My Life in Crime: The Last Book I Read In 2017

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John Kiriamiti's My Life in Crime happened to be the first Kenyan authored novel I have ever read as well as the last book I read in 2017. 

While briefly summarizing what 'My Life in Crime' is all about, I will also be integrating my thoughts and reviews into it and will subsequently be mentioning the key takeaways from the book.

A friend of mine suggested me reading it about few months ago. From the point of view of the (English) language, I was always told that Kenyan novelists are candid and eloquent than most of other African witters, but when my Kenyan friend briefed me about 'My Life in Crime' I fell in real love with the book and got it in the following days.

The most interesting thing is that Kiriamiti wrote this book while he was behind the bars and it was published five months before he was released from the prison in 1984.

For the last couple of weeks, I was mentally crisscrossing parts of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Congo with a criminal on the ran as the writer who is the protagonist of the novel managed to hold my attention until I reached the last dot of the book.

Besides the simple and digestible language used by the author, the book also offers number of lessons to short-sighted teenagers as well as the parents who don't give much attention to their children's life styles and mentality, especially in this age of technology.

John Kiriamiti, alias Jack Zollo who was a real life experienced 'criminal' tells in his book how he had started his career from the lower classes by dropping out of school and pick-pocketing to stealing bags and committing robbery and finally becoming one of Kenya's most wanted criminals.

I'm not fair enough if I tell you I can summarize the whole story in this blog alone but, to be honest, his life in crime was incomparable to any other criminal I have ever watched in Hollywood or Bollywood films. That's why I am deeply skeptical about the story as being a non-fiction.

Zollo's life made a complete u-turn when he moved from his parents' house in Thuita to his careless uncle's in Nairobi to get a quality education and experience city life, but it didn't help. His uncle never liked his presence at home and never gave him the care his son deserved as a 'poor young boy' who badly needed mentorship and support. His parents were very innocent and they thought that their son was in save hands which was contrary to the reality on the ground.

Life in Nairobi was very different from where John Kiriamiti (aka Jack Zollo) was born and bred. It's more luxurious and sumptuous than the life in Thuita, a small village in Kenya. The young boy failed to organize and manage himself to face the challenges lied ahead of him. He never thought for a second about the reason he left behind his parents and more importantly what he was expected from him. He was expelled from school after being the mastermind of a violent strike against the school management. That marked the end of Jack Zollo's formal education but none of his family members noticed that for quite while. He used to lavishly spend his money pocket, school fees and bus fares for enjoying himself and entertaining young 'Juliets' in the neighborhood, that was how his life in crime started.

This part of the story touched me personally as it resembles to the lives of some young Somalis who are sent by their parents to major cities in the country like Mogadishu or abroad for higher education. I know number of them who missed the mark in educating themselves and meeting their parents expectations by ironically spending their educational fees for enjoying themselves. This is where our Somali parents need to evaluate and analyze the wits of their children before they let them leave to abroad or other local cities for studies or higher education.

The moment Zollo left the school, he subsequently runs away from his family's house as he befriended with low level criminals and car-breakers. In his early twenties, Jack was already a known robber and one of Kenya's most wanted criminals.

Connie which is Jack's older sister happened to be the first family member to come into contact with Jack after he left from home. What surprised me most is that she had never warned him seriously of the consequences of his bad habits and the crimes he was committing which is something older sisters are expected to offer tirelessly. That's another  reason why I am deeply skeptical about the story as being completely non-fiction one.

Jack Zollo gets arrested in Central Police Station and spends few weeks behind the bar and plots to escape by using fake name and false identity. After the escape, Jack Zollo flees from Kenya, briefly stops by Kampala and sets off to DR Congo, where he meets a Greek millionaire and works for him as a driver.

What I personally feel is that the book was not particularly good in the area of morality and moral values as I came across number of pages that motivate alcoholism and prostitution in many ways.

The worst thing happened when Zollo had an affair with the millionaire's daughter and she got pregnant. He had to leave Congo and go back to his home country to get that complex problem resolved and he did so.

When he came back home, he reunited with his fiancee 'Milly' and decided to marry her. Unfortunately, he was caught being red-handed, robbing a bank with gangs, before they tied the knot. After a long years of running from the law, John Kiriamiti was arrested and sentenced to twenty good years of imprisonment.

He wrote the book - My Life in Crime - while he was in the prison and it has recently been adapted into a very successful film.

My Life in Crime has been the last book I have finished reading it in 2017, though I am about to finish reading both Kimiriamiti's third book, My Life in Prison, and Pema Chodron's When Things Fall Apart. 2017 has been so nice to me!