Joash Ombati received the Head of State Commendation (HSC) for his recent heroic rescue of a motorist who had been abducted by robbers who had also taken his money in Westlands area of Nairobi.
During the incident , the constable sensed that the motorist was in distress , took a taxi at his own cost, chased the robbers and helped to rescue the abductee and recover his stolen money.
Back in October he described his feeling after the recovery
"I'm happy because I helped a Kenyan...This is a blessing to me. Whenever I do such deeds I feel very satisfied. What if the thieves stole from this man?"
"If I could have ignored the thieves, then it means that I'm being paid to do zero work? In that case, I should just leave my work and go home and look after cows," he said.
At around 1340 hours in Westlands, Ombati saw a man being thrown out of a moving Toyota shouting "wezi wezi" (Thieves! Thieves!)
The officer said he was patrolling behind Villa Rosa Kempinsky and was standing by the roadside waiting to cross over to a hotel for lunch when the incident occurred.
Ombati said he saw commotion 20m from where he was standing.
"I saw a gentleman with a black bag being thrown out of a vehicle as it sped towards me," he said.
Ombati cocked his gun and asked the driver to stop, but he refused.
"There was a taxi where I was standing. The driver told me the men are thieves and we needed to chase them. I entered the taxi and we followed them," he said.
Ombati said as they trailed the two men, he shot at the white Toyota and its tyres were deflated.
The vehicle went through Museum Road and followed the Parklands police station route.
As Ombati trailed the Toyota, he kept firing in the air to alert the officers at the station.
"I did not have time to get into the station to ask for back up. When the vehicle reached Mpaka Road, it hit a huge rock and stopped," he said.
"I shot at the window and the occupants of the vehicle surrendered," Ombati said.
He ordered the men to lie down on the ground as a crowd began gathering.
"A boda boda rider opened the front door and took the stolen money, but I went after him and recovered it," he said.
Ombati said he did not have time to count the money.
"Later, police from the station arrested the two suspects Sameer Abdulaziz Kassim and Peter Kavoi Musili. We realised the money was Sh400,000," he said.
The Star