Rahab Nyariwa is a thief turned policeman who started her illegal craft by stealing cars and snatching people’s ATM cards.
In an interview on Radio Jambo, Rahab said that she was introduced to stealing by one of her friends who taught her all that she needed to know.
She said, “Nilihusishwa na rafiki yangu katika wizi, nilianza kuiba vitu ndogo ndogo. (I was initiated into stealing by my friend. I started out by stealing small items).”
She also noted that he used to practice street theft from the year 2008-2012, before receiving a promotion that saw her get introduced to working with guns.
Rahab maintained at the job saying she got hooked up breaking and entering jobs in rich neigbourhoods.
Her first salary was Ksh 100,000.
She said:
“THE JOB USED TO PAY ME WELL, CONSIDERING I ONLY WORKED FOR A FEW HOURS. WE STOLE AND A SOLD A CAR, MAKING 800,000 FROM IT. I WAS PAID KHS 100,000.”
On a particular day, she went out with her crew to celebrate accomplishing a job successfully, not knowing they were getting themselves into a trap.
“TUKAENDA KUJIVINJARI TULIWEZA KUMTUMA MMOJA WETU POMBE, ALIENDA NA KUANZA KUWATISHIA WATU WALIOKUWA KATIKA KLABU HICHO, HAPO NDIPO POLISI WALIWEZA KUTUJUA NA KISHA TUKATOROKA,TULIENDA MAENEO YA NAMANGA KISHA TUKAENDA NCHINI TANZANIA MAFICHONI.
She explained saying the police were able to catch one of them, who later snitched and helped the police to trace their movements, and were later arrested.
Rahab was arrested when she was 30 years old and spent six years behind bars. She also noted that reforming was really hard but she eventually managed to.
Rahab now works as a Policewoman at the African Prison Project, in a bid to help prisoners seek justice for their cases.