- Towards the end of 2016, Corporal Hinga started experiencing agonizing headaches which he initially thought were driven by a change of environment as he had just been transferred from Marsabit to Nakuru.
- Things came to a head on the morning of December 27, 2016, when Corporal Hinga who had been assigned duties at the Bahati police camp’s motor vehicle workshop unexpectedly lost his eyesight.
Image: KNA
Police officer Corporal Stephen Muturi Hinga has a strong mantra that guides him, ‘I lost my sight, not my vision’.
He talks passionately about the people who have helped him along the way; perhaps the reason why he gives both of his time and resources unconditionally.
His is a story of struggle, determination, hope, and resilience.
He takes his cane, which has joints and folds in fours, making a perfect square.
At a glance, the 42-year-old law enforcement officer may pass as an ordinary cop discharging his duties at the Anti-Stock Theft Police Unit headquarters at Gilgil, Nakuru.
But on a closer look, one will be curious at how he gropes his way through his surroundings using his hands and feet before executing any task.
When we visited him at the ASTU customer care desk, we found him attending to members of the public unperturbed as he executed the task with precision and dexterity.
"Don’t be shocked. This is my world. I have been doing this for the last eight years and now it is normal because life has to go on," Hinga said as he ushered us into his office.
If you meet this police officer, you will be struck by his positive attitude despite everything he has been through.
It’s not every day you meet someone who has gone through adversity and remains optimistic about life.
Even after losing his sight while on duty, Corporal Hinga does not regret what befell him.
“Losing my sight was a blessing in disguise. Since I went blind, I have done a lot of things for my community,” Hinga said.
He thanks God for his affliction.
Since he lost eyesight, he started a community-based organization that helps people with disabilities access assistive devices like wheelchairs and walking canes.
“God blessed me with blindness. It is through this misfortune that I was able to assist my community, and see the benefits,” he said.
Towards the end of 2016, Corporal Hinga started experiencing agonizing headaches which he initially thought were driven by a change of environment as he had just been transferred from Marsabit to Nakuru.
Though he visited the Nakuru Level 5 Teaching and Referral Hospital and was put on medication, the throbbing headaches persisted for several months.
Things came to a head on the morning of December 27, 2016, when Corporal Hinga who had been assigned duties at the Bahati police camp’s motor vehicle workshop unexpectedly lost his eyesight.
The now panic-stricken ASTU officer raised a distress call to his fellow officers telling them he had lost his eyesight.
However, they at first dismissed it as a joke.
Nonetheless, to Hinga it was the day he began the journey of darkness.
He was referred to Kikuyu Hospital for a CT scan.
The scan showed that he had a brain tumour, marking the beginning of a life full of anxiety, tribulation and hopelessness.
Hinga was later flown to India where the tumour was removed but he never regained his eyesight.
The police officer boldly confesses that doctors in Kenya and India traced his condition to a marijuana smoking habit that he had picked while in primary school at 11 years old.
“Though marijuana has been variously touted as a herb with medicinal values, new studies including the one conducted by the University of California’s School of Medicine have suggested that using the narcotic drug can accelerate the development of certain types of cancers,” explains the cop.
Hinga states that his doctors informed him that Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main ingredient that causes euphoria and changed behaviour in bhang users can speed up the growth of head and neck tumours.
THC is at least one of the 13 cannabinoids identified in the scientific name- cannabis sativa- which can cause changes in the user including appetite, heightened sensory perception, relaxation, impaired memory, blood pressure as well as impaired concentration and coordination.
The policeman however counts himself lucky for getting a second lease on life after he was enrolled in rehabilitation and training at the Kenya Society for the Blind by the National Police Service which he says helped him overcome the denial stage and accept his new situation but admits that adjusting to the new reality was difficult.
He says his new condition ushered in a new chapter in life that of campaigning against drug and substance abuse among the youth.
The Police officer who was recruited into the service in 2007 is thankful that his superiors stood with him.
He even reminisces that the Deputy Inspector Administration Police Service paid for his rehabilitation at Kenya Society for the Blind.
Nevertheless, he says he lost many friends with some even mocking him and others claiming he was not blind but just pretending.
“I lost all my friends; some associated my blindness with being a beggar and saw me as a burden. For almost two years I was in a state of denial but God used my disability thus enabling me to help vulnerable members of the society,” he said.
He notes that his disability initially plunged him into depression, which he had to deal with for a whole year, but now he is happier because he has a purposeful life.
After losing his sight, Hinga could not do the regular police job, including pursuing and following up on stolen livestock as an ASTU officer.
He, however, works at the gender desk when on duty.
“I was taken through rehabilitation, which helped me accept my situation and the commandant at ASTU held my hand and gave me fatherly advice that this was not the end of my life," he adds.
"In August 2018 after accepting that I could not change anything I donated a third of my salary in an attempt to uplift the lives of persons with disability around my home.”
In 2023 he was awarded a Diploma in Community Development and Social Work at Mt Kenya University, Nakuru Campus, after completing his studies.
Some of his friends, he disclosed, helped him to register Bahati Walemavu Pamoja (BAWAPA), a community-based organization.
The group has brought together over 1000 PWDs.
He ensures those living with disability get assistive devices including wheelchairs and white canes.
Hinga indicates that he bought a laptop and a smartphone that was fitted with JAWS (job access with speech) that are user-friendly.
The visually impaired can read the screen with a text-to-speech output.
He operates the Bawapa Resource and Computer Centre where he works trying to educate PWDs on using computers to pass information.
With only three computers he feels he has been able to achieve much.
Bawapa has also acquired a 120-capacity incubator from the county government which Hinga uses to hatch eggs and distribute to PWDs.
Image: KNA
They also create awareness on disability and urge parents with disabled children not to hide them at home.
In 2019, he also started an adolescent girl’s empowerment programme aimed at providing mentorship programmes for young girls.
He says they have reached more than 3,000 adolescents since 2019.
They donate sanitary towels and sensitize girls on the dangers of early marriage, teen pregnancies, HIV and drug and substance abuse.
The father of four said his family has been supportive.
Hinga discloses that Bawapa has registered over 100 members living with disabilities who meet once per month.
While indicating that it is tough when one acquires disability when he or she is already grown, the cop states that he was inspired to found Bahati Walemavu Pamoja Savings and Credit Cooperative Society to economically empower persons living with disabilities by enabling them to access affordable and reliable credit facilities.
Frida, Hinga’s wife of 14 years, said their life changed after her husband’s affliction, and she has had to take up more responsibilities.
She says the blindness has made their love grow even stronger and she is happy to show her husband how much she loves him.
“If it reaches a time God deems fit to open his eyes, we will thank Him; but if God chooses that my husband remains blind, we will continue praising Him,” she said.
Esther Waithera, Hinga’s mother, says she was crestfallen when she heard her son couldn’t see anymore.
Waithera said she prayed for her firstborn son and was happy to see him accept his condition.
“I knew God wanted him that way so that he sets an example. He is my firstborn son,” she said.
National Police Service Spokesperson Dr Resila Atieno Onyango said they are committed to working with their officers and offer them counselling and any support required.
“We are proud of the officer for his positivity in life, he is a motivation and a good example to other officers who might be going through such challenges,” she said.