Does African science really work?

Tumie Modise | Monday May 5, 2014 12:02

That as the magistrate (name withheld) was leaving court after the session, the man watched the magistrate alight from the court and into his car.

The story goes that the man then later followed the magistrate and with his eyes focused on the ground, identified the magistrate’s foot marks on the ground where he then proceeded to scoop handfuls of dirt (mmu) from the ground and into a small plastic bag he was carrying.

In other countries such an incident wouldn’t have caused even a stir, but here it did! It’s reported that an alert police officer was nearby and that he had witnessed the dirt-picking incident.

 Without wasting any time, the officer of the law sprung into action, accosted the man and even took custody of the plastic bag. 

Without a doubt, science is now very much part of the judicial processes nowadays and courts largely depend on science to convict or even acquit suspects, especially in the absence of witnesses.

 The Pistorious trial is a case in point.  Back to the Francistown story though, the man was dragged back to court a few weeks later on a charge that had nothing to do with his murder case but with everything to do with his dirt picking stunt. As the story goes, the presiding judge that day was a white man. As the proceedings got underway, with a spring in his walk, the policeman walked up to the judge then handed him the small plastic bag he had confiscated from the man.

Putting on his sunglasses, the judge examined the contents and with a perplexed look asked the policeman, “Officer, what on earth is this?” The policeman answered “It is Magistrate X’s foot, My Lord”.

This story reminded me of another incident that happened a month ago. Only this time around, it involved my family. One Thursday night in March, thieves visited our farm then made away with part of the farm fence.

The incident greatly distressed us. For one thing, the fence had recently been erected and at such a great cost. Feeling helpless, we notified the police. They showed up not long afterwards then proceeded to inspect the crime scene. The only evidence at that point were just shoe marks as well as four truck tyre marks. Moments later the policemen announced that they had completed their initial investigations and that they were leaving.

As they were leaving though, one of them pulled my mother aside, pointed to the ground and in a low voice said, “Mma, kana ketse ditlhako tsa basimane lewena oa di bona. O Motswana, senka mongwe lo tseye dinao tse loye go busetsa tiro ko baruting..”! My mother later confessed that she was stunned beyond words.

So all I am thinking is; if our policemen really believe in African Science, how about them leading by example and applying the same science to their daily policing activities?

Citizens and the police are fast losing the fight against criminals and as things stand, criminals really seem to have the upper hand. It is proper for police officers to always advice citizens on ‘crime prevention strategies’, but still, it would make more sense if they were to try these strategies themselves, particularly this one, if they really believe in its effectiveness.

Enlisting a few traditional scientists in the police force and even other security establishments may just be what the doctor ordered for today’s heartless criminal.

The usual strategies don’t seem to work on them anymore. With the ‘traditional science unit’ in place, dangerous pursuit of armed and dangerous criminals would surely become a thing of the past. I suspect the whole process would even become very cost effective too.

With our best local scientists now in the police fold, the net would close on criminals and they would have nowhere to run.

It’s common knowledge that most of them even consult some of these scientists in order to evade capture.

The famed Serowe scientist known for his use of a simple pie dish to sniff out petty thieves would be a natural choice in this regard. With such professionals at their disposal, the hangman’s post would even become obsolete. 

The prisons department would be spoilt for choice between Molepolole and Kanye for the killer bolt of thunder that works only by remote control, to any destination. On execution day, a prisoner wouldn’t even need to know his day, isolation from others wouldn’t even be necessary either. Some day criminals will drive us too far..