral out of control once they all grown up. This is why I have partnered with schools to run mentorship programs and work with students to ensure they are not engaged in societal vices," he reveals.
Why donate yet you do not get a big pay check?
Corporal Sammy Ondimu Ngare helps street families and victims of GBV in Nakuru city.
"I started donating from what I had and with time we grew a muscle of online fans who now support the work I do," says Ondimu.
During the interview, he reminisces on how his mother inspired him to be a giver.
“I remember the life I was brought up in. It was not easy. My mother could brew busaa and chang’aa to meet our financial needs. Nonetheless she would share the little she got with others,” he recalls.
He adds that his mum always told him if he got a job, he should look out for those who need help, a culture he has since cultivated since he got first job in 2003.
Other than being a law enforcer, he has been in the forefront of championing for civilians to relate candidly with police officers and vice versa through his Askari ni Binadamu initiative.
Challenges he has faced
For Ondimu, his journey has been a fulfilling one but not one that lacks challenges along the way.
He says he has been transferred from one station because the work he does did not sit well with some of his bosses.
He has also received threats when the posts he makes on social media are of cases that involve powerful people .
Despite these challenges, Ondimu has been awarded by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) as the most outstanding police officer in the county and has also won the Dear award in USA.